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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Late rallies gave No. 8 Nebraska a 3-0 win over the No. 16 Boilermakers on Wednesday. The Huskers won the match 30-28, 25-20, 25-17 to end Purdue's 11 match home win streak.
Senior Amanda Neill paced the Boilermaker defense with 23 digs, moving her into 10th place on the career digs list with 1,159, moving ahead of Kim Corwin's 1,145 from 1982-85. Freshman Alexa Smith added 12 digs to the Purdue tally.
At the net, senior Annie Drews led the way with a match-high 14 kills, while hitting at a .343 clip and adding an ace. Senior Sam Epenesa, sophomore Danielle Cuttino and sophomore Lydia Dimke posted six kills apiece, while redshirt junior Faye Adelaja added five and redshirt sophomore Ashley Evans chipped in four to go with 37 assists. Adelaja and Cuttino each managed two blocks for the Boilermakers.
Purdue rallied from a 18-13 deficit to earn the first set point chance of Set 1 at 24-23, but could not close the door on the Huskers. Purdue had another shot at 25-24, but Nebraska rallied and had four shots at the set before clinching it at 30-28. The teams split the opening 22 points with neither gaining more than a two point edge. Nebraska scored seven of the next nine, including three blocks, to go up 18-13 and force a Boilermaker timeout. Purdue scored eight of the next 11 out of the break to knot the score at 21-21 on an ace by Drews and force the Huskers to use both of their timeouts. Cuttino had two kills and a block in the rally. Kills by Drews and Dimke and a Nebraska service error put Purdue on the hill at 24-23. An Amber Rolfzen kill thwarted that effort. Another Dimke kill made it 25-24, but another Rolfzen kill kept Nebraska in the game. The teams traded errors leading to a 27-27 score. A Drews kill stopped a Husker chance at 28-27, but a kill and a block stole the set away for Nebraska. Drews had six kills and Dimke added five in the stanza.
Drews added six more kills and the teams were knotted up at 16 midway through Set 2, but Nebraska rallied late to take the 25-20 win. Trailing 10-6, Purdue scored five of the next six to tie it up at 11. Kills by Drews, Adelaja and Epenesa and two Husker miscues led to the knot up. Nebraska led 15-13 at the media timeout, but a kill and a block by Evans tied it up at 15. Drews added a kill to make it 16 all. The Huskers went up two at 18-16 and the Boilermakers answered point for point but could not break through after pulling within one at 20-19. Nebraska scored four straight from there, two on kills and two on Purdue miscues to go up 24-19. An Epenesa kill thwarted the first set point effort, but a Rolfzen kill ended the stanza.
Set 3 was a back and forth affair until the midway point when Nebraska turned a 13-13 game around with a 12-4 run to finish the sweep with a 25-17 win. Nebraska hit at a .438 clip in the final set to Purdue's .286 effort. Adelaja had three kills to lead the Boilermaker attack. Down 5-2, the Boilermakers got help from two Husker errors and a kill from Drews to tie it up. Down 7-5, Purdue used a kill by Smith and a block by Adelaja to even the score. Adelaja, Cuttino and sophomore Azariah Stahl all chipped in kills as the Boilermakers countered each Husker point to keep it level at 13. A Purdue miscue kicked off the final Husker rally. Kills by Evans and Adelaja and two Nebraska errors gave the Boilermakers their lone points down the stretch. The No. 16 Boilermakers (17-7, 8-5 B1G) look to bounce back and snap a three-match losing skid at 7 p.m. Saturday when they play host to Iowa at part of the weekend's Homecoming festivities. Purdue volleyball alumnae will be honored at intermission of the match.