MATCH STATS
- #5 Minnesota def. #19 Purdue, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-23)
- Minnesota improves to 16-2, 5-2; Purdue falls to 15-3, 5-2
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Attendance: 4617
- Box score
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – In a top 20 battle that figures to factor into seeding for the NCAA tournament, #5 Minnesota swept #19 Purdue at the Maturi Pavilion (25-17, 25-21, 25-23) on Wednesday evening. The Golden Gophers kept the country’s second-best hitting percentage over 100 points below their average and goaded the Boilers into untimely errors, even when Purdue was ahead significantly in the third set. Purdue started set three with a 7-2 lead and even led 21-17 late. But a 4-0 run punctuated by a ball handling error tied the set at 21, and two Alexis Hart kills and a finishing kill from Stephanie Samedi sealed Purdue’s fate.
Minnesota was led offensively by Samedy, who finished with 13 kills (hitting .355) and 7 digs. Hart also chipped in double-digit kills with 11 (hitting .308) adding in 2 digs and 2 aces. Samantha Seliger-Swenson directed the .298 hitting offense with a double-double of 36 assists and a team-high 15 digs.
For the Boilermakers, Danielle Cuttino had a match-high 17 kills, but was held well below her hitting percentage with untimely hitting errors in the third set into the angle. Azariah Stahl picked up some of the slack, adding 13 kills (hitting .333) and 8 digs. Ashley Evans ran the offense well, with a match-high 41 assists and completing her double-double with 10 digs. Libero Brooke Peters led all defenders with a match-high 17 digs.
Unforced errors by Purdue ultimately led to the victory for Minnesota. Purdue had 15 unforced attack errors (UM only had 3 blocks), 6 missed serves and were aced 4 times. In contrast, Minnesota had only 6 unforced attack errors (Purdue had 5 blocks), 3 missed serves and were aced 3 times in the match.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Minnesota Athletics
The No. 6 University of Minnesota volleyball program earned a 3-0 win over No. 16 Purdue, tonight at Maturi Pavilion. The Golden Gophers took a 25-17, 25-21, 25-23 sweep over the Boilermakers to improve to 16-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten. Purdue dropped just its second match of the Big Ten season, and are now 15-3 overall, 5-2 in league action.
Stephanie Samedy had a team-best 13 kills and hit .355 in 31 attempts and added seven digs. Alexis Hart had 11 kill, hit .308 and had two aces, while Molly Lohman and Regan Pittman each had seven kills and hit .636 and .308. Pittman and Jasmyn Martin each led the Gophers with three blocks. As a team, the Gophers hit .298 and collected 45 kills. Purdue committed 18 attack errors and hit .224. The Boilermakers held a 54-51 dig advantage and outblocked the Gophers, 5-3.
Minnesota is back in action Sunday, Oct. 15, at 4 p.m. The match is also televised live on the Big Ten Network.
Set Breakdown:
First Set: Minnesota opened the set with a 7-2 lead and hit .406 en route to a 25-17 first set win. The Golden Gophers forced a Purdue timeout at that point, but the Gophers built a 10-4 lead and later a 13-7 lead off a Purdue ball handling error. A Hart service ace put the Gophers up, 15-8 as Purdue called its second timeout. A Pittman kill pushed the Gopher lead to 21-12, while Minnesota went up 1-0 off a Samedy kill.
Second Set: Minnesota earned a 25-21 second set. The Gophers took the lead for good at the 8-7 point and maintained the lead throughout the rest of the set. A Samedy kill put the Gophers up, 14-11, while a Pittman kill pushed the lead to 17-14 as Purdue called a timeout. After Purdue cut the lead to 18-16, the Gophers had another Samedy kill for a 21-17 lead and another Purdue timeout. Lohman added a kill at the 22-18 point, while Pittman finished off the set for a 2-0 lead.
Third Set: Minnesota erased a deficit to come back and win the set, 25-23 and take the match in three. Purdue opened the set with a 7-2 lead as the Gophers took an early timeout. Minnesota battled back and later cut the Boilermaker lead to three at 11-8 as Purdue called a timeout. Minnesota tied the set at 14-14 off a block from Martin and Pittman, but Purdue brought the lead back to three at 16-19 off a block as the Gophers called a timeout. Trailing 17-21, the Gophers went on a 4-0 run and tied the set off a Purdue ball handling error. Hart delivered two-straight kills to later put the Gophers up, 24-22, while Samedy delivered the final blow for her 13th kill of the evening.
Courtesy of Purdue Athletics
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – No. 6 Minnesota (16-2, 5-2 B1G) handed No. 16 Purdue (15-3, 5-2 B1G) its first three-set loss (17-25, 21-25, 23-25) of the season to snap a four-match winning streak. The Boilermakers nearly forced a fourth set as they led 21-17 in the final stanza.
The story of the match was the Golden Gophers taking advantage of too many errors by the Boilermakers. Altogether, Purdue finished with 34 errors compared to Minnesota’s 17. Purdue began to settle in on offense in the third set as the Boilermakers hit .294 while the Gophers hit just .256. The execution on offense led to Purdue’s 21-17 advantage, however three errors allowed Minnesota to remain in competition, leading to its 25-23 victory to close out the match.
Ashley Evans out-set the Big Ten’s top setter 41 assists to 36 while registering 10 digs to earn a double-double. Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl fueled the offense with 15 and 13 kills respectively while Stahl registered a .333 hitting percentage and eight digs. Cuttino added two block assists to lead all point scorers with 16 in the match. Blake Mohler was efficient in her 13 attempts, hitting .308 with six kills to go along with her three blocks. Sherridan Atkinson tallied five kills and five digs.
Defensively the Boilermakers edged Minnesota 5-3 in blocks and 54-51 in digs. Brooke Petersearned her 13th consecutive match with 10 digs or more with 17 on the night. Freshman Jena Otec sparked a 4-0 run in the second set with back-to-back service aces to give Purdue a 6-5 lead and finished the night with nine digs.
Leave a Reply