IOWA CITY, Iowa ââ'¬" The No. 17 Boilermakers found themselves on the short end of a five-set match with a rising Iowa team Friday night, falling 3-2. The Hawkeyes won the match 25-22, 25-27, 20-25, 25-21, 15-13.
Junior Danielle Cuttino lead all hitters with 17 kills, while redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson had a career night with 15 kills and a .636 hitting effort. Redshirt senior Faye Adelaja added 13 kills and redshirt freshman Blake Mohler chipped in seven. Adelaja and redshirt junior Ashley Evans managed six blocks and Mohler put up five. Evans tallied a 48-assist, 11-dig double double and added three aces, while sophomore Brooke Peters managed 10 digs and junior Azariah Stahl pulled up nine.
Purdue outhit the Hawkeyes .236 to .235 and outblocked them 12 to 8.5.
The Boilermakers led 9-6 midway through Set 5, but could not hang on as Iowa pulled off the upset with a 9-4 run down the stretch. Purdue raced out to a 3-1 lead in Set 5 and went on to a 6-3 advantage thanks to a block and a kill by Mohler. Kills by Atkinson and Adelaja put Purdue on top 9-6, but Iowa scored six of the next eight to take a 12-11 lead of its own. A kill by Adelaja tied it up, but the Hawkeyes closed out the upset win with three of the final four points.
Set 1 featured 16 ties, the last at 21-all, and 10 lead changes, but saw the Hawkeyes score four of the final five points to take a 25-22 win. Neither team owned more than a three-point edge in the stanza. Iowa was up 19-16, but kills by Stahl, Adelaja and Evans and a block by Adelaja and Evans gave Purdue a 20-19 lead. The teams tied at 20 and 21 before the Hawkeyes stole away the set. Iowa outhit Purdue .360 to .276 in the stanza.
Purdue held the Hawkeyes to a .029 hitting percentage in a 27-25 Set 2 win. Cuttino led the Boilermakers with four kills while six different players tallied putaways in the set. A kill by Atkinson put Purdue up 5-4 early, but Iowa scored seven of the next nine to take an 11-7 lead. The Boilermakers tied it up at at 13 on an ace by Evans. The team took a timeout trailing 19-16 and scored five straight out of the break, including back-to-back-to-back stuffs by Adelaja and Evans, to go ahead 21-19. A kill by Cuttino put Purdue on the hill for the set at 24-21, but Iowa scored four in a row, including two aces, to get a set point chance of its own at 25-24. Kills by Cuttino and Atkinson and a stuff by Atkinson and Mohler captured the Boilermakers the 27-25 win.
The Boilermakers led Set 3 from start to finish, leading by as many as seven en route to a 25-20 win. Cuttino put down six kills and Atkinson added five as Purdue hit at a .379 clip and managed three blocks. A kill and a block by Cuttino helped Purdue to a 5-2 lead. Iowa was within one at 9-8, but the Boilermakers vaulted ahead with a 6-3 run to go up 15-10 and never looked back. Cuttino put down four kills, including set point, in the final stages.
Iowa hit at a .343 clip in a 25-21 Set 4 win, which saw the Hawkeyes lead wire to wire and hold off a late Boilermaker charge. Iowa jumped out to an 11-6 lead and boasted a 15-9 advantage midway through. Purdue narrowed the gap to three at 15-12 with a kill by Atkinson and a stuff by Mohler, but the Hawkeyes answered with five straight to go up 20-12. The Boilermakers managed eight of the next 11 points, including two kills by Stahl and an ace by redshirt sophomore Carissa Damler, to cut the margin to three at 23-20, but could not complete the comeback.
The No. 17 Boilermakers (11-5, 1-4 B1G) return to action at 3 p.m. ET Sunday when they take on No. 3 Nebraska live on ESPN2.