MATCH STATS
- (RV) Purdue def. #3 Minnesota, 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 28-26, 25-14)
- Purdue improves to 19-7, 9-6 Big Ten; Minnesota falls to 23-3, 12-3 Big Ten
- West Lafayette, Indiana
- Attendance: 2415
- Box score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In front of only the fourth sellout crowd of the season, the fans in Holloway Gymnasium were treated to nearly two-and-a-half hours of championship-level volleyball, as (RV) Purdue knocked off #3 Minnesota in four grueling sets (25-23, 21-25, 28-26, 25-14). The loss snapped Minnesota’s 11 match win streak, dating back to September 30, that included wins over Wisconsin (twice), Ohio State (twice) and Purdue in a sweep in Minneapolis. Purdue’s win is now the second ranked opponent the Boilermakers have defeated this season, the other being Creighton on a neutral court in Lawrence, Kansas.
Head coach Dave Shondell was certainly elated:
“When last season was over and I looked at what we had coming back and I knew we had some recruits coming in that could help us in some small ways, I felt like this was a top-10 team. Looking at Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and some other teams, I felt like there was no reason we shouldn’t be right in those matches with those teams—and we have been, we just haven’t won many of them. Tonight we got one that I think will send a message that we’re for real.”
Purdue had multiple contributors offensively. Sherridan Atkinson, a transfer from Long Beach State, finished with a match-high 17 kills and added 8 digs and 4 blocks on defense. Senior Danielle Cuttino added 15 kills to the fray and finished hitting .324 on the night. Cuttino also blocked a match-high 6 balls. Blake Mohler pounded 14 balls and hit .500 to go along with 2 blocks. Rounding out the double-digit kill producers was freshman outside hitter Caitlyn Newton with 12. Redshirt senior setter Ashley Evans ran an impressive offensive display by distributing 58 assists and directing the offense to a .317 hitting percentage against the Gophers. Evans also added 8 digs for the defense. Junior libero Brooke Peters was masterful in her first season with the different jersey, scooping a career-high 24 digs on the match. Her 24 digs were more than double any other player in the match.
Minnesota did not go away quietly. Offensively, double-digit kills came from Stephanie Samedy, Regan Pittman and Alexis Hart. Samedy and Pittman both finished with 14 kills, with the latter hitting .500 on the night. Hart just missed a double-double with 12 kills and 9 digs. Setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson ran the offense with 46 assists and added 9 digs and a block on defense. Molly Lohman led all Gophers in her net defense with 5 blocks. Libero Dalianliz Rosado led the Gophers on floor defense with 10 digs.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Purdue Athletics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – No. 21 Purdue’ (19-7, 9-6 B1G) fourth sell-out crowd of the season witnessed a four-set upset of No. 5 Minnesota (23-4, 12-3 B1G) as the Boilermakers stunned the Golden Gophers 25-23, 25-21, 28-26, 25-14 at Holloway Gymnasium. The victory snaps an 11-game winning streak by the Golden Gophers and is Purdue’s second victory of the season over a ranked opponent.
“When last season was over and I looked at what we had coming back and I knew we had some recruits coming in that could help us in some small ways, I felt like this was a top-10 team,” said head coach Dave Shondell. “Looking Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and some other teams, I felt like there was no reason we shouldn’t be right in those matches with those teams – and we have been, we just haven’t won many of them. Tonight we got one that I think will send a message that we’re for real.”
Ashley Evans was masterful as the redshirt senior set the offense to a .317 hitting percentage and found four hitters for double-digit kills. She finished the match with 58 assists, eight kills, eight digs and a block. Sherridan Atkinson led the Boilermakers with 20.5 points fueled by 17 kills, a .293 hitting percentage an ace and four blocks to go along with eight digs. Danielle Cuttino was dominant offensively and defensively as she registered 15 kills, a .324 hitting percentage and six blocks. Azariah Stahl was just a kill and a dig shy of a double-double and denied Minnesota twice at the net.
Blake Mohler and Caitlyn Newton were the x-factors for Purdue as Mohler registered 14 kills on 24 swings with just two errors to hit .500 with two blocks while Newton found the floor 12 times on 27 swings to hit .296 with a block. Purdue out-hit the nations fifth-ranked team .317 to .234, registering 20-plus kills in the first, third and fourth sets. The Boilermakers were set the tone with their offense coming out of intermission as they hit .333 with 22 kills in the third set and .425 with 21 kills in the fourth.
Brooke Peters would not be beaten in the first set as she tallied 10 digs to lead a defense that held the Gophers to a .143 hitting percentage in the opening stanza. The first-year libero finished with a career-best 24 digs on the night marking her second straight match with 20 digs or more. Jena Otec joined Peters as the only other Boilermaker to ace the Gophers and added eight digs to her line as well.
Courtesy of Minnesota Athletics
The No. 5 University of Minnesota volleyball program fell in four to No. 21 Purdue, tonight in West Lafayette, Ind. With the loss, the Golden Gophers drop to 23-3 overall and 12-3 in the Big Ten.
Purdue improved to 19-7 overall and 9-6 in league action. The Gopher loss also snapped an 11-match win streak, dating back from Sept. 30.
Minnesota was led by Stephanie Samedy and Regan Pittman, as they each had 14 kills as Pittman hit .500. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 46 assists, while Dalianliz Rosado had 10 digs. Molly Lohman added five blocks.
The Gophers will be back in action tomorrow at 6 p.m., as they face Indiana in Bloomington, Ind.
Set Breakdown:
First Set: Purdue used a three-point run in the middle of the set to take the first, 25-23. Minnesota trailed early, but tied the set at 8-8 and later took an 11-10 lead off back-to-back aces from Hart. After the two teams traded points through 13, Purdue produced three straight and took a 16-13 lead. The three-point run caused Minnesota to call its first timeout of the set. Purdue took a 21-17 lead off a Gopher attack error, as Minnesota called its second timeout. Trailing 19-23, Minnesota fought off three Purdue set points as the Boilermakers called a timeout at, 24-22. The Gophers added a block from Pittman and Morgan, to push the score to 24-23, but Purdue finished off the set with a 25-23 win and a 1-0 lead.
Second Set: The Gophers evened the match off a 25-21 second set win. Minnesota opened the second set with a 9-4 lead off a Samedy kill as Purdue called a timeout. Lohman and Hart added a block as the Gophers took a 12-5 lead. Purdue responded and cut the Gophers lead to one at 15-14 as Minnesota called a timeout. Purdue took its first lead of the set at 16-15 off an ace. As the two teams traded points through 18, Minnesota took a 20-18 lead off a Samedy kill, as Purdue used its second timeout. Minnesota, however, came out of the break and built a 22-18 lead. Hart pushed it to set point, while Seliger-Swenson finished off the set with a kill to tie the match, 1-1.
Third Set: The Boilermakers hit .333 to take the third set, 28-26. Purdue opened the third set with an 8-4 lead as Minnesota called a timeout. After Purdue built an 11-4 lead, Minnesota cut it to five at 15-10. Minnesota came within three at 14-17 off a Rosado ace as Purdue called its first timeout. Minnesota came within one at 16-17 off four points on Rosado’s serve rotation. Purdue built a 20-17 lead, but Minnesota came back and tied the set at 21-21 off back-to-back Purdue attack errors as the Boilermakers called its second timeout. The two teams tied five more times before Purdue strung two together off a kill and a block to take the 2-1 lead.
Fourth Set: Purdue rode its third set momentum and hit .425 in the fourth set to win, 25-14. The Boilermakers held the lead from the get go when they took a 4-0 lead. The Gophers called a timeout, but Purdue added to its lead as Minnesota called its second timeout at a 9-2 Purdue lead. Pittman added a kill as the Gophers trailed, 6-13. A Hart kill later put the score at 9-14, but Purdue put its lead to 10 at 20-10 off a kill. Pittman later added kills for Minnesota’s 12th and 13th point, but Purdue added its 75th kill of the night for match at set point at 25-14.
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