MATCH SCHEDULE
Friday, 10/24 | 8 p.m. ET | Champaign, Ill. | Huff Hall | B1G+
#11 Purdue at #RV Illinois
Sunday, 10/26 | 1 p.m. ET | West Lafayette, Ind. | Holloway Gymnasium | B1G+
#20 Minnesota at #11 Purdue
THE NEED TO KNOW
- Purdue is 8-2 over the last 10 matches.
- In the first NCAA Committee Top-16 reveal, Purdue was slated at #8.
- One of the most efficient teams in the nation, the Boilers rank #12 in the nation with a .287 attack %.
- Looking at the schedule, the team is 69% of the way through their away/neutral matches (11 of 16 matches on the road) and still have 50% of their home matches remaining (7 of 14).
- Purdue will not go more than two matches without playing a ranked opponent in the month of October.
- The Boilers are in a stretch where six of eight opponents are ranked or recieving votes in the latest top-25 poll, including three top-20 teams. Of those matches, only the Nebraska and Minnesota match will be played on Purdue's home court.
- The team has two top-15 and five top-25 wins under their belt.
- It is the 11th consecutive year Purdue has notched at least one top-10 win.
LAST WEEK'S LOOK-BACK
- Purdue went 2-0 last week, dropping just one set after a 3-1 win at #22 Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the Monon Spike trophy, and sweeping Rutgers on the road.
- Taylor Anderson won Big Ten Setter of the Week after guiding the Boiler offense to an average .306 clip while holding opponents to .191. She set Dior Charles and Grace Heaney to rank in the top-8 in the Big Ten in hitting % as each averaged over .420%. Meanwhile, Kenna Wollard and Grace Heaney each averaged over 4.45 points per set, also ranking in the top-8 in the league.
- Overall, Purdue hit over .300% in five of seven sets and over .330% in three.
500 CAREER WINS: SHONDELL & JEWELL
- HC Dave Shondell and Kathy Jewell recorded their 500th career win at Purdue on Sunday with the sweep at Rutgers (10/19/25).
- Jewell is the winnginest assistant coach and longest tenured assistant coach in Purdue Athletics history.
- Shondell is 12 wins away from tying legend Gene Keady as the all-time winningest head coach in Purdue Athletics history (512 wins).
- The pair will be honored Sunday before the start of the Minnesota match.
PURDUE & MINNESOTA: SERIES LOOK-IN
- Although the series history includes a 36-57 record for the Boilermakers, over the last four seasons (fall 2021-24) they own the 5-1 advantage.
- It is the first meeting between the two programs in West Lafayette since they met on Oct. 26, 2023 when #16 Purdue swept Minnesota.
- The team has met six times in the last four seasons, with Purdue holding the 16-7 advantage in sets won.
- Recent home wins against Minnesota include: 2023 (3-0), 2022 (3-0), 2017 (3-1 as Minnesota was ranked #5 in the nation), 2015 (3-2).
PURDUE & ILLINOIS MEET AGAIN
- Over the last six meetings, Purdue holds the edge with a 4-2 record despite the series history standing at 45-49.
- The match is the first time this yet this season Purdue will face the same team for the second time.
- The Boilers lost 1-3 in Mackey arena to the Illini (21-25, 25-12, 23-25, 24-26) despite Purdue running a more efficient offense (.195 attack % vs. .185), more blocks (14 vs. 7), a better reception % (.960% with 3 errors vs. .931 with 6) and aces (6 vs. 3).
- Purdue hit as efficiently as .429% in Set 2, holding Illinois to -.103 in that frame, and as poorly as .108% in Set 4.