Maryland Downs (RV) Purdue For First Time In Five-Set Battle

  0 Kyp Harasymowycz | October 30th, 2017 | Big Ten, College - Women's Indoor, News

MATCH STATS

  • Maryland def. (RV) Purdue, 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-27, 17-15)
  • Maryland improves to 16-8, 5-7 Big Ten; Purdue drops to 17-6, 7-5 Big Ten
  • College Park, Maryland
  • Attendance: 1004
  • Box score

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – For the first time in Maryland’s history, the Terrapins knocked off Purdue in an epic five-set battle Sunday afternoon in the Pavilion (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-27, 17-15). The two teams combined to hit .358 in the match, and Maryland reached 16 wins for the first time since 2010. The win also marked head coach Steve Aird‘s most in a season as a head coach.

Maryland had four players in double digit kills Sunday, led by freshman outside hitter Erika Pritchard with a career-high 18, hitting .324 and adding 4 digs. Gia Milana notched a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs to go along with 2 of UM’s 7 aces. Samantha Drechsel notched 13 kills of her own hitting .429, adding 3 blocks, 2 aces and 2 digs. Angel Gaskin pounded 11 kills for the Terps. Maryland ran a 6-2 on the afternoon, with Samantha Snyder (41) and Abigail Bentz (21) combining for 62 of the team’s 65 assists. They ran the offense very efficiently; the team hit .351 on Sunday. Libero Samantha Burgio had a match-high-tying 14 digs.

The Boilermakers were led offensively by Sherridan Atkinson who tallied a match-high 19 kills without a hitting error, hitting .633 on the afternoon. The 6’6″ Atkinson registered 8 digs as well. She was joined in double digit kills by fellow pin attacker Azariah Stahl who had 17 kills and hit .364 on Sunday. Danielle Cuttino, who normally averages 4.1 kills per set, was held to 10 kills in her five sets of play. Cuttino added a match-high 6 blocks on the day. Ashley Evans ran the highly efficient offense to a .366 clip with a full stat sheet of 48 assists, 9 digs, 5 kills and 4 blocks. Defensively, libero Brooke Peters tied her libero counterpart from Maryland with 14 digs to lead the team.

The match was played similarly to how men’s programs play; both teams hit well over .300 and combined for 37 service errors (22 for Maryland, 15 for Purdue) on very aggressive serving (7 aces for Maryland, 5 for Purdue). Purdue had match point at 14-13, but an untimely service error ended their one chance to escape College Park with a victory. Maryland’s aggressive serving from Abigail Bentz goaded the Boilermakers into back-to-back overpass kills for Maryland, ending the match.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy of Maryland Athletics

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Freshman outside hitter Erika Pritchard led four Terps in double-digits as the Maryland volleyball team (16-8, 5-7 B1G) upset No. 17 Purdue (17-6, 7-5) in five sets (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-27, 17-15) on Sunday afternoon in the Pavilion.

“This is a big win for the program, and I’m proud of the team for continuing to fight,” head coach Steve Aird said. “Purdue has a veteran staff and they have some excellent talent. We know how good they are, and I love that this team fought and played hard to get the win.”

Pritchard notched a career-high 18 kills while hitting .324. Sophomore outside Gia Milana and Samantha Drechsel each tallied 13 kills and junior opposite hitter had 11.

The win is Maryland’s first-ever over Purdue. The Terps have reached 16 wins this season for the first time since 2010, which is also the most wins in a season for Aird as a head coach.

Maryland went up 1-0 and 2-1 in the match and had to fight back from a deficit in the fifth set to take the match.

The Terps went ahead in the first set before a 4-0 Purdue run put the visitors ahead, 9-8. The teams traded points before kills from Gaskin and Drechsel gave Maryland an 18-15 lead. Milana had a service ace and a kill to help the Terrapins reach set point, 24-21. After two Boiler points, a Purdue ball handling error finished the game in favor of the Terps, 25-23.

The second set was an offensive show as both teams hit over .450. Purdue went ahead 11-6 and increased its lead to 16-11. A pair of kills from Gaskin helped Maryland cut the lead to one and force a Purdue timeout, 20-19. Drechsel notched a pair of late kills, and with the Boilermakers at set point, Pritchard extended the game with a kill. Purdue was able to close the set, 25-23.

Hailey Murray had six kills on 1.000 hitting as the Terps hit .500 with 19 kills in the third. Maryland had five kills to go up 5-2, and a pair of aces from Samantha Burgio helped the Terrapins to a 13-6 lead. The Boilers inched closer, a Drechsel kill helped Maryland reach set point. After a Purdue kill, a service error gave the Terps a 25-21 win.

The teams traded points in the fourth and Maryland was able to take a 23-22 lead. A block put Purdue at set point, 24-23, forcing a Terp timeout. Pritchard had one final kill for the Terrapins and the teams tied again, 25-25. Two straight points made the Boilers win the set, 27-25, to tie the match.

Purdue took a quick 6-2 advantage in the final set. Gaskin had a pair of kills but the Boilers were able to go ahead, 11-7. Three straight kills and a Drechsel-Murray block tied the set, 11-11. Purdue reached match point on a Maryland error, 14-13, but a service error and a Pritchard kill put the Terps at match point, 15-14. The teams tied again, but strong serving from Abigail Bentz helped Maryland get overpass kills from Pritchard and Gardner to win the game, 17-15.

The Terps held Danielle Cuttino, who came into the match averaging 4.10 kills per set, to just 10 kills in the match.

Courtesy of Purdue Athletics

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – No. 17 Purdue (17-6, 7-5 B1G) was slighted in five sets (23-35, 25-23, 21-25, 27-25, 15-17) by Maryland (16-8, 5-7 B1G) at the XFINITY Pavilion. The match was a dogfight from the start as both teams combined for a .358 hitting percentage in the contest.

The Terrapins have given the Boilermakers a fight since they joined the Big Ten in 2014. Purdue leads the series 6-1 with just one match decided in three sets. That one three-setter was a home match for the Boilermakers. Maryland is 8-4 on their home floor this season with a sweep of No. 18 USC on Sept. 14.

Ashley Evans set the offense to a .366 hitting percentage with 48 assists and added five kills and nine digs. Sherridan Atkinson and Azariah Stahl led Purdue’s attack with 36 kills between them. Atkinson finished with 19 kills on 30 errorless swings to hit .633 in the match with eight digs to her credit. Stahl dropped 17 kills on the Terps to hit .364 with six digs and a block. Danielle Cuttino joined the duo in double-figures with 10 kills in the match and added six blocks. Freshman Caitlyn Newton seemed to step up when the Boilermakers needed her most as the Terre Haute, Indiana, native registered nine kills and three blocks in her fourth consecutive start.

Freshman defensive specialists Julianna Reisinger and Jena Otec accounted for Purdue’s three service aces and nine digs while Brooke Peters led the back row with 14 digs.

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