Match Stats
- #22 Purdue def. Wyoming 3-2 (18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 15-7)
- Purdue moves to 6-0, Wyoming falls to 3-3
- UnyWyo Invite, UniWyo Sports Complex, Laramie, Wyoming
- Attendance: 1,302
- Box Score
The 22nd-ranked Purdue Boilermakers knocked off Eastern Michigan and Wyoming on Saturday, the latter in a 3-2 nailbiter, to win the UniWyo Invite in Laramie.
The Boilermakers’ two-headed monster at outside hitter were in full force for the win against Wyoming. Danielle Cuttino had 23 kills (8 errors, 51 attacks, .294 percentage) and Sherridan Atkinson had 22 of her own (8 errors, 38 attacks, .368 hitting percentage).
Atkinson was named the tournament MVP with 39 kills, 9 total blocks, and 2 aces across 10 sets played.
In total, Purdue hit .322 on the match to just .250 for Wyoming. Wyoming, though, struggled more-and-more as the match wore on – including an .000 hitting percentage in the final set. The Cowgirls were able to keep things close by out-blocking Purdue 11-8 and out-acing them 6-2.
Purdue had an up-and-down match on side-outs, but in the 2nd and 5th sets were 78% and 75% on side-out opportunities, quashing Wyoming from ever getting too much momentum. The 4th set was the character set for Purdue, where they hit .400 in spite of only scoring on 60% of sideout opportunities.
Wyoming was led in scoring by Emily Lewis. She had 17 kills on .191 hitting percentage, while Jackie McBride supported with 11 kills and just 1 error on 16 swings.
For Purdue, the start is their first 6-0 start since 2011, where they won the first 14 games of their season.
Videos
Interview with Purdue head coach Dave Shondell:
Here's head coach @DaveShondell's comments following our 3-0 weekend in Wyoming! #RiseHigher #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/FlRGHHqbtv
— Purdue Volleyball (@PurdueVB) September 3, 2017
Press Releases
Courtesy Purdue Athletics:
LARAMIE, Wyo. – Sherridan Atkinson and the Boilermakers hit .523 to lift No. 21 Purdue (4-0) to its fourth-consecutive sweep, defeating Jacksonville (2-2) 25-14, 25-14, 25-19 in Wyoming’s UniWyo Sports Complex. Purdue’s hitting percentage is the fourth best recorded in a three-set match in program history.
Atkinson had her way with the Dolphins from the very beginning, throwing down 13 kills on 16 attempts with just two errors to earn a .688 hitting percentage. The redshirt junior put together a complete performance as she also aced Jacksonville twice and denied opposing hitter’s attacks five times. Supporting Atkinson’s effort, Blake Mohler, Shavona Cuttino, Erin Williams and Caitlyn Newton combined for 14 kills on 23 errorless attempts. Mohler led the trio with a 6-for-8 night while Cuttino and Newton each added three kills of their own. Williams found the floor on two of her three attempts.
Azariah Stahl put together a solid effort as well, registering seven kills and just two errors on 12 swings to go along with her ace, six digs and two blocks. Danielle Cuttino hit .333 in limited action with five kills on nine swings while also stuffing the Dolphins twice.
Orchestrating the impressive offensive showing was Ashley Evans who finished the match with 30 assists, six digs and three of Purdue’s seven service aces. The redshirt senior led Purdue to its historic 41-kill, seven-error, 65-attempt performance, leading to a match that saw just two tie scores as Purdue never trailed in the contest.
The Boilermakers are back in action Saturday, Sept. 1 in the UniWyo Sports Complex when they square off with Eastern Michigan at 12 p.m. ET before concluding the tournament with Wyoming at 9 p.m.
Courtesy Wyoming Athletics:
LARAMIE, Wyo. (May 9, 2017) — Wyoming volleyball head coach Chad Callihan, who will be entering his fifth season at UW, announced the Cowgirls 2017 schedule on Tuesday. Wyoming will once again compete against five teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
The Cowgirls will play 15 matches inside the friendly confines of the UniWyo Sports Complex, including nine Mountain West matches. Additionally, UW will host two non-conference tournaments, the Rumble in the Rockies (Aug. 25-26) and UniWyo Invite (Sept. 1-2).
The Brown and Gold Scrimmage is set to take place on August 18 at 6:30 p.m. MT. It will be free and open to the public. Wyoming will then begin its 2017 campaign by welcoming Abilene Christian, Portland and South Dakota to Laramie for the Rumble in the Rockies non-conference tournament.
Portland is coming off its most successful season as a Division I institution. The Pilots went 17-13 a year ago. The 17 wins were the most wins in a season for the program since 1986. Abilene Christian is led by first-year head coach Angela Mooney and closed out last season with a 12-19 overall record, in addition to third-place in the Southland Conference with an 11-5 mark. South Dakota will make its way to Laramie after its most successful season in program history. USD set a program record with 25 wins and captured the program’s first conference title by winning a share of the Summit League regular season title. The Coyotes claimed runner-up honors in the Summit League Tournament.
Presented by the UniWyo Federal Credit Union, the UniWyo Invite will take place Sept. 1-2 as Wyoming will play host to Jacksonville, Purdue and Eastern Michigan. Jacksonville ended the 2016 season with a 9-19 overall record in addition to making its 17th-straight appearance in the ASUN Conference Tournament. Eastern Michigan will travel to Wyoming after an 8-21 season last year and 3-13 in the MAC. Purdue will be the first of five opponents for UW that qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2016. The Boilermakers posted a 19-14 mark and advanced to the NCAA Second Round.
After the UniWyo Invite, the Cowgirls will make their way to the Pepperdine University Tournament and will face off against Missouri State, Washington and host Pepperdine on Sept. 8-9. The Waves ended 2016 with a 13-17 overall mark including a 7-11 record in the WCC. Missouri State fell to Ohio State in the First Round of the NCAA Championship last season. The Bears (26-9) recorded their most victories in a season since 2006 and included a Missouri Valley Conference regular season title. Wyoming will then take on the University of Washington. The Huskies season came to an end a year ago against Nebraska in the Elite Eight. Washington went 29-5 in 2016 and were ranked seventh in the final AVCA Coaches poll.
At the Oral Roberts University Classic Sept. 15-16, UW will face Central Arkansas, Tulsa and Oral Roberts. Central Arkansas fell to Texas A&M Corpus-Christi in the Southland Conference semifinals last season. The Bears ended the campaign with a 16-14 overall record. Tulsa went 19-13 overall and 8-12 in The American a year ago, as Oral Roberts went 17-15 overall and 8-8 in the Summit league play. Oral Roberts fell to Denver in The Summit League Championship Semifinals.
The Cowgirls will have 18 matches in MW play, including the Border War against Colorado State on September 26, and senior night against San Diego State on November 15. Nine of Wyoming’s 18 conference matches will be played at home this season. UW went 11-2 at home last year and dating back to the 2012 season, the Brown and Gold have a record of 69-12 in Laramie.
UW will open MW competition at home by welcoming UNLV and New Mexico on September 21 and 23, respectively, just before the Border War match. The Cowgirls will have two three-match road trips during conference play. They will face Air Force (Sept. 28), Utah State (Oct. 5) and Boise State (Oct. 7) before traveling to New Mexico (Oct. 19), UNLV (Oct. 21) and Colorado State (Oct. 24). Wyoming will kick off its second three-match conference home stand with Air Force on Oct. 27, before they compete against Boise State (Nov. 2) and Utah State (Nov. 4). To close out MW competition, UW will make its way to Fresno State on Nov. 18.
Wyoming is coming off an 18-13 campaign that included an 11-7 mark in MW play. Laura Beach and Kayla Slofkiss were each named to the All-MW team and were joined by Courtney Chacon to win 85 matches at UW. The 85 wins were third all-time as a class. Junior Reed Copeland ended 2016 ranked 28th in the NCAA in total blocks. Copeland was once named the MW Defensive Player of the Week, while sophomore Madi Fields was twice named Defensive Player of the Week and finished eighth in the conference in digs. In all, Wyoming returns ten letterwinners.
Fans can purchase season tickets by calling Brandon Bernabo of the Wyoming Athletics Ticket Office at 307-766-7220 or online beginning June 26.
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