WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Boilermakers wrapped up non-conference play with a sweep of Xavier on Saturday to take the Stacey Clark Classic title and extend their current win streak to eight matches.
Junior Danielle Cuttino carried the offensive load with 14 kills, while hitting at a .407 clip. Junior Azariah Stahl and redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson added eight and seven respectively. Stahl also managed a team-best four blocks, including three solo efforts, and one of the team's four aces. Redshirt junior Ashley Evans put down five kills to go with her eight digs and two aces.
Defensively, freshman Natalie Haben pulled up 10 digs followed by Evans (8), sophomore Brooke Peters (5) and redshirt sophomore Carissa Damler (5).
Purdue outhit Xavier .281 to .123 in the match, but was outblocked 7-5 and outdug 39-36.
Haben and redshirt senior Faye Adelaja garnered all-tournament team honors, while Peters was named as MVP of the Stacey Clark Classic. Sofia Peterson (Xavier), Chloee Holden (Southeastern Louisiana) and Ainise Havili and Madison Rigdon (Kansas) rounded out the all-tournament team.
The Boilermakers raced out to a 12-4 lead in Set 1 and never looked back in a 25-21 win. Two blocks by Stahl and kills by four different players helped Purdue to the advantage. Down 18-11, Xavier rallied to cut the margin to two at 18-16. The Boilermakers countered with five of the next seven points, including three Musketeer miscues, to go up 23-18. Another Xavier miscue made it 24-20 and an Evans putaway ended the stanza.
Purdue led by as many as six in Set 2, but had to hold off a late Xavier rally for the 25-21 victory. Cuttino put down three kills and Stahl added a solo block and an ace as the Boilermakers built a 12-7 lead. Kills by Evans and Cuttino made it 15-9 Boilermakers. The Musketeers narrowed the gap to three at 15-12 and the teams traded points over the next 16 serves leading to a 23-20 score. A Xavier kill made it 23-21, but a kill from Atkinson and a Musketeer miscue gave Purdue the win. Cuttino put down five kills as the Boilermakers were outhit .314 to .303 and outblocked 3-1 in the stanza. Four Xavier service errors helped Purdue's cause.
The Boilermakers won Set 3 going away, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 9-3 lead and on to a 25-11 victory. Cuttino buried seven kills as the Boilermakers hit .345 to Xavier's .000 effort in the win. Evans served up two aces and Xavier committed four hitting errors in Purdue's early 7-0 run. The Boilermakers raised the margin to 12 at 18-6 as Peters served up an ace, Stahl put down two kills and the Musketeers made four more errors. With Purdue ahead 19-9, Cuttino turned in three kills and Mohler and Evans teamed up for a block to help the Boilermakers to a set point chance at 24-11. Atkinson pounded down her seventh kill of the night to end the match.
The No. 14 Boilermakers (10-1) return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they kick off conference play against Illinois at Holloway Gymnasium, live on the Big Ten Network.