Stats / Shondell Quotes / Photo Gallery
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Michigan State used late-set rallies, outblocked the Boilermakers 12-7 and served up 12 aces in a five-set win over the No. 14 Boilermakers Wednesday night. The Spartans won the match 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13.
Senior Annie Drews carried the Boilermakers with a match-high 23 kills, while redshirt junior Faye Adelaja also reached double-digits with 10 kills. Sophomores Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl added eight putaways apiece and senior Sam Epenesa added seven. Cuttino put up four blocks.
Defensively, senior Amanda Neill managed 16 digs, while redshirt sophomore Ashley Evans added 13 digs to her 49-assist tally for her 15th double-double of the season. Freshman Alexa Smith added nine digs and an ace. Freshman Brooke Peters served up three aces and added three digs, while Drews, Neill and senior Kate Workman also added an ace apiece.
Michigan State outhit the Boilermakers .282 to .257, outblocked them 12-7 and served up 12 aces to Purdue's 7.
Purdue scored two of the first three points of Set 5 on a block by Cuttino and a kill by Drews, but Michigan State soon led 5-3. Kills by Drews and Adelaja tied it at 5-5, but the Spartans led 8-6 at the changeover. The Boilermakers countered with four straight points, including two Drews putaways to go up 10-8. MSU took timeout, but Purdue went on to a 13-11 edge with two more kills by Drews. Michigan State stole away the match at 15-13 with four straight points, on three kills and a Boilermaker miscue. Purdue outhit MSU .391 to .360 in the set, but MSU had two aces that spelled the difference.
Michigan State hit .435 to Purdue's .207 effort and scored seven of the final 10 points to steal away a 25-21 Set 1 win. The Boilermakers trailed 7-3 early, but managed an 8-2 run out of a timeout to vault ahead 11-9. Peters served up an ace while Cuttino added two blocks and a kill in the stretch. Purdue led by two again at 14-12, but the Spartans rallied with six of the next eight to take a two-point lead of their own at 18-16. A kill by Cuttino and MSU miscue knotted it at 18, but Michigan State closed out the win with the final run, including a pair of blocks. Epenesa paced Purdue with four kills in the set.
The Boilermakers took the early lead in Set 2 and held off a mid-set rally by the Spartans to win 25-22 and even the match at one set apiece. Drews put down four kills and Smith and Workman each added an ace in the stanza. Purdue jumped out to a 7-3 lead as four different players tallied kills. The Spartans scored seven of the next nine to go up 10-9. Purdue used a 5-2 run including an ace by Smith and kills by Adelaja, Drews and Cuttino to regain the lead at 14-12. MSU countered to go up 16-15, but Purdue responded with eight of the next 10 to storm ahead 23-18. A kill by Epenesa made it 24-19. The Spartans fought off three Purdue set points, prompting a timeout, then gave the Boilermakers the 25-22 win with a hitting error.
Purdue carried the momentum over from intermission, starting Set 3 on a 7-2 run. The Spartans narrowed the gap and scored seven of the final 10 points to wrap up a 25-23 win. Drews and Neill served up aces in the early surge. Down 9-4, MSU scored six of the eight to cut the margin to on at 11-10. A solo stuff by Cuttino and kills by Drews and Adelaja put Purdue back up three at 14-10. Michigan State countered with five straight points to take the lead at 15-14. The teams tied at 15, 16, 17 and 18, before Purdue went up 20-18 on a Drews putaway. The Spartans called timeout and scored three straight out the break to go ahead 21-20. Down 23-21, Purdue got a kill by Drews and a point from a MSU error to knot it at 23, but a kill and an ace gave Michigan State the 2-1 lead in the match. MSU hit .4242 and the Boilermakers hit at a .357 clip in the set, which featured five kills by Drews.
After trailing 5-2 at the start of Set 4, the Boilermakers took the lead with a 7-0 run and never looked back in a 25-20 win, which saw Drews add six more kills. Peters served up two aces and MSU contributed four errors in the rally. Purdue led by as many as six at 13-7 as Adelaja, Drews and Cuttino added kills. MSU cut the margin to one at 15-14 and eventually tied it up at 17 and 18. Kills from Cuttino and Smith made it 21-19. The Boilermakers closed out the stanza on a 4-1 run, including two kills and a block by Drews.
The No. 14 Boilermakers (22-8, 13-6 B1G) wrap up the regular season at 4 p.m. Saturday with a Senior Day match against No. 10 Wisconsin. Senior Day Festivities will begin at approximately 3:55 p.m.