WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermakers will play 16 home matches on their road back to the NCAA Tournament in 2015. Purdue will play host to its annual Mortar Board Premier and Active Ankle Challenge tournaments and welcome Big Ten teams for 10 matches on Belin Court.
Season tickets, both renewals and new orders, are on sale now here. The renewal deadline is July 12. Any new orders will be allocated at that time.
The Boilers are slated to face nine teams that competed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, including NCAA Champion Penn State and NCAA runner-up BYU. Elite Eight teams Wisconsin and Nebraska, Sweet 16 foes Illinois and Ohio State as well as Michigan State, LSU and Miami, all of which advanced to the second round, round out the tough slate.
Six foes were ranked in the final AVCA Top 25 poll of 2014 - No. 1 Penn State, No. 3 BYU, No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 11 Illinois and No. 13 Ohio State. Three Boilermaker opponents won their respective conference titles in 2014 - Penn State (Big Ten), BYU (West Coast) and Ohio (Mid-American).
"I'm very excited about the challenges of our 2015 schedule," head coach Dave Shondell said. "Matches on the road against LSU, Miami of Florida, BYU, and Saint Louis, will be tough obstacles and RPI boosters. Our non-conference home slate features excellent competition highlighted by in-state rivals Ball State and Notre Dame. The Big Ten will be ominous this season with several teams capable of winning the conference title."
Purdue opens 2015 in the friendly confines of Holloway Gymnasium and will play host to Austin Peay, Ohio and Virginia Commonwealth on Belin Court, August 28-29. Ohio (23-6, 16-0 MAC) won its second straight Mid-American Conference title in 2014, but saw its season end in the MAC Tournament. Austin Peay (14-19, 8-8 OVC) finished sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference and wrapped its season in the OVC Tournament. Virginia Commonwealth (17-13, 9-5 A-10) finished tied for third in the Atlantic 10 and finished the year in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semi-finals.
The Boilers then head to St. Louis, Missouri, to face Arkansas-Pine Bluff, BYU and the host Saint Louis Billikens in the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic. BYU (30-5, 16-2 WCC) is coming off a 2014 season, which included an NCAA runner-up finish, a West Coast Conference title and saw the team become the first unseeded team ever to reach the NCAA final. SLU (21-10, 9-5 A-10) finished third in the Atlantic 10 Conference and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (12-20, 6-2 SWAC) finished second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division and advanced to the SWAC Tournament semifinals.
The Boilermakers travel to Baton Rouge, La., home of redshirt junior middle blocker Faye Adelaja, for week three of the season, facing off with LSU and Miami (Fla.) in a Sept. 11-12 tournament at LSU. The host Tigers (20-9, 14-4 SEC) finished third in the Southeastern Conference and advanced to the NCAA Second Round after posting the team's most wins and conference victories since 2010. The Hurricanes (22-9, 14-4 ACC) finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference before advancing to the NCAA Second Round.
Purdue wraps the non-conference season with the Active Ankle Challenge, which will pit the Boilers against South Dakota, Ball State and Notre Dame. The match with the Cardinals will be the second meeting between the Shondell brothers (Dave and John at Purdue and brother Steve at Ball State, following the 2011 Active Ankle Challenge meeting), while the meeting with the Fighting Irish will be played in Mackey Arena for the second straight season. Ball State (17-13, 11-5 MAC) wrapped its season in the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament after finishing second in the league's West Division. South Dakota (19-12, 12-4 Summit) finished third in Summit League play and advanced to the league tournament semifinals. Notre Dame is its first year under head coach Jim McLaughlin, who led Washington to the national title in 2005 and four trips to the final four. The Irish (6-23, 3-15 ACC) finished 14th in Atlantic Coast play in 2014.
The slate then turns to 20 Big Ten matches, including home-and-home series with Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers also will welcome Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa to West Lafayette, while play only road contests with Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
The Boilermakers finished the 2014 season 22-10 and fifth in Big Ten play, and were ranked in the Top 25 throughout the regular season, but were left out of the NCAA Tournament field for the first time since 2009. Purdue ranked third among vote-getters outside of the Top 25 in the final AVCA poll.