WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Boilermakers leveled the season series with Iowa, topping the Hawkeyes 3-1 Saturday, avenging an Oct. 7 five-set loss in Iowa City. Purdue won the match 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-16 on Senior Night for Faye Adelaja and the team's final regular-season home match.
Juniors Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl and redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson posted double digit kills to lead the Boilermaker attack with 16, 15 and 12 respectively. Atkinson hit at a .556 clip, while Stahl hit .429 and added six digs and an ace. Adelaja posted a team-best six blocks to go with nine kills on her senior night, while redshirt freshman Blake Mohler put down five kills and added four blocks and redshirt junior Ashley Evans managed four kills and four stuffs.
In the back court, freshman Natalie Haben led the way with 13 digs, while redshirt sophomore Carissa Damler added nine and sophomore Brooke Peters chipped in seven. Peters also served up two of Purdue's five aces.
Purdue won every major offensive category, including outhitting the Hawkeyes .308 to .221 and outblocking them 10.5 to 3.
The Boilermakers started the set on a 6-1 run and rallied late, but could not overcome a six-point deficit in a 25-21 Set 1 decision. Adelaja broke into the career block assists top 10 with a pair of blocks in the early rally. Iowa erased the Purdue lead with a 15-6 run, capped by seven straight points, to go ahead 17-12 and force a timeout. Down 21-16, Purdue rallied to score six of the next nine to narrow the margin to 24-21, but could not hold off one final kill for the Hawkeyes. Evans, Adelaja, Stahl and Cuttino each had three kills in the set.
Purdue raced out to an 8-1 lead in Set 2 and never looked back in a 25-19 win. Four different players tallied kills in the opening stretch, while Haben added an ace. Two kills by Stahl and a stuff by Atkinson and Adelaja put the Boilermakers on top 13-5. Iowa scored four in a row, but the Purdue lead was back to eight at 19-11 moments later. The Hawkeyes cut the margin to five four times, but a kill by Cuttino ended the stanza at 25-19. Stahl and Cuttino each downed five kills in the set as Purdue outhit Iowa .346 to .226.
Atkinson put away six kills and Cuttino added five as the Boilermakers rallied from an early deficit to steal away a 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in the match. Iowa scored seven of the first nine points, but the Boilermakers rallied with a 14-9 run to tie the score at 16 and eventually gained the advantage at 21-20 on a triple block by Evans, Adelaja and Cuttino. Back to back kills by Cuttino made it 23-21. An ace by Evans sealed it 25-22.
Stahl and Atkinson carried the Boilermakers to a 25-16 Set 4 win with six and five kills respectively, while the team hit .500 and managed four blocks. The teams split the first 14 points of Set 4, before the Boilermakers were able to jump ahead 12-8 with a 5-1 run, including an ace by Peters. Iowa narrowed the gap to one at 13-12, but Purdue answered with four straight points and 12 of the final 16 en route to the win. Four straight kills by Stahl took the score from 20-15 to 24-15, setting the table for Adelaja to put the final nail in things at 25-16.
The Boilermakers (16-11, 6-10 B1G) play their final four matches on the road, beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Indiana in Bloomington.