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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 14 Boilermakers managed several rallies, but hit a buzzsaw in No. 10 Wisconsin, falling 3-0 on Senior Night. The Badgers won the match 25-22, 25-19, 25-19.
Senior Annie Drews led all hitters with 14 kills, while hitting at a .250 clip and adding six digs, three assists, two blocks and an ace. Redshirt junior Faye Adelaja and sophomore Azariah Stahl managed six kills apiece, while sophomore Danielle Cuttino chipped in five and senior Sam Epenesa added four. Cuttino paced the Boilermakers at the net with six blocks, while Stahl added three.
Defensively, libero Amanda Neill pulled up 15 digs, while Drews added six. Senior Kate Workman, redshirt sophomore Ashley Evans and freshman Alexa Smith chipped in four apiece. Drews, Workman and Peters each served up an ace.
Purdue outblocked Wisconsin 9-5, but the Badgers outhit the Boilermakers .319 to .222.
The Boilermakers rallied from deficits of four and five points to knot the score late, but couldn't finish the comeback, falling 25-22 in Set 1. Purdue trailed 9-5 early, but rallied to knot the score at 10 thanks to kills by Evans and Stahl, an ace by Workman and a stuff by Cuttino. The Badgers pushed their lead to five at 18-13, but again the Boilermakers mounted a comeback, using a 6-1 run to tie the score at 19. Drews had two kills and an ace in the rally, while Stahl and Adelaja teamed up for a block. Wisconsin went up 22-19, but Purdue narrowed the gap to one with two Stahl putaways and one from Cuttino. The Badgers called timeout and scored the next points out of the break to take the set. Each team had four blocks in the set, while Drews put down five kills and Stahl added four.
Wisconsin took an early 9-3 lead and held off several Purdue surges to take a 25-19 win. The Boilermakers cut the margin to two at 12-10 with help from a pair of blocks, an ace from Peters and kills from Adelaja, Stahl and Drews. The Badgers upped the margin back to six at 18-12. Kills from Stahl, Cuttino and Evans pulled the Boilermakers within three at 20-17, but Wisconsin closed out the set with a 5-2 run. Epenesa had three kills in the stanza, while Cuttino added two blocks. Wisconsin hit .333 to Purdue's .188 effort.
Purdue scored three of the first five points of Set 3, including a pair of overpass kills by Adelaja, but Wisconsin flipped the advantage with a 10-2 run to go ahead 12-5 and held the Boilermakers at bay the remainder of the stanza in a 25-19 win. Purdue cut the margin to four at 13-9 after kills by Drews and Adelaja and a stuff by Stahl and Cuttino. Four kills by Drews and another by Cuttino kept the Boilermakers within four at 19-15. The Badgers scored five of the next seven to go up 24-17. A stuff by Cuttino and Drews and a Drews putaway thrwarted a pair of UW match point chances, but a kill by Lauryn Gillis sealed the match at 25-19.
The No. 14 Boilermakers (22-9, 13-7 B1G) must now await their NCAA Tournament fate, which will be announced at 9 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU. Fans are invited to join the Boilermakers at a watch party at the Stacked Pickle on Northwestern Ave, beginning at 8:30 p.m.