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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It took five sets, but the No. 16 Boilermakers held off a feisty Iowa team for a win Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd and more than 30 alumnae. Purdue won the match 24-26, 25-19, 23-26, 25-20, 15-8.
Seven Boilermakers posted at least four kills in the match led by senior Annie Drews' match-high 19. Redshirt junior Faye Adelaja and sophomore Danielle Cuttino added 12 apiece followed by senior Sam Epenesa (7), sophomore Azariah Stahl (7), redshirt sophomore Ashley Evans (6) and freshman Alexa Smith (4). As a team, the Boilermakers hit at a .283 clip, including a better than .300 effort in Sets 2, 4 and 5.
Defensively, senior Amanda Neill led the way with 16 digs followed by Smith's 11. Evans paced the Boilermakers at the net with five blocks, while Adelaja added four. Purdue outblocked Iowa 8-6 and took advantage of several Hawkeye hitting miscues and service errors down the stretch.
In the decisive fifth set, Iowa scored two of the first three points, but Purdue managed 11 of the next 13 to take a commanding 12-4 lead. The Boilermakers got two blocks by Adelaja and Evans and one kill from Cuttino, but the rest of the points came on Hawkeye errors, including four service errors. Iowa called timeout and scored four of the next five, save a Cuttino kill. Up 13-8, kills from Cuttino and Stahl finished off the victory for Purdue. Purdue tallied four kills in the set, which saw the Boilermakers hit .300 to Iowa's -.118 effort.
Purdue started slow in the match, falling behind 9-5 in Set 1, before knotting the score with two Adelaja putaways and one from Drews. The Hawkeyes went up by three at 19-16, but the Boilermakers worked it back to a tie at 20-20 with kills from Epenesa and Cuttino and two Iowa errors. Iowa went up 23-20, but Purdue fought back with a kill from Drews and a block by Evans and Cuttino. Kills from Cuttino and Smith held off two Hawkeye set-point chances and knotted it at 24, but Iowa held on for the 26-24 win. Drews had five kills, but Iowa outhit the Boilermakers .393 to .233.
The Boilermakers led Set 2 from start to finish, leading by as many as eight en route to a 25-19 win. Purdue raced out to a 9-2 lead including a solo stuff from Evans and an ace by Drews. Iowa narrowed the gap to four three times, last at 12-8, but Purdue scored six of the next eight to pull away at 18-10. Kills from Stahl, Evans, Cuttino, Drews and Epenesa led to a 24-16 score. After a 3-0 Iowa run and a timeout, Adelaja clinched the set with her fourth kill of the stanza.
Purdue led 7-4 early in Set 3, but saw the advantage slip away as Iowa put together an 8-3 run to take a 12-10 lead of its own and force a Boilermaker timeout. Back-to-back kills by Epenesa and a Hawkeye error put Purdue back on top 13-12, but Iowa rallied again with eight of the next 12 to go up by three at 20-17. Down 21-18, the Boilermakers got kills from Drews, Evans and Adelaja to help them to a 22-21 edge. Another Adelaja kill put Purdue up 23-22, but Iowa stole away the set with two kills and a Boilermaker miscue. Iowa hit at a .342 clip to Purdue's .261 in the stanza, which featured six Drews kills.
The Boilermakers pushed out to an 11-6 lead in Set 4 as Drews pounded down four kills, Cuttino added three and Stahl put up a solo block. Iowa caught up, trailing by just one at 12-11. The teams split the next 12 points leading to an 18-17 score. A kill by Drews and an ace from sophomore Lydia Dimke made it 20-17 Boilermakers forcing an Iowa timeout. The Hawkeyes were within one against 21-20, but Purdue finished off the set with a 4-0 run including two Iowa miscues and two aces by freshman Brooke Peters.
The No. 16 Boilermakers (18-7, 9-5 B1G) return to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday when they face off with Maryland on the road in College Park.