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AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 17 Boilermakers went toe to toe with No. 3 Texas for four sets and left it all on the court in a four-set loss Friday night in the NCAA Second Round. The Longhorns won the match 25-14, 14-25, 25-19, 27-25.
Senior Annie Drews put down a match-high 18 kills and added seven digs and three blocks. Redshirt junior Faye Adelaja chipped in nine kills and a team-leading six blocks. Senior Sam Epenesa contributed seven kills, while sophomores Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl each added five.
Defensively, senior Amanda Neill paced the Boilermakers with a match-high 18 digs. Redshirt sophomore setter Ashley Evans added 12 digs and three blocks to her 39 assists. Drews added seven digs and freshman Alexa Smith managed five to go with an ace. Sophomore Lydia Dimke served up two aces for Purdue.
The Boilermakers outblocked Texas 11-7 in the match, while UT posted a .219 hitting percentage to Purdue's .167 effort.
Texas jumped out to a 5-1 lead to start Set 1 and never relinquished the advantage in a 25-14 win. Purdue pulled within one three times, last at 8-7 as Drews pounded down three kills and Stahl and Cuttino each added one. Down 12-7, Cuttino supplied a kill and Smith served up a near ace to cut the margin to three, but UT continued on to a seven point lead at 17-10. A pair of Adelaja kills broke up the Texas rally, but the Boilermakers couldn't slow the Longhorns, who capped the set with a 6-2 run. Drews had three kills, but Purdue hit just .081 to Texas' .407.
The Boilermakers evened the score at one set apiece with an identical 25-14 win in Set. This time Purdue hit .360, while keeping Texas in the negative at -.030. Epenesa had four kills and Cuttino had two blocks in the set. The Boilermakers went ahead 4-3 on a block by Adelaja and Stahl and 5-4 on a Stahl putaway, but fell behind 6-5. From there, it was nearly all Purdue as the team closed out the set with a 20-8 run. The Boilermakers kicked off the rally by scoring seven of the next eight including a kill and block by Cuttino and three UT errors. Texas was within three at 12-9, but Purdue stretch the lead to as many as 11 after that. Back to back aces by Lydia Dimke and two Adelaja kills made it 21-11. A kill by Stahl and a UT error set up the final point, a block by Cuttino and Drews.
Purdue led 7-3 and later boasted a 13-12 lead in Set 3, but could not hold off a Texas surge in a 25-19 loss. The Boilermakers took the 7-3 led thanks to four kills by Drews followed by back-to-back stuffs by Adelaja and Evans. Texas caught up and took at 9-8 lead. The teams traded points over the next six serves, before Adelaja and Evans put down kills to put the Boilermakers up 13-12. UT scored four of the next five to go up 16-14 and never gave up the advantage. Down 24-17, Drews delivered two kills, but an Amy Neal kill gave the Longhorns the set. Drews had eight kills in the set but it was not enough.
The Boilermakers fell behind early, but rallied to lead 14-12 midway through Set 4 only to see Texas outlast them for a 27-25 win and the match. Purdue overcame a 5-3 deficit to tie it up at 7-7 thanks to two UT errors, a kill by Evans and a block by Evans and Epenesa. Down again at 9-7, Purdue scored five straight to go up 12-9 after blocks by Cuttino and Drews and a one by Smith. Trailing 14-12, Texas used a 9-4 run to take a 21-18 lead of its own. Purdue knotted the score at 22-22 with a 4-1 run of its own, inclduign an ace by Smith and kills by Smith, Epenesa and Drews. A block by Drews and Adelaja tied it at 23. A double contact call thwarted Texas' first match point chance at 24-23. A kill by Smith stopped the next UT chance at 25-24, but a pair of Neal kills ended the Boilermaker season at 27-25.
No. 17 Purdue wraps the 2015 season at 23-10 as the careers of seniors Annie Drews, Sam Epenesa, Kaisley Fisher, Amanda Neill and Kate Workman come to a close.