WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermakers moved to 2-0 on the season with a four-set win over Washington State on Friday night. Purdue won the match 28-26, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21 behind career nights by juniors Azariah Stahl and Danielle Cuttino.
Stahl racked up a match-high 21 kills to go with nine digs and two aces, while Cuttino put down 18 kills. Redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson managed eight putaways and redshirt junior setter Ashley Evans added six kills and four blocks to her 51-assist, 10-dig double double.
Evans was one of four Purdue players that ended the night with four stuff alongside Atkinson and redshirt freshmen Shavona Cuttino and Blake Mohler. Mohler also chipped in two aces. In the backcourt, freshman libero Natalie Haben pulled up 16 digs, followed by Evans (10), Stahl (9), redshirt sophomore Carissa Damler (8) and junior Brooke Peters.
Set 1 was a see-saw ordeal featuring 18 ties and 10 lead changes as well as four combined set-point chances, the last of which Purdue took at 28-26 to win the stanza. Stahl put down 10 kills in the set, while hitting at a .692 clip. Cuttino chipped in six kills and Mohler and Haben each added an ace. Purdue owned its largest lead at 9-6 and 10-7 thanks to a block by Mohler and Evans and a Stahl putaway. WSU went up by two at 20-18, but Purdue scored three in a row, including an ace by Mohler to go up 21-20 and force a Cougar timeout. The Boilermakers had the first chance at the set at 24-23 after a kill by Cuttino. A service error gave the team another shot, but Washington State answered with two kills to have a 26-25 chance of its own. A Stahl kill erased that shot, then a WSU hitting miscue and another Stahl putaway clinched the 28-26 win.
Purdue went up 4-2 early in Set 2 and maintained the lead the advantage the rest of the way. Mohler, Cuttino and Atkinson put down four kills apiece as the Boilermakers hit a .500 clip in the set. Purdue led 10-8, but WSU tied it up at 10 and the teams split the next 14 points, including three Mohler kills, en route to a 17-17 tie. A solo stuff by Shavona Cuttino, an ace by Evans and kills by three different players gave the Boilermakers some cushion at 22-18 care of a 5-1 run. A kill by Shavona Cuttino forced a Cougar timeout at 23-19. A kill and a block by Mohler capped the set at 25-20.
The Boilermakers scored the first two point of Set 3, but played from behind the rest of the way and could never catch the Cougars in 25-19 loss. Stahl and Danielle Cuttino each had five kills, but Purdue hit just .154 to WSU's .538 effort. Down five at 15-10, the Boilermakers narrowed the gap to two at 18-16 after a pair of overpass putaways by Atkinson and Stahl. Purdue trailed by just two again at 20-18, but Washington State scored five of the last six to take the stanza.
Purdue closed out the match with a scrappy 25-21 Set 4 victory, which saw the team rack up five blocks, including three each by Shavona Cuttino and Atkinson. The stanza saw nine tie scores, the last at 10-10, when a stuff by Danielle Cuttino and Mohler opened the flood gates for the Boilermakers. Two more stuffs combined with WSU miscues and kills by Danielle Cuttino and Atkinson put Purdue on top 16-11. The Cougars would not go quietly, however, slicing the margin to one at 16-15, 17-16 and 18-17. The Boilermakers pulled away with a 5-1 run capped by an ace by Stahl, which made it 23-18. It took three chances for Purdue to close out the night after an Evans kill put the Boilermakers on the hill at 24-19. A putdown by Danielle Cuttino finally ended the evening.
The Boilermakers return to action at 6 p.m. Saturday vs. No. 24 Kentucky in the Mortar Board Premier finale.