WEST LAFAYETTE – The No. 16 Purdue volleyball team rounds out the week with a top-25 matchup against No.6 Minnesota. Sunday's match against the Gophers is set for 1 p.m. ET at Holloway Gymnasium and will broadcast on ESPN2.
NO. 16 PURDUE VS. NO. 6 MINNESOTA
Sunday, Nov. 3 | 1 p.m. ET
ESPN2 | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
SERIES HISTORY
Minnesota owns the all-time series that began in 1975, 53-21.The Gophers claimed the last two meetings, once earlier this year, and again in 2018, both in 3-0. However, the last time the Gophers visited to West Lafayette, Ind., they fell in four during the 2017 season.
QUICK HITS
•The Boilermakers come into the weekend with a four-game win streak, having recently defeated Indiana, then-No.5 Nebraska, Ohio State and Iowa. Sunday's match against No.6 Minnesota will mark Purdue's eighth top-25 match of the season.
• Averaging a .431 hitting percentage last weekend, Grace Cleveland was named Big Ten Player of the Week. The sophomore tallied a match-high 18 kills in 25 attempts for a match-best .680 hitting % against Iowa, while registering 13 kills, six blocks, five digs and a career-best four aces in Purdue's five-set thriller against the nationally ranked Huskers.
• Junior Caitlyn Newton and sophomore Grace Cleveland lead the offensive charge for Purdue with 257 and 256 kills, respectively.
• With 35 kills on the season, sophomore Jael Johnson is only nine daggers away from reaching her 100th career kill. Registering 56 kills as a freshman, Johnson recorded a career-best eight kills in Purdue's victory over Eastern Michigan earlier this season.
• Redshirt sophomore Hayley Bush has 825 assists, while junior Jena Otec leads the team with 306 digs.
• Redshirt senior Shavona Cuttino tops Purdue with 1.32 blocks per set, which is good for third in the Big Ten and 25th in the NCAA. Fellow senior Blake Mohler follows with 1.26 blocks per set, ranking sixth in the league, while sophomore Grace Cleveland ranks 10th with 1.12. As a team, the Boilermakers are second in the Big Ten and 12th in the NCAA with 2.82 blocks per set.
• Tallying five aces through Purdue's last three matches, Jena Otec guides the Boilermakers with 32 service aces. As a freshman, Otec directed Purdue with 33 aces in 2017. Overall, the Missouri native owns 97 career aces. The last Boilermaker to reach 100 aces was Brooke Peters, who concluded her collegiate career with 112 (2018). Otec is 48 aces away from breaking into Purdue's top-10 career list. She would tie Jill Whiteman, who collected 145 aces from 1987-90.
• With the support of Boilermaker Nation, Purdue has recorded seven sellouts this season. The Boilermakers currently rank 22nd in attendance with a 16,253 accumulative attendance for the 2019 season.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• Minnesota comes into Sunday's match with a five-match winning streak, having defeated Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, since falling to Wisconsin in three on Oct. 13.
• The Gophers are ranked ninth in the latest RPI, announced by the NCAA. Baylor, Texas and Wisconsin round out the top three.
• Redshirt junior Regan Pittman was named the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week after posting career-highs 11 blocks against Michigan and a career-best 19 kills against Michigan State last week.
• Minnesota has earned nine Big Ten Weekly awards this season in two-time Setter of the Week Kylie Miller, two-time Player of the Week Stephanie Samedy, two-time Defensive Player of the Week Regan Pittman, two-time Defensive Player of the Week CC McGraw and setter of the week honoree Bayley McMenimen.
• Junior Stephanie Samedy ranks sixth in the Big Ten and 97th in the NCAA in kills per set at 3.60. As a team, the Gophers lead the conference with 14.15 and rank 21st in the nation.
• Redshirt junior Regan Pittman ranks third in the conference with 96 blocks on the season. Her mark rates 43rd in the NCAA, while
Minnesota ranks 77th nationally with 190.5 blocks on the year.
LAST MEETING AT HOLLOWAY
The Boilermakers outplayed the Gophers, 3-1, in Minnesota's last visit to West Lafayette in 2017. Purdue claimed the match with scores of 25-23, 21-25, 28-26, 25-14 to snap an 11-game winning streak by the Golden Gophers. Veterans Blake Mohler and Caitlyn Newton were the x-factors for Purdue as Mohler registered 14 kills on 24 swings with just two errors to hit .500 with two blocks, while Newton found the floor 12 times on 27 swings to hit .296 with a block. Purdue out-hit the nation's fifth-ranked team .317 to .234, registering 20-plus kills in the first, third and fourth sets. The Boilermakers set the tone with their offense coming out of intermission as they hit .333 with 22 kills in the third set and .425 with 21 kills in the fourth.
NO. 16 PURDUE VS. NO. 6 MINNESOTA
Sunday, Nov. 3 | 1 p.m. ET
ESPN2 | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
SERIES HISTORY
Minnesota owns the all-time series that began in 1975, 53-21.The Gophers claimed the last two meetings, once earlier this year, and again in 2018, both in 3-0. However, the last time the Gophers visited to West Lafayette, Ind., they fell in four during the 2017 season.
QUICK HITS
•The Boilermakers come into the weekend with a four-game win streak, having recently defeated Indiana, then-No.5 Nebraska, Ohio State and Iowa. Sunday's match against No.6 Minnesota will mark Purdue's eighth top-25 match of the season.
• Averaging a .431 hitting percentage last weekend, Grace Cleveland was named Big Ten Player of the Week. The sophomore tallied a match-high 18 kills in 25 attempts for a match-best .680 hitting % against Iowa, while registering 13 kills, six blocks, five digs and a career-best four aces in Purdue's five-set thriller against the nationally ranked Huskers.
• Junior Caitlyn Newton and sophomore Grace Cleveland lead the offensive charge for Purdue with 257 and 256 kills, respectively.
• With 35 kills on the season, sophomore Jael Johnson is only nine daggers away from reaching her 100th career kill. Registering 56 kills as a freshman, Johnson recorded a career-best eight kills in Purdue's victory over Eastern Michigan earlier this season.
• Redshirt sophomore Hayley Bush has 825 assists, while junior Jena Otec leads the team with 306 digs.
• Redshirt senior Shavona Cuttino tops Purdue with 1.32 blocks per set, which is good for third in the Big Ten and 25th in the NCAA. Fellow senior Blake Mohler follows with 1.26 blocks per set, ranking sixth in the league, while sophomore Grace Cleveland ranks 10th with 1.12. As a team, the Boilermakers are second in the Big Ten and 12th in the NCAA with 2.82 blocks per set.
• Tallying five aces through Purdue's last three matches, Jena Otec guides the Boilermakers with 32 service aces. As a freshman, Otec directed Purdue with 33 aces in 2017. Overall, the Missouri native owns 97 career aces. The last Boilermaker to reach 100 aces was Brooke Peters, who concluded her collegiate career with 112 (2018). Otec is 48 aces away from breaking into Purdue's top-10 career list. She would tie Jill Whiteman, who collected 145 aces from 1987-90.
• With the support of Boilermaker Nation, Purdue has recorded seven sellouts this season. The Boilermakers currently rank 22nd in attendance with a 16,253 accumulative attendance for the 2019 season.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• Minnesota comes into Sunday's match with a five-match winning streak, having defeated Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, since falling to Wisconsin in three on Oct. 13.
• The Gophers are ranked ninth in the latest RPI, announced by the NCAA. Baylor, Texas and Wisconsin round out the top three.
• Redshirt junior Regan Pittman was named the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week after posting career-highs 11 blocks against Michigan and a career-best 19 kills against Michigan State last week.
• Minnesota has earned nine Big Ten Weekly awards this season in two-time Setter of the Week Kylie Miller, two-time Player of the Week Stephanie Samedy, two-time Defensive Player of the Week Regan Pittman, two-time Defensive Player of the Week CC McGraw and setter of the week honoree Bayley McMenimen.
• Junior Stephanie Samedy ranks sixth in the Big Ten and 97th in the NCAA in kills per set at 3.60. As a team, the Gophers lead the conference with 14.15 and rank 21st in the nation.
• Redshirt junior Regan Pittman ranks third in the conference with 96 blocks on the season. Her mark rates 43rd in the NCAA, while
Minnesota ranks 77th nationally with 190.5 blocks on the year.
LAST MEETING AT HOLLOWAY
The Boilermakers outplayed the Gophers, 3-1, in Minnesota's last visit to West Lafayette in 2017. Purdue claimed the match with scores of 25-23, 21-25, 28-26, 25-14 to snap an 11-game winning streak by the Golden Gophers. Veterans Blake Mohler and Caitlyn Newton were the x-factors for Purdue as Mohler registered 14 kills on 24 swings with just two errors to hit .500 with two blocks, while Newton found the floor 12 times on 27 swings to hit .296 with a block. Purdue out-hit the nation's fifth-ranked team .317 to .234, registering 20-plus kills in the first, third and fourth sets. The Boilermakers set the tone with their offense coming out of intermission as they hit .333 with 22 kills in the third set and .425 with 21 kills in the fourth.