Boilermakers Set for Final Home Match of the Season

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In the penultimate week of the regular season, the No. 19 Purdue Boilermakers are slated for a split home-and-away weekend of volleyball.
 
First, the squad will close out their home slate Friday with a Senior Night showdown vs. Michigan at 7 p.m. ET. Then, Purdue will travel to No. 6 Nebraska to take on the Huskers at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. The match will be available on Big Ten Network, while the showdown vs. Michigan will be streamed on B1G+.

THE SENIOR CLASS

• The Purdue senior class is comprised of Ava Torrance, Maddy Chinn, Maddie Schermerhorn, Emma Ellis and Madeline Koch.
• The class helped the program reach new heights, which included the two highest rankings in program history (No. 4 and No. 5), a 35 straight weeks record among the AVCA Top-15 (begins: March 8, 2021-November 7, 2022).
• Together, they amassed 84 wins heading into the week, including 21 victories over top-25 opponents and 10 wins against top-10 teams.
• The seniors have guided the team to three NCAA tournament appearances, the program's first set of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.

SETTING IT UP: MEGAN RENNER

• Redshirt junior setter Megan Renner is gaining confidence on the court, averaging 8.72 assists per set over the last six matches, out-performing her season mark of 7.45.
• At Michigan State, Renner dished out 42 assists, a Big Ten career-best. Since then, she has tied the mark in all but one match (vs. Ohio State 11/10).
• Renner has totaled tallied three double-doubles this season, with two of the three coming in the last four matches: 41 assists, 12 digs at Indiana (10/14), 42 assists and 11 digs at Michigan State (11/4), 42 assists and 10 digs vs. Penn State (11/12).
• Renner has started in the last five consecutive matches.

 

MAKING AN IMPACT: FRESHMAN EVA HUDSON

• As the Big Ten leader in points/set and kills/set for the first 10 straight weeks, Hudson has set the standard for Big Ten freshmen.
• The Fort Wayne, Indiana native has reached double-digit kills in all but one match this season.
• In conference play, Hudson is averaging 4.29 kills per set, a .230 hitting % and 4.71 points per set.
• Hudson has posted four double-doubles in a five-match-span, including her career-high 24 kills and 17 digs at Illinois.
• Number of 20+ kill matches: 5
• Number of 15+ kill matches: 17
• Number of matches hitting above .300%: 9
• Number of matches hitting above .350%: 7
• Number of matches hitting above .400%: 5
• Matches hitting .500%: 1
• When reaching 20 kills in a match, Hudson has done so at some of her most efficient rates, including 21 kills with a .475% vs. Xavier (9/10) and 24 kills with a .380%, proof that when she gets going, she is even more difficult to stop. In the past seven years, only All-Americans Sherridan Atkinson, Grace Cleveland, Danielle Cuttino and Faye Adelaja have registered as efficient of a match while posting 20+ kills. Of those four Boilermakers, only Hudson has accomplished the feat as an underclassman.
• Hudson started the season 5-for-7 on Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors in addition to being named Player of the Week three times.
• The Fort Wayne, Indiana native received two MVP accolades following the Tennessee Classic and Stacey Clark Classic and was also an all-tournament team honoree for the Louisville Invitational.
• Hudson is the first Boilermaker in program history to win both Big Ten Player and Freshman awards.
• She is the 11th player in Big Ten history to receive both Player and Freshman of the Week honors in the same week. All but one those players went on to be named All-Americans during their career and/or Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
• Posted 36 attempts in the season-opener, the most touches by a freshman since before 2014. A feat she has continued to best and current stands at a season-high of 66 which came at #9 Minnesota (10/22).

A LOOK AT THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
Series History: 54-27 (PUR Leads) | Last Meeting: 11/6/22 (W, 3-1 in Ann Arbor)

• Michigan's Big Ten schedule was front-loaded, with seven matches vs. top-10 opponents in the first half to the conference season. The team enters the week 1-6 vs. ranked opponents, having taken down then-No. 9 Penn State in State College during opening weekend of Big Ten play (9/24) in sweeping fashion.
• Jess Robinson and Jess Mruzik are the focal points of the Michigan attack. Robinson leads the Big Ten in hitting % at .436. Jess Mruzik leads the Wolverines with 3.65 kills per set.
• Defensively, Hannah Grant leads the Wolverines in digs per set and ranks 3rd in the Big Ten, averaging 4.24. Three players, Robinson, Jacque Boney, and Jenni Liu, average at least 1.00 blocks per set.

 
A LOOK AT THE #6 NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
Series History: 8-22 (NEB Leads) | Last Meeting: 10/19/22 (L, 0-3 in West Lafayette)

• The Boilermakers most recent win against the Cornhuskers came on Oct. 26, 2019, where they won 3-2 in West Lafayette. 
• Nebraska and Wisconsin faced off in the 2021 NCAA Championship match, in which the Cornhuskers fell 2-3 to the Badgers to finish runner-up in the tournament
• Nebraska is arguably the best defensive team in the Big Ten and one of the best in the country. They lead the conference in Opponent Hitting Percent, Opponent Assists, Opponent Kills, Opponent Service Aces, and Digs, while also ranking fourth in Blocks.
• The Cornhuskers block is led by Kaitlyn Hoard, who leads the Big Ten in blocks per set with 1.63.
• 2021 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Lexi Rodriguez ranks fourth in the Big Ten in digs per set with 4.15.
• Madi Kubik and Whitney Lauenstein lead the Nebraska attack with each averaging over 3.00 kills per set.