Purdue sweeps Colorado State to advance in NCAA Tournament

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WLFI - The No. 22 Boilermakers advanced to the NCAA Second Round for the eighth time in the last nine seasons with a 3-0 sweep of Colorado State Friday afternoon.

Purdue won the match 25-20, 25-18, 25-19, while dominating the Rams in nearly every facet of the match.

The Boilermakers hit at a .290 clip, while holding CSU to a .149 effort. Purdue served up five aces to CSU’s three, outdug the Rams 47-37 and won the blocking battle 7-6.5.

Senior Ariel Turner led the Purdue offense with 13 kills and also added nine digs, the third of which was the 1,000th of her career.

“I think that everyone played real well tonight and that always helps that whenever I’m playing well everyone always plays well. I think that I just had some good matchups on their setter and I think that helped me with being successful,” said senior Ariel Turner.

Sophomore Val Nichol added nine kills, while sophomore Kiki Jones put down six kills on an .857 hitting effort and added a team-best four blocks. Senior Anna Drewry posted five kills and added three stuffs.

Defensively, redshirt junior Carly Cramer led the way with 10 digs, followed by Turner (9), redshirt junior setter Rachel Davis (8) and junior Hilliary Fox (8). Freshman Amanda Neill added six digs.

The Boilermakers raced out to an 8-3 lead in Set 1 and held at least a two-point advantage throughout the rest of the stanza en route to a 25-20 win. Turner tallied three kills and Cramer added an ace in the early going. CSU scored six of the next nine to narrow the gap to two at 11-9, prompting a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers answered with a 7-2 run out of the break to go up 18-11. Nichol served up an ace and Turner and Drews added kills in the rally. Purdue led by seven again at 22-15 after another Turner putaway. CSU cut the margin to five at 23-18, but Drewry won a joust to put Purdue on the hill at 24-18. A kill by Jones sealed the win three serves later. Turner had six kills as the Boilermakers outhit the Rams .276 to .071.

The teams split the first 10 points of Set 2, but Purdue had to overcome a 7-5 CSU lead before taking  the lead for good in a 25-18 win. The Boilermakers turned it around with an 8-1 run, including a handful of Ram miscues as well as a block by Davis and Drewry and kills by Nichol and redshirt junior Catherine Rebarchak. Colorado State made it a one-point game at 15-14 with three straight points, but Purdue answered with a 4-0 run to push ahead 19-14. Two Turner kills and a stuff by Jones and Rebarchak helped the Boilers to the edge. Two CSU service errors and a kill by Davis put Purdue up six at 22-16, then a Drewry kill and a block by the senior and Nichol made it 24-17. A Ram block slowed Purdue momentarily, before Drewry pounded down the final kill of the set. 

The Boilermakers led Set 3 from start to finish, boasting as much as a nine point advantage at 19-10 before capturing a 25-19 to seal the sweep. Purdue led 10-3 early on, including a 6-1 run which capped the rally. Cramer served up an ace, while Jones and Nichol got kills to surround a few Ram miscues. A block by Nichol and Drewry ended the run. Colorado State clawed back to within three at 11-8, before the Boilers added another rally to open up their largest lead at 19-10. Fox registered an ace, while Nichol, Turner and Rebarchak turned in kills. CSU made it a five point game at 21-16, prompting a Purdue timeout. Two Ram net violations made it 23-17 Boilers. A service error, Colorado State’s 13th of the night, set Purdue up at 24-18. A stuff by Jones and Rebarchak sewed up the win.

“We are happy to be here and to win our first match against a team that we have a lot of respect for. Colorado State needs no introduction with what they’ve done and we knew that they would give us a lot of trouble. I thought that overall our kids did a really good job of that and we’re excited to move on and play the winner of the next match,” said Purdue Head Coach Dave Shondell.

Purdue (22-10) will face the winner of Friday’s second match between No. 9 seed Florida State and Hofstra. The match, which will be streamed live on NCAA.com, will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.