No. 20 Purdue Tops Oakland, 3-1
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 20 Boilermakers stay golden with a 3-1 victory against the Oakland Grizzlies at Holloway on Saturday night. Purdue won the match 25-23, 25-14, 14-25, 25-14.
Three Boilermakers posted double-digit kill totals, led by senior Sherridan Atkinson’s 17. Redshirt junior Blake Mohler and freshman Grace Cleveland put down 12 apiece, while Mohler also added a team-high eight blocks. Sophomore Caitlyn Newton rounded out the Purdue attack with seven kills.
Defensively, freshman Marissa Hornung guided Purdue’s back row with a career-best 12 digs. Senior libero Brooke Peters and sophomore Jena Otec both chipped in with 10 digs.
Purdue edged the Golden Grizzlies 25-23 in the opening set by way of a combined 10 putaways from Atkinson and Mohler. The first stanza saw the scored tied seven times, but three consecutive Purdue kills and a Grizzly miscue put the Boilermakers up 17-14. Oakland fought back and tied the score at 17 before going ahead 21-19 on a Purdue error. A pair of kills by Atkinson kicked off a 6-2 Purdue rally, which gave the lead and the set back to the Boilermakers, 25-23. Purdue ended the frame on a service ace from Peters.
The Boilermakers stormed to a 25-14 second-set victory as the Purdue offense recorded a .522 hitting percentage. Purdue unlocked the set with an 11-6 lead, forcing Oakland to a timeout. Back-to-back service aces from sophomore Julianna Reisinger and a Newton kill pushed the Boilermakers to a 14-6 advantage and the Grizzlies to another timeout. The Boilermakers never relinquished control and closed the frame on an Atkinson kill.
With Purdue looking to put the match away in three sets, Oakland rallied to a 13-7 advantage in the third frame. Nine Purdue errors fueled the Grizzlies’ lead and gave the set to Oakland 25-14
Relentless, Purdue stalled Oakland’s momentum in the fourth set, racing ahead 9-2. The Boilermakers capitalized on 11 Grizzly errors with 13 kills on 26 attempts to seal the final set 25-14 and the match 3-1.
No. 20 Purdue returns to Holloway tomorrow for a 2 p.m. matchup against Notre Dame. The match will broadcast live on ESPNU.
