COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Boilermakers never surrendered in a hard-fought four-set loss to No. 18 Missouri on Friday, which ended their season in the NCAA Second Round. Purdue fell 25-13, 22-25, 25-16, 25-21, but rallied to within two points in the final stanza, before being edged by the host Tigers.
Missouri hit at a .346 clip on the night, outblocked Purdue 11-4 and served up seven aces while allowing the Boilermakers none. Purdue could not find an answer for Melanie Crow, who had a career-best 25 kills for the Tigers, with many coming from back row attacks.
For its part, Purdue hit at a .206 clip, led by junior Danielle Cuttino, who pounded down 17 kills. Junior Azariah Stahl added 12 kills, while redshirt senior Faye Adelaja and redshirt freshman Blake Mohler chipped in eight apiece. Redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson put down seven kills to round out the offense.
Adelaja also put up at a team-best two blocks in her final match for the Old Gold and Black. In the backcourt, freshman Natalie Haben managed a match-high 18 digs. Stahl added 12 digs to round out a double-double, while redshirt junior setter Ashley Evans tallied 10 digs to go with her 45 assists.
Missouri outhit Purdue .591 to .083 in the first set en route to a 25-13 win. The Boilermakers scored the opening point on kill by Evans and went up 4-3 on back-to-back kills by Cuttino. Down 5-4, Missouri scored five straight to go up 9-5 and force a Purdue timeout. Two Tiger miscues pulled Purdue within two at 9-7. A pair of Stahl kills kept the Boilermakers close at 12-9, but Missouri scored 13 of the final 17 to take the stanza. Stahl had four kills to lead the Boilermaker attack.
Purdue evened the match at a set apiece, taking a 25-22 on their third set point attempt of Set 2. The Boilermakers hit .368 behind five kills each from Atkinson and Adelaja. Five players posted kills in the stanza as Purdue came back from an early 3-1 deficit. The Boilermakers used a 5-1 run, including two Mohler kills, to turn the deficit into a 6-4 advantage. Missouri tied it up at six, seven and eight and went up 9-8, but Purdue rallied with five of the next six to lead 13-10. The Tigers were within one at 14-13 and the teams split the next six points leading to a 17-16 score. The Boilermakers used a 5-2 run to go ahead 20-17 and went on to a 24-20 lead with help from kills by Cuttino and Atkinson. A Stahl putaway sealed the set at 25-22.
An efficient offense led Missouri to a wire to wire 25-16 Set 3 win over the Boilermakers. The Tigers hit .480 to Purdue's .056 effort. Cuttino put down five kills, but it was not enough. Mizzou led by as many as 10 in the stanza at 19-9. Kills by Cuttino, Stahl and Atkinson cut the margin to eight at 20-12. Down 24-14, Purdue got a kill from Adelaja and a block by Evans and Mohler to stave off two set-point chances, but could not finish a comeback.
Purdue scored five straight to race ahead 6-2. Missouri turned things around with an 11-3 run to charge ahead 13-9. The Boilermakers cut the margin to one at 13-12 and 14-13 with kills from Adelaja and Stahl. The Tigers answered with a 5-0 run to go up 19-13. Down 22-17, Purdue scored four of the next five, including a stuff and kill from Mohler and two Mizzou errors to pull within two at 23-21 and force a Tiger timeout. Missouri got a kill and a block out of the break to end the match at 25-21.
The Boilermakers, who made their 11th NCAA Second Round appearance in the last 13 years, end the season at 19-14 overall. The team will return 12 players from the 2016 squad, all but Adelaja.