Purdue Volleyball Advances With Four Set Win Over High Point

Purdue got off to a slow start Thursday night against a High Point squad who came ready to play. The Boilers eventually righted the ship and from then High Point struggled to manufacture points. Purdue dropped the first set 21-25 but took the next three 25-14, 25-22, 25-12. Purdue outhit High Point .227-.073 and out-blocked them 12-3.

High Point was not intimidated by Purdue as they came out swinging in the first set, winning 25-21. Purdue also helped them out by committing several errors, nine hitting errors. Neither team led by more than two for most of the first set, but Purdue collapsed late. The Boilers were up late, 21-19 but gave the set away, ending the set with five errors in a row. Purdue struggled passing for spells in the first set and could not find any rhythm on offense hitting only .094 to HP’s .290 effort.

High Point repaid the favor in the second set committing 14 errors, two service errors and twelve hitting errors, three of which were Purdue blocks, propelling the Boilers to a 25-14 win. The Panthers spotted Purdue a 7-5 lead which Purdue turned into an nine point lead with an 8-1 run; Purdue got four kills, one each from four different players.

Purdue trailed for most of the third set but was able to close strong winning, 25-22. Purdue was up 7-4 when they surrendered a 9-3 run. High Point held the lead til late. Down 22-19 Purdue finished the set on a six point run. Blake Mohler helped close the set out teaming with Azariah Stahl for a block to get Purdue to set point then capping the set with a solo stuff.

Purdue controlled the whole fourth set missing only one side-out opportunity and hitting .500, 16 kills on 28 attempts, two errors. Purdue got a little bit of everything over an 11-4 run that broke a 3-all tie; overpass kills, setter dumps, big swings and blocks. Purdue finished the set, 25-12 on a 4-1 run.

Danielle Cuttino started the match slow, by her standards, with only seven kills in first two sets but finished the night with 18 kills, hitting .368, and four blocks. Sherridan Atkinson never really got into a grove but did putaway 11 kills to make up for six errors. She also contributed six digs and four blocks. Blake Mohler did not post overwhelming numbers offensively, eight kills and .273 hitting, but she was a beast defensively tallying seven blocks. Ashley Evans posted a double-double with 39 assists and a team-leading 14 digs to go with three blocks. Brooke Peters and Azariah Stahl both had 10 digs; Peters served two aces to lead Purdue.

Boilers face No. 11 Utah in the second round Friday at 9:00 ET; match will stream on the Pac-12 Utah site. The Utes advanced after sweeping Cleveland State.

Utah Preview

Purdue

Last night was not perfect for Purdue, they’ll need Sherridan Atkinson and Caitlyn Newton to eliminate some errors and keep the ball in play especially against a bigger block tonight. One positive for Purdue is that Utah is not a particularly tough serving team. If Purdue can play is system they’ve shown they can play with the best. The Boilers also seem to rise to the occasion as evidenced by knocking off four top ten teams. They also took a set off a better than Utah, Nebraska squad in more hostile confines than they’ll see tonight.

Key Players

class, height, position, # name , stats, (statistical rank nationally)

Positions: MB- middle blocker, OH- outside hitter, RS- right side hitter, DS- defensive specialist, L- libero, S- setter

Stats: K/S- kills/set, B/S- blocks/set, D/S- digs/set. .000- hitting percentage, A/S- assists/set SA/S- service aces/set

Jr. 5’9 L 3 Brooke Peters- 3.70 D/S

Sr. 6’1 S 5 Ashley Evans- 11.56 A/S (13), 2.20 D/S, 0.28 SA/S

Sr. 6’0 OH 10 Azariah Stahl- 2.31 K/S, .237, 2.36 D/S

Jr. 6’5 OH/RS 16 Sherridan Atkinson!- 3.48 K/S, .329, 0.69 B/S

So. 6’2 M 17 Blake Mohler- 2.02 K/S, .335, 0.86 B/S

Fr. 5’10 DS 19 Jena Otec- 0.31 SA/S

Sr. 6’4 OH 20 Danielle Cuttino!- 4.08 K/S (37), .334, 0.90 B/S

! All-Big Ten

Utah

Utah (23-9, 13-7) is back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years, and 14th overall. Utah has hosted two other times going 3-1. Through all their appearances Utah is 12-13 and their best finish has been Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2008 and 2010. The Utes earned the No. 11 seed and at-large bid after finishing 4th in the Pac-12 and 9th in the final RPI standings. Utah was 9-9 against the RPI top 50, 5-8 against the top 25 . The Utes were ranked all season long in the coaches poll, rising as high as No. 12; they came in at No. 13 in this week’s poll. Against the AVCA top 25 they went 3-8. Purdue and Utah have only faced each other three times coming into Friday’s match. The Utes hold the 2-1 advantage, but Purdue won the most recent matchup in 2008.

Utah is a taller squad than High Point, but one similarity is their reliance on their outside hitter. Adora Anae has taken almost 500 more swings than the next closest teammate as Utah’s go to option in and out of system. That said, Anae puts away a good portion of those attempts. She’ll likely get her numbers but Purdue will have to keep everyone else in check. One way Purdue can do that is with their block. Against High Point, the Purdue block was locked in, tracking the hitters and timing their jump, and made the Panthers work for every kill they got.

Key Players

Fr. 6’2 OH 2 Shannon Scully- 2.37 D/S

Fr. 5’9 S 6 Camryn Machado- 3.09 A/S

So. 5’9 S 8 Bailey Choy- 9.50 A/S, 2.38 D/S

Sr. 6’1 OH 10 Carly Trueman#- 2.55 K/S

Jr. 6’4 MB 12 Berkeley Oblad#- 2.33 K/S, .316, 1.13 B/S

Sr. 6’1 OH 14 Adora Anae*- 4.28 K/S (22), .227, 3.19 D/S

So. 5’7 L 17 Brianna Doehrmann- 3.30 D/S

Sr. 6’0 MB 20 Tawnee Luafalemana#- .364, 1.20 B/S

*First-Team Pac-12

# Honorable Mention All-Pac-12