GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Welsh-Ryan Arena - Evanston, Ill.; Huff Hall, Champaign, Ill.
Game Notes
No. 24 Purdue at Northwestern
Friday, Oct. 21 / 8 p.m
Live Stats / Live Audio / Live Video
No. 24 Purdue at No. 22 Illinois
Saturday, Oct. 22 / 8 p.m.
Live Stats / Live Audio / Live Video
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 24 Boilermakers look to build on Saturday's win over Rutgers when they hit the road for the Land of Lincoln for matches against Northwestern and No. 22 Illinois to wrap up the first half of Big Ten play.
THE BOOK ON THE BOILERMAKERS
At First Glance: No. 24 Purdue (12-7, 2-6 B1G) is set for its second Big Ten road trip of the season, travelling to neighboring Illinois for a pair of matches. 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 split weekend home matches with No. 10 Penn State and Rutgers, falling to the Nittany Lions in three sets and topping the Scarlet Knights via sweep.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitters Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl pace the Purdue offense with 3.94 and 2.99 kills per set respectively. Cuttino is hitting at a .286 clip and has added 0.59 blocks per set, while Stahl has also managed 2.14 digs per set, 0.49 blocks per set and 15 aces. Middle blocker Faye Adelaja follows with 2.27 kills per set and 0.71 blocks per stanza, while hitting at a team-best .409 clip. Outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson (1.85) and middle blocker Blake Mohler (1.57) also contribute offensively.
Mohler paces the Boilermakers at the net with 1.06 blocks per set, while Atkinson has put up 0.62 blocks per set. In the back court, libero Natalie Haben leads the way with 3.11 digs per set to go with 16 aces. Defensive specialist Brooke Peters (2.21), setter Ashley Evans (2.15), Stahl (2.14) and defensive specialist Carissa Damler (1.85) follow with nearly two digs per set. Evans also adds 10.83 assists per set and a team-best 20 aces. As a team, Purdue is hitting at a .260 clip and has served up 78 aces.
SERIES INFORMATION
Northwestern (Purdue leads the series 53-27): Purdue took the first three meetings in the series which began on Oct. 28, 1977. The Wildcats answered with three of the next four, but the Boilermakers won seven straight from 1981 to 1983. The teams split the next eight meetings, before Purdue kicked off a string of 21 wins in 28 tries from 1987 to 2000. Northwestern won eight of the next 10, including five straight, but Purdue took six of the next seven meetings, sweeping the season series in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Northwestern won the next three meetings, but Purdue countered with five in a row. The Wildcats swept the 2013 season, but the Boilermakers have won four straight, taking both contests in 2014 and 2015.
Illinois (Illinois leads the series 44-39): Illinois won the first match in the series, which began on Oct. 25, 1975 in Champaign. Purdue countered with four of the next six before kicking off a seven-match win streak dating from Sept. 28, 1979 to Oct. 26, 1981. An Illini win stopped the streak, but Purdue responded with five more victories. Illinois won 29 of the next 38 contests from 1985 to 2003. The Boilermakers won six of the next seven including season sweeps in 2004 and 2006. Illinois took six in a row, but Purdue stopped the streak with four-set win on Nov. 27, 2010. Purdue has taken six of the last nine contests. The Boilermakers took the lone 2015 meeting in five sets on Oct. 25 in West Lafayette. Illinois won a five-set decision in West Lafayette on Sept. 21.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WIN MAKES...
If the Boilermakers top Northwestern on Friday:
- They will move to 13-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten.
- They will extend their current win streak to two matches.
- They will have beaten the Wildcats for the fifth straight match (dating to 10/24/14).
- They will improve to 280-207-1 all-time when playing in the month of October, including a 9-4 mark when playing on Oct. 21. The Boilermakers last played on Oct. 21 in 2006, topping Northwestern in four sets in West Lafayette.
NOTES ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
At First Glance: The Northwestern Wildcats (7-13, 0-8 B1G) bring a nine-match losing streak into Friday's match. The Wildcats return 12 letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2015 team which went 14-17 and finished 11th in the Big Ten. Northwestern is coached by Shane Davis, who is in his first season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Wildcats went 0-2 last week, falling to No. 18 Michigan via sweep on Wednesday and No. 24 Illinois via sweep on Saturday. Northwestern has played six Top 25 teams in its last seven matches dating to Sept. 25.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Symone Abbott paces the Wildcats with 4.03 kills per set, while also adding 1.86 digs per set and a team-leading 17 aces. Middle blocker Gabrielle Hazen (2.06), right side hitter Kayla Morin (1.72) and middle blocker Maddie Slater also add nearly two kills per set. Slater is hitting at a team-best .310 clip and has put up a team-leading 1.01 blocks per set.
In the back court, defensive specialist Katie Kniep leads the way with 3.61 digs per set, while outside hitter Rafae Strobos (2.33), setter Taylor Tashima (2.10), defensive specialist Kaitlin Tavarez (2.09) and defensive specialist Sarah Johnson follow. Tashima also adds 8.43 assists per set and 15 aces to the team's tallies. As a team, Northwestern is hitting at a .200 clip and has served up 77 aces.
FACTS ABOUT THE FIGHTING ILLINI
At First Glance: The Illinois Fighting Illini (13-6, 6-2 B1G) return 11 letterwinners, including five starters, from the 2015 team which went 21-13, finished seventh in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Illini are coached by Kevin Hambly, who is in his eighth season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Illini went 2-0 at home last week, sweeping No. 14 Michigan State on Wednesday and Northwestern on Saturday.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Jacqueline Quade leads a group of four Illini hitters averaging more than two kills per set. Quade has put down 3.06 kills per set, while outside hitter Michelle Strizak (2.77), opposite Naya Crittenden (2.37) and middle blocker Katie Stadick (2.08) follow. Strizak has served up a team-best 12 aces, while Stadick adds 0.89 blocks per set and is hitting at a .336 clip. Middle blocker Ali Bastianelli adds 1.62 kills per set, while hitting at a team-best .353 clip and putting up a team-leading 1.84 blocks per set. Setter Jordan Poulter chips in 0.94 stuffs per set in addition to her 10.52 assists per set and nine aces.
Defensively, libero Brandi Donnelly leads the way with 4.48 digs per set. Strizak adds 1.75 digs per set as does defensive specialist Caroline Welsh. Defensive specialist Danielle Davis and Poulter add 1.58 digs per set respectively. The Illini are hitting .260 as a team and have served up 71 aces.
POLL POSITION
Purdue dropped two spots to No. 24 in this week's AVCA Coaches' Poll after being ranked at No. 22 in the Oct.10 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 24 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 183 times since the AVCA polls began in 1982, including preseason and postseason listings.
THE SLATE
In the Oct. 10 listings, 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. In the most recent rankings, released Oct. 17, Purdue dropped to No. 2.
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 seven ranked teams thus far: No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Kansas, No. 9 Stanford, No. 10 Penn State 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. 17 listing, Purdue dropped to No. 12 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. 30 Penn State, No. 35 Notre Dame, No. 39 Kansas, No. 40 Indiana and No. 50 Cal Poly. Three more - No. 12 Michigan, No. 19 Michigan 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.
AMONG THE NATION
The Boilermakers rank among the nation's Top 50 in hitting percentage (35th with .260). Individually, middle blocker Faye Adelaja ranks 16th nationally in hitting percentage (.409), while setter Ashley Evans ranks 27th in assists per set (10.83). Outside hitter Danielle Cuttino ranks 54th with 3.94 kills per set.
THE TIES THAT BIND
Northwestern outside hitter Symone Abbott is the sister of Purdue freshman track athlete Chloe Abbott. Two Wildcat players hail from the state of Indiana: libero Emily Ehman (Bloomington) and middle blocker Gabrielle Hazen (Columbia City). Purdue defensive specialist Linnea Rohrsen hails from the Chicago area and attended Nazareth Academy. Two members of the Illinois team are Indiana natives: outside hitters Beth Prince (Avon) and Jacqueline Quade (Fort Wayne).