Upset of the Week: Purdue Takes Down Stanford in Five

Upset of the Week: Purdue Takes Down Stanford in Five

Against Stanford in Palo Alto, Purdue put up a strong fight in the first set and pushed the then-No. 6-ranked Cardinal to 33-31. But in the second set, the

Sep 12, 2016 by Megan Kaplon
Upset of the Week: Purdue Takes Down Stanford in Five
Against Stanford in Palo Alto, Purdue put up a strong fight in the first set and pushed the then-No. 6-ranked Cardinal to 33-31. But in the second set, the Boilermakers seemed to lose their resolve. The Cardinal led by 14 at one point on their way to a 25-12 smashing.

Out of the break, Purdue showed incredible mental toughness to move past the 0-2 scoreline to win the critical third set. Junior outside hitter Azariah Stahl led her team with five kills in the 25-23 victory.

Purdue hit .255 to Stanford's .178 in the fourth set, forcing a fifth with a 28-26 win.

In set five, Stanford looked as if it might have gotten its groove back when it surged ahead to a 7-4 lead; however, the Boilermakers once again showed their ability to stay mentally strong. They scored eight consecutive points to take a 12-7 lead, and then won the match 15-11.

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/PurdueVB/status/774585738960646144" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

The Cardinal led the match in blocks (17 to Purdue's 11), thanks in large part to the efforts of middle Inky Ajanaku, who tallied nine blocks. Stanford also led in aces (7 to Purdue's 5) and hitting percentage (.230 to .220). Stanford's Morgan Hentz won the battle of the liberos as she collected 27 digs to Purdue libero Natalie Haben's 23, but Purdue out-dug Stanford overall (73 to 64).

Both Stanford and Purdue also tallied wins over Cal Poly this past weekend.

Purdue def. Stanford 3-2 (31-33, 12-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-11)


Purdue commit Julianna Reisinger and future Stanford Cardinal Meghan McClure will be competing this weekend at the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. Watch live on FloVolleyball

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