GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Belin Court at Holloway Gymnasium / West Lafayette, Ind. / BTN / Mike Wolf, Audrey Flaugh
Game Notes
No. 22 Purdue vs. No. 10 Penn State
Friday, Oct. 14 / 8 p.m.
/ Live Audio / Live Video
No. 22 Purdue vs. Rutgers
Saturday, Oct. 15 / 8:30 p.m.
/ Live Audio / Live Video
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ââ'¬" The Boilermakers return home to Belin Court looking to snap a four-match losing streak with No. 10 Penn State and Rutgers across the net Friday and Saturday live on BTN. Penn State marks the sixth Top 10 team Purdue has faced in 2016 and the fourth in the last five matches.
THE BOOK ON THE BOILERMAKERS
At First Glance: No. 22 Purdue (11-6, 1-5 B1G) returns home . The Boilermakers are coming off their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 12 seasons after going 23-10 and finishing fifth in the Big Ten in 2015. The Purdue roster features seven returning players, two redshirts, a transfer and three newcomers. Head coach Dave Shondell is in his 14th season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Boilermakers dropped a pair of road matches at Iowa and No. 3 Nebraska last weekend, falling to the Hawkeyes in five sets Friday and the Huskers in three Sunday.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitters Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl pace the Purdue offense with 3.89 and 2.97 kills per set respectively. Cuttino is hitting at a .281 clip and has added 42 blocks (0.65 per set), while Stahl has also managed 2.22 digs per set, 34 blocks and 13 aces. Middle blocker Faye Adelaja follows with 2.25 kills per set and 0.74 blocks per stanza, while hitting at a team-best .409 clip. Outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson (1.82) and middle blocker Blake Mohler (1.64) also contribute offensively. Mohler paces the Boilermakers at the net with 1.06 blocks per set, while Atkinson has put up 40 blocks (0.62 per set). In the back court, libero Natalie Haben leads the way with 3.36 digs per set to go with 14 aces. Stahl (2.22), setter Ashley Evans (2.18), and defensive specialists Brooke Peters (2.12) and Carissa Damler (1.83) follow with more than two digs per set. Evans also adds 10.82 assists per set and a team-best 19 aces. As a team, Purdue is hitting at a .262 clip and has served up 70 aces.
Honorable mention All-American middle blockers Faye Adelaja (2.38) and Danielle Cuttino (2.04) and outside hitter Azariah Stahl (1.80) return after contributing nearly two kills per set in 2015. Adelaja hit at a team-best .397 clip and added 0.89 blocks per set, while Cuttino put up a team-leading 1.21 stuffs per stanza. The team must fill the gap left by All-American outside hitter Annie Drews, who tallied 4.25 kills and 1.72 digs per set and 17 aces. Defensively, the Boilermakers must replace libero Amanda Neill, who pulled up 4.02 digs per set and served up 29 aces. Setter Ashley Evans is back after posting 2.39 digs and 11.06 assists per set and 22 aces as is defensive specialist Brooke Peters, who chipped in 1.17 digs per set and served up a team-leading 30 aces. As a team, Purdue hit at a .262 clip and served up 145 aces.
SERIES INFORMATION
Penn State (PSU leads the series 52-6): The Boilermakers won five of the first six contests with the Nittany Lions in the series which began on Nov. 7, 1981. Penn State won 42 straight, including 36 in 3-0 sweeps, dating from 1988 until Purdue took a five-set decision on Oct 8, 2010, in West Lafayette. The win marked the first Purdue win over PSU since Dec. 4, 1987. PSU has won the last nine contests, including the three most recent meetings, all in University Park.
Rutgers (Purdue leads the series 6-0): The Boilermakers have all five previous contests with the Scarlet Knights in the series which began with a sweep on Nov. 12, 1982, at the Penn State Invitational and also includes a four-set win on Dec. 5, 1982, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in West Lafayette. Purdue swept the 2014 meetings, the first between the teams in Big Ten play, and also won both contests in 2015.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WIN MAKES...
If the Boilermakers top No. 10 Penn State on Friday:
- They will move to 12-6 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten.
- They will snap a four-match losing streak.
- They will have beaten their third Top 10 foe of the season. Three top 10 wins would match the 2010 season for most in the Shondell era and second most in program lore (4 in 1983).
- They would post the 14th win over a Top 10 foe under Dave Shondell and the 11th since 2010.
- They will improve to 279-207-1 all-time when playing in the month of October, including a 7-7 mark when playing on Oct. 14. The Boilermakers last played on Oct. 14 in 2011, falling to Penn State in four sets in West Lafayette.
NEWS ABOUT THE NITTANY LIONS
At First Glance: The No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions (14-3, 6-0 B1G) bring a 12-match win streak into Friday's match. The Nittany Lions return 14 letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2015 team which went 28-6 and finished fourth in the Big Ten. Penn State is coached by Russ Rose, who is in his 38th season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Nittany Lions went 2-0 last week, knocking off No. 1 Minnesota on Wednesday and sweeping Rutgers on Saturday to wrap up a four-match homestand.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Simone Lee paces the Penn State offense with 4.16 kills per set, while hitting at a .299 clip and adding 1.53 digs per set and 12 aces. Middle blocker Haleigh Washington (2.45) , outside hitter Ali Frantti (2.19) and middle blocker Heidi Thelen (1.98) follow. Washington is hitting at a team-best .459 clip and has managed 1.14 blocks per set and 11 aces. Middle blocker Tori Gorrell paces the team at the net with 1.17 blocks per set to go with 1.76 kills per set and a .373 hitting percentage. Defensively, libero Kendall White leads the way with 3.72 digs per set, followed by setter Abby Detering (2.04) and Frantti (1.86). Detering also adds 10.74 assists per set and a team-leading 14 aces. As a team, Penn State is hitting at a .314 clip and has served up 73 aces.
In 2015, Frantti and Washington put down 2.63 kills per set apiece, while Lee added 1.84 putaways per set. Washington hit at a .442 clip and also managed a team-best 1.38 blocks per set and 26 aces. PSU must replace outside hitter Megan Courtney and outside/middle Aiyana Whitney's 3.04 and 3.11 kills per set. Defensively, defensive specialist Keeton Holcomb (3.05) and setter Bryanna Weiskircher (2.23) are back after posting more than two digs per set. Weiskircher also served up a team-best 40 aces. As a team, Penn State hit .295 and served up 129 aces.
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
At First Glance: The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-15, 0-6 B1G) will look to snap a 14-match losing streak when they face Indiana on Friday in Bloomington. The Scarlet Knights return seven letterwinners, including three starters, from the 2015 team which went 4-28 and finished 14th in the Big Ten. Rutgers is coached by CJ Werneke, who is in his ninth season with the team.
Last Time Out: Rutgers was swept by No. 2 Wisconsin at home on Wednesday and at No. 15 Penn State on Saturday.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Meme Fletcher paces the Rutgers offense with 2.69 kills per set, while also adding 2.17 digs per set and 14 aces. Right side hitter Lauren Cloyd follows with 2.28 kills and 0.95 blocks per set, while middle blocker Mikaela Matthews adds 1.56 kills per set on a team-leading .326 hitting effort and a team-best 1.19 blocks per set. Defensively, libero Karysa Swackenberg leads the way with 3.09 digs per set and 16 aces, while Fletcher follows with 2.17 digs per set. As a team, Rutgers is hitting at a .154 clip and has served up 67 aces.
In 2015, Fletcher led the Scarlet Knights with 3.57 kills per set to go with 2.56 digs per set and 14 aces. Cloyd (2.17) and Matthews (1.49) followed. Cloyd also added 0.84 blocks per set. Defensively, Fletcher is the team's top returning player with 2.56 digs per set. As a team, Rutgers hit at a .150 cli pand served up 105 aces.
POLL POSITION
Purdue dropped five spots to No. 22 in this week's AVCA Coaches' Poll after being ranked at No. 17 in the Oct. 3 poll. The team's Sept. 19 ranking (No. 10) was the program's highest since being ranked No. 8 in the Sept. 8, 2014 poll.
The Boilermakers have been ranked in 23 straight polls since entering the top 25 at No. 24 in the August 31, 2015, poll. They were ranked throughout the rest of the 2015 season, peaking at No. 14 and ending the year at No. 17. Purdue has been ranked 182 times since the AVCA polls began in 1982, including preseason and postseason listings.
THE SLATE
In the most recent listings out Oct. 10, the Boilermakers' schedule was ranked as the toughest in the country in terms of strength of schedule, one of the pillars of the RPI system. Purdue was slated to play 11 matches against teams ranked in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll, and three more against teams that were receiving votes outside of the Top 25. In reality, the Boilermakers have faced six ranked teams thus far: No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Kansas, No. 9 Stanford and No. 24 Kentucky.
IN THE RPI
The first NCAA rating percentage index report was released on Oct. 3 and the Boilermakers checked in at No. 7. In the Oct. 10 listing, Purdue dropped one spot to No. 8 in RPI. Eleven teams Purdue has already played in 2016 were listed among the initial Top 50: No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Stanford, No. 9 Washington State, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 24 Coastal Carolina, No. 35 Notre Dame, No. 39 Kansas, No. 40 Indiana and No. 50 Cal Poly. Four more - No. 12 Michigan, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 30 Penn State and No. 31 Ohio State - are still ahead on the slate.
RPI rankings are based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. It is comprised of a team's winning percentage (25%), its opponents' winning percentage (50%) and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents (25%). Opponent winning percentage and the winning percentage of opponents' opponents make us the strength of schedule portion of the formula.
TOP 10 WINS
The Boilermakers have posted 13 wins over Top 10 foes in the Dave Shondell era, including 10 since 2010. A five-set win over No. 9 Stanford on Sept. 9 and a four-set win over No. 4 Kansas on Sept. 16 marked the first Top 10 wins since Nov. 21, 2015, vs. No. 3 Minnesota. Purdue topped three Top 10 foes in 2010 (No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Penn State and No. 10 Illinois). The 1983 Boilermakers posted four Top 10 wins (No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Cal Poly, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 10 Texas).
AMONG THE NATION
The Boilermakers rank among the nation's Top 50 in hitting percentage (34th with .262).
Individually, middle blocker Faye Adeleja ranks 16th nationally in hitting percentage (.409), while setter Ashley Evans ranks 26th in assists per set (10.82). Outside hitter Danielle Cuttino ranks 58th with 3.89 kills per set.
THE TIES THAT BIND
Penn State freshman defenisve specialist Kendall White attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, leading the team to the state 4A title in 2015. Purdue junior outside hitter Danielle Cuttino and redshirt freshman middle blocker Shavona Cuttino also are from Indianapolis, but attended Ben Davis High School. Purdue freshman setter Lexi Dorn (Cathedral Catholic) and Rutgers redshirt senior middle blocker Mikaela Matthews (Mt. Carmel) both hail from San Diego, Calif.