Purdue Volleyball: Boilers Split Matches with MSU and Iowa

Purdue got a win for Faye Adelaja in her last match in Holloway, besting Iowa in four sets. Earlier in the week Purdue pushed Michigan State, but couldn’t get past the Spartans falling in three sets.

Purdue had a bad night hitting against Michigan State, but still fought hard before falling to the Spartans.

There were six set point opportunities in the first set; Purdue couldn’t convert any of theirs, losing 30-28. The Boilers got down 10-5 early before storming back with a 9-1 run. Purdue grew their lead to 20-15 and looked to be in control. Sparty, though, stormed back, first tying the set at 23 and then earning the first set point. A Faye Adelaja kill drew Purdue back even with MSU and extended the match. Danielle Cuttino put down a kill earning Purdue their first set point, 25-24. On back-to-back points MSU denied Cuttino, giving MSU set point again. Purdue got lucky as Sparty had back-to-back hitting errors and Purdue got another chance to take the set, 27-26. Ashley Evans missed her serve so things were tied back up at 27. Michigan State struck with a kill; Purdue was able to answer with a Cuttino kill as they stayed alive, 28-28. Sparty then ended the set with two kills.

Purdue started the second set strong going up 8-4. Michigan State tied it at 10 and took the lead for good, 16-15. Purdue stayed within two and tied the set for the last time at 22-all. MSU struck with a kill and Purdue couldn’t find the court on the last two points giving Sparty a 25-22 win.

Michigan State led from start to finish in the third set. A 5-1 Purdue run tied the score at 16. Sparty answered with a kill and 9-3 run to close the set, winning 25-19.

Faye Adelaja led Purdue with 12 kills and five blocks while hitting .471. Danielle Cuttino had 13 kills. Ashley Evans put up 36 assists. Brooke Peters served two aces to go with a team leading nine digs. Carissa Damler also had nine digs. Purdue hit .132 and had seven blocks. MSU hit .212 and put up 11 blocks.

Purdue was much improved, hitting-wise, against Iowa as they avenged a loss to the Hawkeyes. Also Purdue gave their lone senior, Faye Adelaja, a win on Senior Night.

Purdue started hot then went cold losing to Iowa, 25-21. Brooke Peters started the night with an ace, the start of a 6-1 run for Purdue. Over the run Adelaja combined with Stahl on Evans on two blocks and put down a kill. Up 12-10, Purdue committed four hitting errors fueling a 7-0 Hawkeye run. Iowa hung on to the lead down the stretch.

Again Purdue started the set hot, this time though they kept the momentum, winning 25-19. Everyone was contributing early as four different players; Stahl, Adelaja, Blake Mohler, and Cuttino; had kills, as Purdue ran out to a 8-1 lead. Natalie Haben got in on the action too, serving an ace and setter Ashley Evans combined with Mohler for a block. Iowa only got as close as five the rest of the way.

Iowa had the quick start in the third set as Purdue got down 7-2. The Boilers cut into the lead shortly thereafter, 10-8. Purdue stayed within striking distance and took the lead, 21-20, after a big triple block from Cuttino, Adelaja, and Evans. Cuttino put down two kills and Evans capped the set with an ace as Purdue won 25-22.

The first half of the fourth set was closely contested, then Purdue broke it open. Up 13-12, the Boilers went on to outscore Iowa 12-4. Early in the run Mohler teamed up with Atkinson and Cuttino for blocks and later she put down a kill. Azariah Stahl had four consecutive kills as Purdue closed in on set point. Fittingly, senior Faye Adelaja got the kill on match point to get the win 25-16.

Danielle Cuttino led with 16 kills. Azariah Stahl had a great performance rebounding from a .000 effort against MSU, posting 15 kills and hitting .429 against Iowa. Stahl’s .429 effort was topped however by Sherridan Atkinson who hit .556 putting away 12 kills. Faye Adelaja had nine kills and six blocks in her last game on Belin Court. Ashley Evans had 46 assists. Brooke Peters served up two aces. Natalie Haben, who was injured in the first matchup with Iowa, led the backrow with 13 digs. As a team Purdue outhit Iowa .308-.221 and out-blocked the Hawkeyes 10.5-3.

Purdue travels to Bloomington Wednesday evening, and on Saturday they’ll look to upset Penn State in Happy Valley.