WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ââ'¬"The Boilermakers have two more rematches on tap for this week, travelling to face No. 15 Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, on Wednesday and welcoming Iowa to West Lafayette on Saturday. Both teams bested Purdue earlier in the season.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Jenison Fieldhouse; East Lansing, Mich. ~ Holloway Gymnasium; West Lafayette, Ind.
Game Notes
Purdue at No. 15 Michigan State
Wednesday, Nov. 9 / 7 p.m.
/ Live Audio / Live Video
Purdue vs. Iowa
Saturday, Nov. 12 / 7 p.m.
/ Live Audio / Live Video
THE BOOK ON THE BOILERMAKERS
At First Glance: Purdue (15-10, 5-9 B1G) heads to East Lansing for a midweek rematch with Michigan State before returning to West Lafayette for its final home match of the season Saturday. 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 went 1-1 last week, downing Maryland 3-1 Wednesday at home and falling to No. 3 Wisconsin in five sets Saturday.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Danielle Cuttino paces the Purdue offense with 4.05 kills per set, while hitting at a .273 clip and adding 0.61 blocks per set. Outside hitter Azariah Stahl follows with 2.62 kills per set, 2.33 digs per set, 0.47 blocks per set and 15 aces. Middle blocker Faye Adelaja adds 2.34 kills per set and 0.81 blocks per stanza, while hitting at a team-best .387 clip. Outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson (1.90) and middle blocker Blake Mohler (1.45) also contribute offensively.
Mohler paces the Boilermakers at the net with 1.02 blocks per set. Adelaja follows with 0.81 blocks per set, while Atkinson has put up 0.61 blocks per set. In the back court, libero Natalie Haben leads the way with 3.19 digs per set to go with 20 aces. Stahl (2.33), defensive specialist Brooke Peters (2.33), setter Ashley Evans (2.16), and defensive specialist Carissa Damler (1.91) follow with nearly two digs per set. Evans also adds 10.76 assists per set and a team-best 25 aces. As a team, Purdue is hitting at a .245 clip and has served up 100 aces.
SERIES INFORMATION
Michigan State (Purdue leads the series 48-30): Michigan State took the first four meetings in the series which began on Oct. 18, 1975. Purdue won 29 of the next 30, including 24 straight from 1981 to 1993. The Spartans took 19 of the next 21 contests from Nov. 13, 1993 to Nov. 1, 2003, including 11 straight to kick off the run. Purdue won five straight from 2004 to 2006 to start a 17-4 run of its own. The Boilermakers had won eight straight until a 3-0 loss in East Lansing on Nov. 26, 2014. The teams split the 2015 meetings, with Purdue winning in four sets on Sept. 26 in East Lansing and falling in five sets on Nov. 25 in West Lafayette. MSU took the Oct. 29 meeting in West Lafayette 3-1.
Iowa (Purdue leads the series 51-22): The Boilermakers won the first 10 meetings in the series with the Hawkeyes, which began on Oct. 28, 1977. Iowa took seven of the next 12 contests, before Purdue launched an eight-match win streak, sweeping each season 1990 to 1993. The Hawkeyes won 11 of the next 20 from 1994 to 2003, but the Boilermakers took each of the next 11. Iowa snapped the streak with a five-set win in Iowa City on Nov. 27, 2009, but Purdue has won eight of the last 11, including the lone meeting in 2015. Iowa won the Oct. 7 meeting in Iowa City in five sets.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WIN MAKES...
If the Boilermakers top No. 15 Michigan State on Wednesday:
- They will move to 16-10 overall and guarantee themselves a .500 or better record for the seventh straight year.
- They will improve to 6-9 in the Big Ten.
- They will have beaten their fifth Top 25 foe of the season.
- They will snap a two-match MSU win streak in the series.
- They will improve to 204-172 all-time when playing in the month of November, including a 9-4 mark when playing on Nov. 9. The Boilermakers last played on Nov. 9 in 2013, falling to Ohio State in Columbus.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
At First Glance: The No. 15 Michigan State Spartans (21-5, 10-4 B1G) continues a three-match homestand when Purdue travels to East Lansing on Wednesday. The Spartans return 12 letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2015 team which went 19-14, finished seventh in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Second Round. MSU is coached by Cathy George, who is in her 12th season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Spartans went 2-0 last weekend, sweeping Northwestern and Illinois in East Lansing.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Autumn Bailey leads a group of five players averaging more than two kills per set. Bailey has turned in 3.25 kills and 2.51 digs per set to go with 27 aces. Outside hitter Chloe Reinig (2.78), middle blocker Alyssa Garvelink (2.44), middle blocker Allyssah Fittterer (2.10) and middle blocker Brooke Kranda (2.03) round out the offense. Fitterer is hitting at a team-best .405 clip, while Garvelink is hitting .377 and has put up a team-leading 1.31 blocks per set. Kranda has served up a team-best 38 aces.
Defensively, libero Abby Monson has pulled up a team-leading 3.10 digs per set, while Bailey (2.51), outside hitter Holly Toliver (2.05) and setter Rachel Minarick (1.96) follow. Toliver has served up 32 aces, while Minarick has added 31 to go with 10.20 assists per set. As a team, Michigan State is hitting at a .265 clip and has served up 181 aces.
AN INKLING ABOUT IOWA
At First Glance: The Iowa Hawkeyes (18-8, 8-6 B1G) continues a four-match road trip with trips to Lincoln, Nebraska, on Wednesday and West Lafayette on Saturday. The Hawkeyes return 11 letterwinners, including five starters, from the 2015 team which went 12-21 and finished 13th in the Big Ten. Iowa is coached by Bond Shymansky, who is in his third season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Hawkeyes went 1-1 last weekend, sweeping Rutgers and falling to No. 11 Penn State in three sets.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Lauren Brobst paces the Hawkeye offense with 2.89 kills per set, while four other players add more than two kills per set. Middle blocker Jess Janota (2.44) outside hitter Meghan Buzzerio (2.36), right side hitter Reghan Coyle (2.00) and outside hitter Ashley Mariani (2.01) make up the group. Janota is hitting at a team-best .338 clip, while Coyle (.336) and Mariani (.335) follow. Janota also has put up a team-best 0.78 blocks per set, while Coyle adds 0.74 stuffs.
Defensively, libero Annika Olsen pulls up 4.16 digs per set followed by setter Loxley Keala (2.18) and Buzzerio (1.79). Keala has served up 18 aces and dished out 11.31 assists per set. As a team, Iowa is hitting at a .273 clip and has served up 98 aces.
ADELAJA BRINGS BALANCE
Redshirt senior middle blocker Faye Adelaja is one of just 12 players in Purdue lore with more than 700 kills and more than 350 blocks. The Baton Rouge, La., native has tallied 769 kills in her career and put up 365 blocks. Adelaja is just seven block assists away from a spot in the career top 10 in the category (10th, Tiffany Fisher, 322, 2008-11) and just 31 blocks away from the total blocks Top 10 (Brooke White, 10th, 396 from 1993-96).
Adelaja also is the Boilermakers' most efficient hitter, hitting at a .362 clip in 2016. She has hit at a .300 or better clip in 13 of the 22 matches she has played and also has put up five or more blocks in eight matches, including four of the last five.
AMONG THE NATION
Individually, middle blocker Faye Adelaja ranks 24th nationally in hitting percentage (.387), while setter Ashley Evans ranks 35th in assists per set (10.76). Outside hitter Danielle Cuttino ranks 39th in total kills (393), 47th in kills per set (4.05) and 50th in total points (430.5).
THE TIES THAT BIND
Michigan State middle blocker Brooke Kranda hails from Westfield, Ind., and played for the Munciana Club program.
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 Nov. 7, Purdue is listed at No. 3.
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 10 ranked teams thus far: No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Kansas, No. 9 Stanford, No. 10 Penn State, No. 13 Michigan, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 22 Illinois 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 Nov. 7 listing, Purdue checked in at No. 19 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. 12 Michigan, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 24 Coastal Carolina, No. 30 Penn State, No. 35 Notre Dame, No. 39 Kansas, No. 40 Indiana and No. 50 Cal Poly. One more - No. 31 Ohio State - is still ahead on the slate as are four rematches.
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.
DID YOU KNOW?
- ... that junior outside hitter Danielle Cuttino has posted double-digit kills in 24 of the team's 25 matches in 2016.
- ... that redshirt senior middle blocker Faye Adelaja has hit at a .500 or better clip in six matches this season, including .889 twice and .875 once.
- .,. that the Boilermakers have hit .250 or better as a team in 14 matches in 2016, including .300 or better eight times and .500 or better once.
- ... that the 2016 season marks the 42nd in Purdue volleyball history.
- ... that the Boilermakers have finished in the top half of the Big Ten each of the last six years and 11 of the last 12 seasons, including 2015 (fifth).
- ... that Purdue is one of just 12 schools to make four of the last six NCAA Sweet 16s.
- ... that Purdue volleyball has ranked among the Top 20 in national attendance average every year since 2003 (12th in 2015 with 2,524).
- ... that Purdue is one of just three schools among the 334 in Division I volleyball to score a perfect 1000 on the NCAA APR for 11 straight years.