Match Stats
- #3 Wisconsin def. Purdue 3-2 (25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 16-25, 15-10)
- Wisconsin moves to 20-3 (12-2 Big Ten); Purdue falls to 15-10 (5-9 Big Ten)
- UW Field House, Madison, Wisconsin (Wisconsin hosted)
For the second time this season, the Purdue Boilermakers have pushed Wisconsin to the edge, but for the second time the 3rd-ranked Badgers have come out with a victory, winning a 3-2 game in front of 6,012 home fans on Saturday.
On totality, Purdue out-hit Wisconsin (.232-.209), out-blocked Wisconsin (16-10), and out-dug Wisconsin (75-69). but couldn’t string enough points together at the right moments to pull off the upset. The sets won by Wisconsin were well-played by both teams and evenly-matched statistically. The sets won by Purdue were dominated by the Boilermakers, leading to a backward-seeming statistical outcome.Overall, Purdue’s offensive scoring was dominated by two players.
Redshirt senior Faye Adelaja had one of the best statistical nights of her career, recording 21 kills on 29 swings (.690 average) to go with 6 blocks. She was joined in double-figures by Danielle Cuttino, who had 19 kills on .275 hitting. The pair combined for 50 of the Boilermakers’ 65 kills on the day.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, got 24 kills from their star Molly Haggerty (3.19 hitting), who grabbed a double-double thanks to 11 digs.
When Wisconsin was struggling in the 3rd and 4th sets, it was due largely to their own undoing. They had 5 service errors in the 3rd set (part of 13 overall for the game) and basically gave away the 4th set with 4-straight attack errors to drive the score from a 6-4 Purdue advantage to a 10-4 Purdue advantage.
“It’s a really good win,” UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I told the team that not a whole lot of things were going well for us there at the end of the third and the fourth (sets).
“That had to be really, really hard what they did, just digging down that deep and playing the way that they did when you’re in a game five. That was a special performance there at the end. (I’m) really happy for them, it was tough to score points out there tonight, I can tell you that.”
But when they were hitting well, they were well-balanced and efficient – Wisconsin ended all three of the sets they won on true points from kills by Lauren Gyllis (1st set), Haleigh Nelson (2nd set), and Romana Kriskova (5th set).
The loss is a 2nd in the last 3 for Purdue, who started out the season strong but have fallen out of the top 25 in the lastest AVCA polls.
Videos
Press Releases
Courtesy Wisconsin Athletics:
MADISON, Wis. — For the second time this season, the No. 3 Wisconsin volleyball team battled to the very end with Purdue, edging the Boilermakers in five sets. The Badgers won their fifth-consecutive Big Ten Conference match with a 25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 16-25, 15-10 victory at the UW Field House on Saturday.
Wisconsin (20-3 overall, 12-2 Big Ten) hit .209 through the match (67 kills – 27 errors – 191 attempts), fighting for the win despite being out blocked 16-10 and out dug 75-69.
“It’s a really good win,” UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I told the team that not a whole lot of things were going well for us there at the end of the third and the fourth (sets).
“That had to be really, really hard what they did, just digging down that deep and playing the way that they did when you’re in a game five. That was a special performance there at the end. (I’m) really happy for them, it was tough to score points out there tonight, I can tell you that.”
After dropping the first two sets, Purdue (15-10, 5-9 Big Ten) rallied to force the Badgers into a decisive fifth set.
Wisconsin sped to an 8-3 advantage at the switch, scoring points on seven kills and a Boilermaker ball handling error. Purdue closed within three points (8-5) with back-to-back kills, but a 5-1 Wisconsin run proved to be the difference maker, giving the Badgers a 13-6 lead. Purdue scored four of the final six points, but kills from senior Haleigh Nelson and redshirt senior Romana Kriskova sealed the win, 15-10.
“We were able to come out and play and defend the way that we always should and the way we expect ourselves to all the time,” Nelson said of the fifth set.
Freshman Molly Haggerty led the Wisconsin offense, putting away 24 kills, while Kriskova and Nelson each hit double-figure kills with 12 and 11, respectively.
Junior Kelli Bates saved a team-high 18 digs. Senior Lauren Carlini notched her 70th career double-double, dishing out 57 assists and adding 12 digs. Haggerty tabbed her fourth career double-double, saving 11 digs.
Sophomore Tionna Williams and Nelson each tallied five blocks, while junior Lauryn Gillis added three. The Badger defense recorded a season-high four solo blocks, three from Nelson and one from Williams, as well as not allowing an opponent ace for the third time this season.
UW had to battle through 14 tie points and six lead changes in set one, closing out the frame 25-22. The teams went nearly point-for-point all set, but the Badgers finally held onto a lead, 19-17, after a 4-0 run. The Boilermakers called a timeout after a kill from Williams put Wisconsin up 24-22, but the break wasn’t enough to stop Gillis from putting away the final kill to take the 1-0 set lead.
The Badgers had to come from behind in set two, trailing Purdue for most of the set until finally breaking a 23-23 tie. The Boilermakers led by three points at 19-16, and while Wisconsin closed in several times, it failed to string together consecutive points. A kill from Carlini helped to right the ship, giving the Badgers a 24-23 lead. It took extra points, but a Purdue attack error and a kill from Nelson finished off Wisconsin set win, 26-24.
The battle continued into set three, where the Badgers took a narrow 18-16 lead at Purdue’s first timeout. The Boilermakers responded with a 9-4 run, edging out the Badgers 25-22 and forcing a fourth frame.
Purdue hit a match-high .345 (15-5-29) in set four, out blocking the Badgers 4-1 and holding UW to .057 attack percentage (11-9-35). Purdue scored six unanswered points to take a 10-4 lead early in the set, which proved to be too great for Wisconsin to overcome despite Haggerty’s seven kills in the fourth set alone. Purdue would win the period, 25-16, to force the fifth set.
“Even though we swept those wins in the first two sets,” Nelson explained, “I wouldn’t say we were super proud of how we were playing. We were finishing better than Purdue but they were definitely beating us in fight and it really showed in the third and fourth set. We really didn’t have an answer for them, and it says a lot about our team that we were able to put those two sets behind us and perform in the fifth set the way that we did.
“That’s the team that we want to be every time we step on the floor and it was really difficult, definitely to bounce back, but we did it together and I think that we will really learn from that and we will come out a lot better next time right away.”
The Badgers take to the road next weekend, traveling to Illinois and Northwestern for matches on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Courtesy Purdue Athletics:
MADISON, Wis. – The Boilermakers rallied to take No. 3 Wisconsin to five sets Saturday, but they came up a few points short of the upset. The Badgers won the match 25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 16-25, 15-10.
Redshirt senior Faye Adelaja had a career night pounding down a career-best 21 kills, while hitting at a season-high .690 clip and adding six blocks. Junior Danielle Cuttino added 19 kills, four digs and four blocks. Redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson managed nine kills and three blocks, while junior Azariah Stahl chipped in seven kills, eight digs and six blocks. Redshirt freshman Blake Mohler also added six stuffs.
In the backcourt, freshman Natalie Haben managed a career-best 25 digs followed by sophomore Brooke Peters (16), redshirt sophomore Carissa Damler (10) and redshirt junior Ashley Evans (9).
The Boilermakers outhit the Wisconsin .232 to .209, outblocked the Badgers 16 to 10 and outdug them 75 to 69. Wisconsin tallied two aces, while holding Purdue without an ace.
Wisconsin jumped out to a 6-2 lead in Set 5 and led by as many as seven before holding off a late Purdue rally for a 15-10 win and the match. Trailing 8-3, the Boilermakers got kills from Cuttino and Stahl to cut the margin to three. The Badgers pushed ahead 12-5, but Purdue was not going down without a fight, narrowing the gap to four at 13-9 with a 4-1 run. Adelaja, Stahl and Evans had kills in the rally. Facing match point at 14-9, Cuttino kept things going, but a Wisconsin kill ended the night.
Adelaja racked up five kills and Cuttino added four in Set 1, but it was not enough to overcome a .310 hitting effort by Wisconsin in a 25-22 loss. The teams split the first 30 points of the set and Purdue went up 17-15 after a UW service error and a block by Adelaja and Stahl. The Badgers turned the tables with four straight points including three Boilermakers errors. Purdue cut the margin to one five times with kills by five different players, last at 23-22 on a Mohler putaway. A pair of Wisconsin kills ended the set at 25-22.
The Boilermakers led Set 2 from the start, leading by as many as three, last at 23-20, but saw Wisconsin steal it away with six of the final seven points for a 26-24 win. Purdue managed six blocks in the set, including three each by Adelaja and Stahl, and got four kills from Cuttino. The Boilermakers led 3-1 early and were up three again at 12-9 after a kill by Cuttino and a solo block by Evans. Down 14-11, Wisconsin scored four of the next five to tie it up at 15. Purdue scored three straight out of a timeout and the teams split the next 10 points leading to the 23-20 advantage. Wisconsin got three kills and two blocks and help from a Purdue miscue en route to the win.
After a pair of midset rallies, one for each team, Purdue rallied to score nine of the last 13 in a 25-22 win. Adelaja put down seven kills in seven swings to lead the way, while Cuttino added five putaways. Wisconsin led 7-5 early, but the Boilermakers scored seven of the next nine to take a 12-9 lead. The Badgers answered with a 7-3 run to go up 16-15. Trailing 18-16, Purdue took a timeout and put together the final rally for the win. Adelaja had five kills and a block down the stretch, including one putaway to give the Boilermakers their first set point chance at 24-21. A kill by Cuttino sealed the set two serves later.
Purdue piled up four blocks and held Wisconsin to a .057 hitting percentage in a 25-16 Set 4 win. Adelaja added four kills, while Cuttino tallied three kills and two blocks as the Boilermakers hit at a .345 clip. After falling behind 2-1, Purdue rallied to score nine of the next 11 to take a 10-4 lead and never looked back. The Badgers cut the margin to three at 12-9, but that sparked a 8-3 Boilermaker run, putting Purdue up 20-11. Adelaja had three kills in the stretch. Putways by Mohler and Stahl gave Purdue a chance at the set at 24-16 and stuff by Adelaja and Atkinson clinched the stanza at 25-16.
The Boilermakers (15-10, 5-9 B1G) return to action against Michigan State at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday in East Lansing, Michigan.
Leave a Reply