MATCH STATS
- #19 Purdue def. Northwestern, 3-0 (27-25, 25-13, 25-23)
- Purdue moves to 15-2, 5-1; Northwestern falls to 12-6, 2-4
- Evanston, Illinois
- Attendance: 696
- Box score
EVANSTON, Ill. – In a match played at Evanston Township High School, the Purdue Boilermakers swept Northwestern for the second time this season. The sweep was punctuated early with the Boilermakers coming back from being 20-12 down in the first set. Purdue also hit .549 for the final two sets to punctuate the win and move the Boilers to 8th in the NCAA RPI.
Purdue had three players in double-digit kills, including a recovery of sorts for Danielle Cuttino, who hit below .200 for the first time this season in their match on Friday night against Illinois. She finished the match with an impressive attack line (12-2-23, .435) while adding 3 blocks. Sherridan Atkinson led all attackers with 13 kills, hitting .667 and also contributing 3 blocks. Blake Mohler was also in double-digit kills with 11 and a team-high 6 blocks. Ashley Evans led the efficient attack (.430) with 40 assists and 8 digs. Libero Brooke Peters was the only defender in the match with double-digit digs, scooping 15.
For Northwestern, Symone Abbott was one of few bright spots for NU, filling up the stat sheet with 10 kills (hitting .333), 3 aces and 2 blocks. Gabrielle Hazen finished with 7 kills and had match-highs of 7 blocks and 4 aces for the Wildcats.
Purdue now starts its toughest stretch of the season, with matches at Minnesota (Oct. 11), hosting Nebraska (Oct. 14) and Penn State (Oct. 20) in their next three matches.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Purdue Athletics
EVANSTON, Ill. – Sherridan Atkinson led No. 18 Purdue (15-2, 5-1 B1G) to its second sweep of Northwestern (12-6, 2-4 B1G) this season as the Boilermakers defeated the Wildcats 27-25, 25-13, 25-23. The victory marks Purdue’s fourth straight win and moves the Boilermakers to eighth in the nation’s RPI rankings.
“It’s very hard to come back in a Big Ten match and win after being down 20-12,” said head coach Dave Shondell. “But we just persevered. I thought Azariah (Stahl) made some great defensive plays, the hitters started to roll and (Ashley) Evans made great choices. Then it just became a combustion of everybody doing their job at a high level and before you know it, we stormed back and stole one from them which actually changed the whole match. That was fantastic, but it was started by defense.”
The Wildcats came out playing some of the best volleyball they’ve played all season long, hitting .846 with 12 kills to take a 20-12 lead over the Boilermakers. However, a thunderous kill by Azariah Stahl, three blocks, and an ace by Brooke Peters set the tone for the rest of the first set. Purdue hit .500 with six kills and five blocks while holding Northwestern to three kills and a -.444 hitting percentage in order to pull off the 27-25 victory.
From that point on, Purdue’s offense took control of the match as Boilermakers hit .549 the rest of the way to close out the match. Ashley Evans had Northwestern off balance most of contest as she initially set her middles to .588 hitting percentage with 13 kills in the first two sets, opening the door for Atkinson and Danielle Cuttino to hit .537 with 25 kills on the pins. Evans finished the match with 40 assists on Purdue’s 50 kills, fueling a .430 hitting percentage for the match. She also registered three kills, a service ace, eight digs and a block.
Atkinson finished with 13 kills and just one error on 18 swings to hit .667 in the contest while Cuttino hit .435 with 12 kills, two errors and 23 attempts. Both, Cuttino and Atkinson, finished with three blocks. Stahl seemed to come up with a big play when Purdue needed it the most no matter where she was on the court as the six-rotation outside hitter finished with seven kills, two service aces, three digs and three blocks.
Evans connected with Shavona Cuttino for four kills on four swings while Blake Mohler registered 11 kills and a team-leading six blocks. Brooke Peters was exceptional on defense, registering 15 digs to go along with two service aces while Carissa Damler supported the efforts in the back row with six digs.
Courtesy of Northwestern Athletics
EVANSTON, Ill. — Senior outside hitter Symone Abbottcontinued to climb up the Northwestern record books on Sunday as she moved into a tie with Dawn Reig for sixth place all-time in career kills.
After starting the match with 1,471 career kills, Abbott would finish with a team-high 10 kills to move her total to 1,481 for her career. She is now tied with Reig and need 10 kills to pass Madelyn Meneghetti for fifth all-time.
Northwestern (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) dropped the second half of its Big Ten weekend matches, falling to No. 18 Purdue (15-2, 5-1 Big Ten) in three sets at the historic Beardsley Gym at Evanston Township High School.
The ‘Cats jumped out to a quick start in the first set thanks to a balanced attack all-around. Senior Gabrielle Hazen led the charge with four total blocks, two kills, and two service aces. First-year Nia Robinson also got off to fast start with four kills in the set, while Abbott led the team with five kills of her own. However, the Boilermakers would go on to win the set 27-25 and take a 1-0 advantage.
After dropping the second set, the #B1GCats showed great resiliency as they battled Purdue evenly throughout the third set. After Purdue pulled ahead with a 20-14 lead late in the set, NU came roaring back with four consecutive points including back-to-back aces from Hazen to cut the lead to 20-18. Later in the set, Northwestern fended off three consecutive match points before finally falling 25-23.
Six Wildcats finished with kills on the day, with Robinson adding eight and first-year Alana Walkernotching seven. Taylor Tashima finished just short of a double-double with a team-high 29 assists and seven digs. Hazen would finish the day with seven kills along with a team-high four service aces and seven total blocks.
Northwestern and Purdue finished the match tied with 10 team blocks each. The Wildcats also led the match with 10 service aces, tying the team’s season high.
Leave a Reply