Friday, September 30 | 8 p.m. ET
#5 Purdue at Illinois
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Sunday, October 2 | 1 p.m. ET
#5 Purdue vs. Rutgers
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Riding a five-match win streak, the No. 5 Purdue volleyball squad (11-1, 2-0 Big Ten) is set for the second week of Big Ten play.
First, the Boilermakers are slated to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini (7-5, 2-0 Big Ten) at Huff Hall on Friday night. The 8 p.m. ET border battle will be streamed on B1G+. Then, Purdue returns home to begin a three-match homestand vs. Rutgers (7-7, 1-1 Big Ten) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on B1G+.
Schedule Notes
- Purdue is riding a five-match win streak and is 9-1 over its last 10 matches.
- Holloway Gymnasium is sold out for the remainder of the season. In fact, Purdue sold out every match this season except for their 10 a.m. win vs. Bradley on Sept. 2 - a match that came 315 tickets short of a sell-out.
- Purdue has seven matchups on the docket for 2022 against teams ranked or receiving votes. According to the most recent AVCA poll, five of those teams are Big Ten opponents ranking among the top-12.
- The non-conference slate included 10 total matches with four opponents recognized in the 2021 AVCA final poll.
- Holloway Gymnasium is sold out for the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, the student section, the Block Party, sold out their season tickets in under two hours of going on sale.
A Look At The Illinois Fighting Illini
Series Record: 42-47 (ILL leads) | Last Meeting: Oct. 6, 2021 (W, 3-2 in Champaign, Ill.)
- Raina Terry ranks fourth in the league with 4.53 points per set, seventh with 3.70 kills per set and has one of the toughest serves with 21 aces on the season, good for fourth.
- The Boilermakers are 15-19 on the road at Illinois, and have won the last three of four road matches (dates back to 2016).
- Illinois is entering the toughest stretch of their schedule, as 9 of their next 12 matches are against teams ranked in the top 15.
- Raina Terry leads the Fighting Illini attack while averaging 3.70 kills per set and 0.48 aces per set.
- Illinois' setter, Diana Brown, ranks third in the Big Ten in assists per set with 10.14 and eighth in Illinois history with 3592 career assists.
A Look At The Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Series Record: 16-0 (PUR leads) | Last meeting: Nov. 7, 2021 (W, 3-1 in New Brunswick, N.J.)
- Two Scarlet Knights check in on the Big Ten leaderboard: Megan Vernon (10th with a .348 hitting %) and Alyssa Kinkela (10th with 3.23 kills per set).
- The Rutgers offense is led by Alissa Kinkela, who is averaging 3.10 kills per set while hitting 0.252.
- Lucy Malone leads the Scarlet Knights' defense with 3.13 digs per set.
- Madyson Chitty ranks fourth in rally scoring program history with 3.27 digs per set. On the season she is averaging 2.81 digs per set.
- Tina Grkovic ranks sixth in hitting percentage during the rally scoring era (.264%).
Starting the Season Strong
- Although the Boilermakers were picked to finish 8th in the Big Ten standings, Purdue enters Thursday as the Big Ten standings leader and 5th national poll.
- Purdue's 11-1 record is the best start since 2011. It is the 14th time in program history and the eighth time under Shondell the Boilermakers have started as strong.
- For the seventh straight year, the Boilermakers entered Big Ten play with one non-conference loss or fewer.
- Purdue closed non-conference season with a 9-1 record, marking the most wins in non-conference play since 2018.
- Four Boilers that have started are hitting above .300: Raven Colvin (.305%), Hannah Clayton (.350% ), Eva Hudson (.326%) Emily Rastovski (.467% with 8-1-15).
#8 Minnesota and Iowa Look-Back
- Purdue's win vs. then-#8 Minnesota marked the seventh top-25 opponent to fall inside Holloway Gymnasium in the last three years.
- Purdue came in back in the first and second sets vs. the Gophers. The third and final set ended in a 32-30 score, the longest set in five years. There were 21 ties and nine lead changes in the third set and a combined eight set points, including five Purdue match points.
- Senior Maddie Schermerhorn, who has anchored the team as libero all season, did not play in the match at Minnesota due to injury. Sophomore Ali Hornung stepped in for her first start in the position.
A Sweep of the Big Ten Weekly Awards
- After opening Big Ten play, 2-0, Eva Hudson was named Co-Player of the Week in addition to Freshman of the Week, Ali Hornung as the Defensive Player of the Week and Grace Balensiefer as Setter of the Week.
- As a program, Purdue has earned nine weekly awards this season, marking the third consecutive year, yet this is the quickest the Boilermakers have reached the mark in a given season.
- Hudson is now 4-for-5 in earning Freshman of the Week honors, and with the latest, has set the Purdue record. Meanwhile, she is one of eight players in Big Ten history to be selected as many times to Freshman of the Week.
- Hudson continues to lead the league, averaging 5.71 kills per set and 6.43 points per set over the opening weekend of Big Ten play. Against No. 8 Minnesota, the Fort Wayne, Indiana native tied a career-high 21 kills – the most by either team—along with seven digs. Then, at Iowa, Hudson added another 19 kills, including eight kills and two errors on 14 swings (.429 attack %) to help seal the Purdue victory. No other conference player recorded more points in a three or four set match last week.
- Hornung, a sophomore, registered a Big Ten-leading 5.00 digs per set after starting as a defensive specialist vs. No. 8 Minnesota and libero at Iowa. The New Albany, Indiana product tied a career-high 15 digs against the Gophers, the most by either team, then went on to set a career-best with her 21 digs in the Hawkeyes home turf with her first career start as libero. With her performances, the sophomore has now gone five consecutive matches with no reception error.
- In her first career start at Purdue, Balensiefer guided the team to a top-10 victory with 41 assists vs. No. 8 Minnesota. The fifth-year transfer from Northern Illinois recorded one kill in the match, which set up Purdue for its fifth and final match point (won: 32-30).