WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 13 Purdue Boilermakers downed Iowa in a sweeping fashion for the second straight night (25-16, 25-15, 25-21).
The Boilermaker offense blasted a.426 hitting % in the victory, the best mark against a Big Ten foe since Purdue's .494 hitting clip versus Indiana on September 27, 2017. Additionally, as a team, Purdue recorded just one error through the first two sets.
Junior Jael Johnson continued her impressive start to the 2021 season after producing a career-best with 13 kills and no errors on 19 swings (.684) for the second straight week (previous career-high set a weekend ago at Wisconsin (10, 1/22/21).
Meanwhile setter Hayley Bush secured 43 assists and four kills. Ellis put down 11 kills with two errors on 22 attempts for a .409 attack %, the most kills since Oct. 19, 2019 at Ohio State. Maddy Chinn produced eight kills, bringing her weekend total to 15, a combined career-best in back-to-back outings.
Leading the defense was libero Jena Otec, who tallied 16 digs on the night. Maddie Schermerhorn's 10 digs ties a career-best, which was set the previous evening against Iowa.
THE BREAKDOWN
Set 1 | 25-16
Purdue served up two aces by its ninth point, thanks to the seniors Jena Otec (Score: 3-2 Purdue) and Caitlyn Newton (Score: 9-4 Purdue). In a 7-1 Purdue run, Johnson produced three kills, it's last securing a 10-4 Purdue advantage, a lead the Hawkeyes attempted to chip away at, however Newton added the exclamation point with the team's third ace of the night on a 4-1 run for an insurmountable 18-11 score in favor of Purdue.
Johnson went perfect in the first set, scoring on all four attempts. As a team, Purdue went 16-0-26 (.615) on the attack, with seven Boilermakers contributing points.
Set 2 | 25-15
Iowa stayed within three points of Purdue until Chinn set in motion a 4-0 run, where she collected two of the kills to bring the score to 13-8, Purdue. Despite two kills from Newton, the Hawkeyes scored three straight to crawl within four points of Purdue (Score: 16-12 Purdue). Then, Purdue forced an error and back-to-back blocks to solidify a 5-0 run and an Iowa timeout (Score: 20-12 Purdue). The Boilermakers, allowed just two more kills by the Hawkeyes before finalizing the set, 25-15.
Two freshmen, Savana Chacon and Molly Brown made their collegiate debut in the set.
Set 3 | 25-21
Within the first eight points by either team, the Hawkeyes and Boilermakers were knotted four times, however Purdue began to pull away with a 5-1 run. In the stretch, the Boilermakers saw a pair of kills by Trammell and two stuffs by Ellis, Trammell and Chinn for a 13-8 Purdue advantage. Iowa and Purdue went on to trade points, but the Boilermaker lead was too much to overcome.
Johnson had an evening's-best five kills, while Chinn, Ellis and Koch each secured a trio of kills. Johnson and Koch were errorless in the third set.
UP NEXT
Purdue will return to Holloway next weekend Feb. 5-6, where it will take on No. 7 Minnesota. Friday's 7 p.m. ET match will air on Big Ten Network, while fans can catch Saturday's 5 p.m. ET start on BTN+.
The Boilermaker offense blasted a.426 hitting % in the victory, the best mark against a Big Ten foe since Purdue's .494 hitting clip versus Indiana on September 27, 2017. Additionally, as a team, Purdue recorded just one error through the first two sets.
Junior Jael Johnson continued her impressive start to the 2021 season after producing a career-best with 13 kills and no errors on 19 swings (.684) for the second straight week (previous career-high set a weekend ago at Wisconsin (10, 1/22/21).
Meanwhile setter Hayley Bush secured 43 assists and four kills. Ellis put down 11 kills with two errors on 22 attempts for a .409 attack %, the most kills since Oct. 19, 2019 at Ohio State. Maddy Chinn produced eight kills, bringing her weekend total to 15, a combined career-best in back-to-back outings.
Leading the defense was libero Jena Otec, who tallied 16 digs on the night. Maddie Schermerhorn's 10 digs ties a career-best, which was set the previous evening against Iowa.
THE BREAKDOWN
Set 1 | 25-16
Purdue served up two aces by its ninth point, thanks to the seniors Jena Otec (Score: 3-2 Purdue) and Caitlyn Newton (Score: 9-4 Purdue). In a 7-1 Purdue run, Johnson produced three kills, it's last securing a 10-4 Purdue advantage, a lead the Hawkeyes attempted to chip away at, however Newton added the exclamation point with the team's third ace of the night on a 4-1 run for an insurmountable 18-11 score in favor of Purdue.
Johnson went perfect in the first set, scoring on all four attempts. As a team, Purdue went 16-0-26 (.615) on the attack, with seven Boilermakers contributing points.
Set 2 | 25-15
Iowa stayed within three points of Purdue until Chinn set in motion a 4-0 run, where she collected two of the kills to bring the score to 13-8, Purdue. Despite two kills from Newton, the Hawkeyes scored three straight to crawl within four points of Purdue (Score: 16-12 Purdue). Then, Purdue forced an error and back-to-back blocks to solidify a 5-0 run and an Iowa timeout (Score: 20-12 Purdue). The Boilermakers, allowed just two more kills by the Hawkeyes before finalizing the set, 25-15.
Two freshmen, Savana Chacon and Molly Brown made their collegiate debut in the set.
Set 3 | 25-21
Within the first eight points by either team, the Hawkeyes and Boilermakers were knotted four times, however Purdue began to pull away with a 5-1 run. In the stretch, the Boilermakers saw a pair of kills by Trammell and two stuffs by Ellis, Trammell and Chinn for a 13-8 Purdue advantage. Iowa and Purdue went on to trade points, but the Boilermaker lead was too much to overcome.
Johnson had an evening's-best five kills, while Chinn, Ellis and Koch each secured a trio of kills. Johnson and Koch were errorless in the third set.
UP NEXT
Purdue will return to Holloway next weekend Feb. 5-6, where it will take on No. 7 Minnesota. Friday's 7 p.m. ET match will air on Big Ten Network, while fans can catch Saturday's 5 p.m. ET start on BTN+.