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No. 6 Seed Purdue Poised for Regional Finals Battle at No. 3 PittNo. 6 Seed Purdue Poised for Regional Finals Battle at No. 3 Pitt

No. 6 Seed Purdue Poised for Regional Finals Battle at No. 3 Pitt

The No. 6 seeded Purdue Boilermakers (26-6, 15-5 B1G) are set to take on the No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers (29-3, 15-3 ACC) tomorrow for the NCAA Regional Finals at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

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PITTSBURGH - The No. 6 seeded Purdue Boilermakers (26-6, 15-5 B1G) are set to take on the No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers (29-3, 15-3 ACC) tomorrow for the NCAA Regional Finals at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The match will take place in Pitt's own Fitzgerald Field House.

The Boilermakers are primed for their fifth overall and second consecutive NCAA Regional Final appearance. Coming off a pair of history-making comeback victories, Purdue is no stranger to playing at top-5 opponent locations and have won five matches over top-8 opponents this season (both at home and on the road).

A LOOK AT THE #3 SEEDED PITT PANTHERS
  • Pitt is averaging a .310 attack % in the NCAA tournament and is holding opponents to an average of .200.
  • Leading the team in efficiency is Chiamaka Nwokolo, who owns an errorless .609 attack %, with 14 kills on 23 attempts during NCAA postseason action. 
  • Getting the most offensive looks in the postseason are Leketor Member-Meneh, who owns a team-high 43 kills over the Panthers' NCAA run, averaging 4.30 kills per set, and 101 attempts. With the second-most attempts is Chinaza Ndee, with 68 attacks with 3.40 kills per set pace, second only to Member-Meneh.
  • Nwokolo and Serena Gray lead the defensive effort at the net, combining for 24 total blocks in the NCAA tournament.
PURDUE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
  • The Boilermakers lead opponents in virtually every statistical category, including attack % (.309 vs. .128), aces (18 vs. 13), blocks per set (3.0 vs. 1.4) and digs per ste (14.2 vs. 12.2). Of the teams remaining in the tournament, Purdue's block assists rank second-most.
  • Purdue's 16 blocks vs. Dayton in the Second Round are the second-most in a match during the NCAA tournamnet (most: 17 by UCF vs. UCLA).
  • Defensively, libero Jena Otec set a Purdue in the NCAA tournament record with 27 digs vs. Dayton. Meanwhile, Hayley Bush was three assists shy of tying the record for assists in an NCAA match (record: 59).
  • Five Boilermakers are averaging at least a .375 hitting % in the tournament, including freshman Raven Colvin (.528),  Jael Johnson (.400), Taylor Trammell (.714), Grace Cleveland (.398) and Emma Ellis (.375).
  • Otec is averaging 4.38 digs per set and Caitlyn Newton is averaging 3.92 kills per set.
THE COMEBACK KIDS
  • Despite No. 11 seed BYU having four straight match points, Jena Otec took to the service line at 10-14 and served up two straight aces and another two serves to power the Boilermakers to victory, 18-16. 
  • The 18-16 fifth set victory over #11 seed/#5 AVCA-ranked BYU marks the second time in Purdue history the Boilermakers needed extra points to decide the fifth set.
  • After trailing Dayton 0-2 in the Second Round, Purdue stormed back to take the final three sets and win 25-27, 19-25, 25-15, 25-6, 15-5.
  • Purdue hit just one error over the final three sets vs. Dayton to win the match (lone error came in set 5).
  • Purdue's 25-6 fourth-set win vs. Dayton ties a program-record for most-decisive set win, a feat accomplished three times, which all came this season (vs. Purdue Fort Wayne, 9/17 and vs. Rutgers, 10/2).