WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Ashley Evans set the Boilermakers to back-to-back dominant offensive showings against Indiana to garner Big Ten Setter of the Week honors. She averaged 12 assists per set with 72 assists to fuel the offense's .429 hitting percentage in Purdue's two three-set victories over the Hoosiers. She is Purdue's first Big Ten Setter of the Week since Val Nichol earned the honor in 2014.
With the pair of victories over Indiana, Purdue has now won the last 11 meetings against its in-state rival and has swept opponents in 11 of its 13 wins this season. Purdue has won the Monon Spike each of the last 10 years and 14 of the last 15 years under Dave Shondell.
Evans kicked off the two rivalry matchups Wednesday by setting the offense to a .494 hitting percentage in order to take down the Hoosiers on Belin Court 25-16, 25-14, 25-15. She connected with Blake Mohler, Danielle Cuttino and Sherridan Atkinson for a combined 33 kills and a .564 hitting percentage with Mohler registering one of the best offensive efforts in program history. The middle blocker out of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, found the floor 10 times on 12 errorless swings to earn an .833 hitting percentage that stands as the second best hitting percentage in a three set match with 10-14 attempts in program history.
The redshirt senior out of Liberty Township, Ohio, continued her success in Purdue's first Big Ten road trip of the season as Evans orchestrated the offense to a .366 hitting percentage Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana. She again went to Cuttino and Atkinson for 25 kills and a .447 hitting percentage, leading to Purdue's 25-23, 25-13, 25-19 win over IU to defend the Monon Spike.
Her ability to find the right hitter when Purdue needed to side out was nothing short of impressive as the Boilermakers sided out 75-percent of the time against IU. Purdue was a perfect 12-for-12 in side-out opportunities in the second set at Indiana before hitting .591 in the third to close out the victory. Purdue posted hitting percentages of .536 and .636 in the first two sets of its match on Belin Court.
Her 12.00 assists per set in Big Ten play rank second in the conference while her 11.54 assists per set this season rank her third in the Big Ten overall. Evans has set the offense to the second best hitting percentage in the nation (.351) and the Big Ten's best kills per set average (14.64) through the first 15 matches of the season.
Evans and the Boilermakers continue a stretch of four-consecutive road contests this weekend as they will take on Illinois on Friday, Oct. 6, prior to its second meeting with Northwestern on Sunday, Oct. 8.
Evans Selected B1G Setter of the Week
