GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game Notes
No. 14 Purdue vs. No. 3 Wisconsin
Friday, Sept. 30 / 8 p.m. ET / BTN (Mike Wolf, Audrey Flaugh)
Belin Court at Hollloway Gymnasium; West Lafayette, Ind.
/ Live Audio / Live Video
Promotions: Boilermaker Blackout - Wear your best black and help us black out Holloway. Social Media Night - interact with us and BTN by using the hashtag #PurdueUWVB leading up to and during the match.
No. 14 Purdue vs. No. 2 Minnesota
Sunday, Oct. 2 / 1:30 p.m. ET / ESPN2 (Paul Sunderland, Karch Kiraly) Belin Court at Hollloway Gymnasium; West Lafayette, Ind.
/ Live Audio / Live Video
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 14 Boilermakers wrap up a seven-match homestand and begin a stretch of four matches featuring three Top 5 ranked foes this weekend against No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 2 Minnesota. Current No. 1 Nebraska awaits on Oct. 9. The Big Ten Network will televise Friday's match with the Badgers, while ESPN2 will air Sunday's matchup with the Golden Gophers.
THE BOOK ON THE BOILERMAKERS
At First Glance: No. 14 Purdue (11-2, 1-1 B1G) wraps up a seven-match homestand this weekend as No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Wisconsin come to town. 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 opened conference play, splitting matches with Illinois and Indiana. A five-set loss to the Illini on Wednesday snapped an eight-match win streak, but Purdue bounced back with a sweep of the Hoosiers on Saturday in Mackey Arena.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitters Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl pace the Purdue offense with 3.86 and 3.20 kills per set respectively. Cuttino is hitting at a .278 clip and has added 33 blocks (0.67 per set), while Stahl has also managed 2.51 digs per set, 30 blocks and 12 aces. Middle blocker Faye Adelaja follows with 2.41 kills per set and 0.84 blocks per stanza, while hitting at a team-best .474 clip. Outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson (1.84) and middle blocker Blake Mohler (1.65) also contribute offensively. Mohler paces the Boilermakers at the net with 1.08 blocks per set, while Atkinson has put up 33 blocks (0.67 per set). In the back court, libero Natalie Haben leads the way with 3.43 digs per set to go with 12 aces. Stahl (2.51), setter Ashley Evans (2.20), and defensive specialists Carissa Damler (2.02) and Brooke Peters (2.00) follow with more than two digs per set. Evans also adds 11.04 assists per set and a team-best 16 aces. As a team, Purdue is hitting at a .282 clip and has served up 59 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
Wisconsin (Wisconsin leads the series 43-31): The teams split the fi rst six contests of the series which began on Oct. 11, 1975. Purdue surged ahead in the series with 10 straight wins from 1981 to 1986. The Badgers won 11 of the next 19 and went ahead in the series with 17 straight wins from 1996 to 2004. The Boilermakers stopped the streak, taking two of the next three matches. The Badgers swept the 2006 and 2007 meetings, but Purdue swept the 2008 and 2009 contests, kicking off a streak of eight wins in the next 10 meetings. The Badgers have won the last five meetings dating to the Dec. 14, 2013, Elite Eight match. Purdue is 18-17 in West Lafayette and 9-24 in Madison.
Minnesota (Minnesota leads the series 49-30): Purdue dominated the early part of the series with the Golden Gophers, which began on Oct. 11, 1975, posting 18 wins in the first 20 meetings. Minnesota won 19 of the next 25, though Purdue swept the 1990 series. The Boilermakers took the 1998 series in a pair of five set matches, but the Gophers won 22 of the next 24. Purdue took a 3-1 win in the lone 2011 meeting, snapping an 11-match UM win streak and marking the first Purdue win since 2005. The Gophers swept the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The teams split the 2014, each winning on their home floor. In 2015, the Gophers topped the Boilermakers in four sets on Nov. 1 in Minneapolis and Purdue upset No. 3 Minnesota in five sets on Nov. 21 in West Lafayette.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WIN MAKES...
If the Boilermakers top No. 3 Wisconsin on Friday:
- They will move to 12-2 to start the season for the third straight year.
- They will move to 2-1 in the Big Ten.
- They will have beaten their second Top 5 and 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 will snap the Badgers' five-match series win streak.
- They will improve to 304-152 all-time when playing in the month of September, including a 7-6 mark when playing on Sept. 30. The Boilermakers last played on Sept. 30 in 2009, falling to Indiana in West Lafayette.
WORDS ABOUT WISCONSIN
At First Glance: The No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers (10-1, 2-0 B1G) bring a five-match win streak into Friday's match. The Badgers return 11 letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2015 team which went 26-7 and finished third in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Wisconsin is coached by Kelly Sheffield, who is in his fourth season with the team.
Last Time Out: Wisconsin swept No. 17 Ohio State and Maryland at home last weekend to extend its current win streak to five matches.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Molly Haggerty paces the Badger offense with 3.71 kills per set, to go with 2.69 digs per set, 0.57 blocks per set and six aces. Outside hitter Lauryn Gillis has managed 3.44 kills per set in limited action, while also adding 2.25 digs per set. Middle blocker Haleigh Nelson (2.53), outside hitter Romana Kri?ková (2.18) and middle blocker Tionna Williams (2.11) follow. Nelson is hitting at a team-best .356 clip and adds 1.45 blocks per set and nine aces. Williams is hitting at a .326 clip and has put up a team-leading 1.76 blocks per set. Defensively, outside hitter Kelli Bates leads the way with 4.08 digs per set. Setter Lauren Carlini (3.00), Haggerty (2.69), defensive specialist M.E. Dodge (2.68) and Gillis (2.25) also add more than two digs per set. Carlini also has served up a team-best 10 aces, while dishing out 11.45 assist per set and adding 0.95 blocks per set. As a team, Wisconsin is hitting .250 and has served up 44 aces.
In 2015, Gillis (3.16) and Bates (3.13) led a group of five players averaging more than two kills per set. Nelson (2.62), Kri?ková (2.25) and Williams (2.21) followed. Nelson hit at a team-best .422 clip and added 1.23 blocks per set and a team-best 31 aces, while Williams managed a team-leading 1.31 blocks per set. Defensively, the team must replace libero Taylor Morey's 4.49 digs per set. Carlini (2.79), Bates (2.72) and Gillis (2.04) are back after averaging two digs per set. As a team, Wisconsin hit at a .270 clip and served up 107 aces.
GETTING TO KNOW THE GOPHERS
At First Glance: The No. 2 Minnesota Golden Gophers (10-1, 2-0 B1G) take a nine-match win streak into their Friday match at Indiana. The Gophers return 13 letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2015 team which went 30-5, won the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Final Four. Minnesota is coached by Hugh McCutcheon, who is in his fifth season with the team.
Last Time Out: Minnesota went 2-0 last weekend, wrapping up a five-match homestand with a sweep of Maryland and a four-set win over No. 17 Ohio State.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Sarah Wilhite headlines the Gopher offense with 4.18 kills per set on a .300 hitting percentage to go with a team-best 13 aces and 2.49 digs per set. outside hitter/middle blocker Hannah Tapp (3.14), outside hitter Alexis Hart (3.13) and middle blocker Paige Tapp (1.95) follow with nearly two kills per set. Hannah Tapp is hitting at a team-best .359 clip and has put up 1.25 blocks per set, while Paige Tapp is averaging a team-leading 1.37 stuffs per set. Middle blocker Molly Lohman adds 1.31 blocks per set and 1.51 kills per stanza. Defensively, libero Dalianliz Rosado leads the way with 3.97 digs per set. Wilhite (2.49), setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson (2.26) and setter Katie Schau (1.92) follow. As a team, the Gophers are hitting at a .293 clip and have served up 50 aces.
Minnesota must replace top hitter Daly Santana, who posting 4.53 kills and 2.91 digs per set and served up a team-best 39 aces. Hannah Tapp (2.90), Wilhit (2.56) and Paige Tapp (2.29) followed with more than two kills per set. Hannah Tapp hit at a team-best .350 clip and added 1.11 blocks per set. Lohman put up a team-leading 1.34 blocks per set, while Hannah Tapp added 1.11. Defensivley, Rosado pulled up a team-best 4.18 digs per set, followed by Schau (2.23) and Seliger-Swenson (2.13). As a team, Minnesota hit at a .272 clip and served up 142 aces.
POLL POSITION
Purdue dropped four spots to No. 14 in this week's AVCA Coaches' Poll after being ranked at No. 10 in the Sept. 19 poll. Last week's ranking was the team's highest since being ranked No. 8 in the Sept. 8, 2014 poll.
The Boilermakers have been ranked in 21 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 180 times since the AVCA polls began in 1982, including preseason and postseason listings.
AMONG THE NATION
The Boilermakers rank among the nation's Top 50 in four major statistical categories: hitting percentage (18th with .282), assists per set (34th with 13.06), kills per set (36th with 13.96) and blocks per set (41st with 2.51).
Individually, middle blocker Faye Adeleja ranks second nationally in hitting percentage (.474), while setter Ashley Evans ranks 22nd in assists per set (11.04).
THE TIES THAT BIND
Wisconsin assistant coach Brittany Dildine was a four-year letterwinner for the Boilermakers from 2003-06, racking up 1243 digs to rank 10th all-time and 142 aces. Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield attended Ball State with Purdue associate head coach John Shondell and the pair has been friends since playing little league baseball together in Muncie. Purdue defensive specialist Linnea Rohrsen and Wisconsin outside hitter Julia Saunders both attended Nazareth Academy in Chicago. Two Wisconsin players hail from Indiana: outside hitter Lauryn Gillis (New Castle) and Tionna Williams (Fort Wayne).
Purdue libero Natalie Haben hails from Edina, Minnesota, which is located just 10 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Haben played with Minnesota setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson (Minnetonka) in club during their 12s and 13s years and against her in high school all four years. Haben also played with outside hitter Brittany McLean in club their 15-18s years at Mizuno Northern Lights. Haben also played against several Gopher players throughout her youth, as 10 are in-state products.
EFFICIENT OFFENSE
The Boilermakers hit at a .517 clip against Indiana on Sept. 24, marking the fifth-best hitting percentage in program lore and second best in the rally scoring era (behind a .529 mark vs. George Washington, 8/25/12). Purdue put down 37 kills, while committing just six errors in 60 attempts. Middle blockers Faye Adelaja (8-0-9, .889) and Blake Mohler (7-0-8, .875) led the way efficiency-wise, while outside hitter Danielle Cuttino put down a team-best nine kills. Six players tallied six or more kills in the match and all hit at a .286 or better clip.
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).
DID YOU KNOW?
- ... 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.