WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.-- Despite trailing 2-1, the third-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team came back in five sets to win its third-straight Big Ten Conference match at No. 14 Purdue, 21-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9.
 
The victory marks Wisconsin's 15th-consecutive Big Ten win, dating back to Oct. 23, 2015 when the Badgers swept Iowa on the road.
 
Wisconsin (11-1, 3-0 Big Ten) recorded a .262 hitting percentage (62 kills - 25 errors - 141 attempts) and nine team blocks.
 
Four Badgers hit double-figure kills in the match, led by sophomore Tionna Williams, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, who surprised the Boilermakers by recording a career-high 17 kills and hitting .500 percent.
 
Freshman Molly Haggerty recorded 13 kills, while senior Haleigh Nelson hit 12 kill and junior Kelli Bates hit 10, adding 15 digs for her third double-double this season. Freshman libero M.E. Dodge recorded 13 digs, helping Wisconsin outdig the Boilermakers, 51-47.
 
The Badgers' sixth Top-25 win this season didn't come without a fight, however. Both Wisconsin and Purdue (11-3, 1-2 Big Ten) committed 20-plus hitting errors (25-29), and the Badgers has 15 service errors in the five sets.
 
"These guys are hitting over a block," UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said of the Purdue offense. "Our blocks are over 10 feet and she (Danielle Cuttino) is hitting over and hitting at ridiculous angles. What are you going to do, are you going to tell your players to grow? She had some bombs where we just weren't able to do anything but I loved how even when we were behind there in the fourth and in the fifth, how they're making some big time swings and our kids kept their composure, they kept looking at each other.
 
"That Purdue team is good. They're awfully good and this one is a good win for us, this was a great win for us."
 
Cuttino, a 2015 honorable mention All-American, led the match with 18 kills, contributing to Purdue's .193 hitting percentage (57-29-145).
 
UW held Purdue to a .000 hitting percentage (6-6-18) in the fifth set, with all six Boilermaker errors being unforced, while the Badgers hit .375 percent (8-2-16). The Badgers ran to a 7-3 lead in the final period, but a series of errors on both sides kept the four-point gap to 11-7. Wisconsin finished off the match with a 4-2 run, ending on a Bates kill that Purdue shanked into the stands.
 
In a match riddled with errors, Wisconsin committed only two errors in the fourth set to keep themselves in the game. The Badgers started the frame with a 12-8 lead, but several kills from 6-5 outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson and 6-4 middle blocker Danielle Cuttino cut the UW lead and tied the set at 17-17. Kills from Haggerty and Nelson finished out the fourth set for Wisconsin, 25-21.
 
The Badgers committed a match-high nine errors in set one, falling behind 6-12 for the Boilermakers' largest lead of the match. A 4-0 run for Wisconsin closed the gap to one point (19-20), but Wisconsin was unable to come back in set one, falling 21-25 and hitting only .083 percent (12-9-36).
 
"I think that Molly had some great swings on the right side were just missing the line by a couple inches," Sheffield said. "That was why her hitting percentage was down; it was the right set, it was the right swing and the kid was just missing it."
 
UW took a 10-5 lead to start set two, holding on despite the Boilermakers coming within one point several times. Bates recorded two kills to give Wisconsin a 21-18 lead late in the set, while blocks from Carlini, Nelson and Williams gave UW match point (24-19). Purdue withstood for one point but ended the set, 25-20, on a service error to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Purdue took set three, 18-25, hitting a match-high .552 percent (17-1-29) while forcing seven Wisconsin errors. Redshirt senior Romana Kriskova hit her first service ace of the season to tie the set 12-12, but Purdue terminated 10 kills and stuffed two blocks en route to the 2-1 set lead.
 
The Badgers continue Big Ten play on Saturday, heading to face Indiana in Bloomington. First serve at University Gym is set for 5 p.m.