PITTSBURGH -- The No. 12/3-seeded Purdue Boilermakers are headed to the Regional Finals for the first time since 2021 with a 3-1 win vs. No. 7/ 2-seeded SMU Mustangs on Thursday night, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-22, 29-27. With the win, Dave Shondell ties Purdue men’s basketball legend Gene Keady as the all-time winningest head coach in Purdue Athletics history with 512 wins.
The victory moves Purdue to 27-6 (15-5 Big Ten) record, while SMU ends the year 27-6 (17-3 ACC). Two of SMU’s six losses were to Purdue.
With the win, the Boilermakers will take on host and No. 1 seed/No. 4 nationally-ranked Pittsburgh on Saturday. Time and TV is TBA. The matchup will be the first between the two teams since meeting in the Regional Finals, also in Pittsburgh, in 2021.
Boiler Notes
- The win marked Purdue’s 10th win vs. a ranked team this season, setting a program record.
- It will be the fifth Regional Finals appearance for Purdue under Dave Shondell, including the third in the last six seasons.
- The Boilers had four match points in Set 4 at 24-23, 25-24, 26-25, 27-26, with Kenna Wollard and Akasha Anderson responsible for the last seven points (beginning with 23-23). Wollard posted the go-ahead point at 24-23, 26-23, 27-26 before Anderson put away the final two kills to clinch the match.
- Taylor Anderson dished out 49 assists, five digs, three blocks and a trio of kills. She set the team to a .282 hitting clip in the match, improving as the match went on, ending it with a .409 clip in Set 4.
- It was the second win of the season vs. SMU, with the win in September giving Purdue its 11th straight year with a top-10 win. The win tonight was Purdue’s second of the season.
- Tied 17-17 in Set 3, Bianka Lulic entered the match, going on to post three block assists in the next five Purdue points, helping swing momentum to Purdue’s side as the Boilers went on to win the set, 25-22.
- Three Boilers reached double-digit kills in the match: Wollard, A. Anderson and Heaney
- With the win, Dave Shondell ties Purdue men’s basketball legend Gene Keady as the all-time winningest head coach in Purdue Athletics history with 512 wins.
- Kenna Wollard produced 23 kills on an extremely efficient .457 clip with just two errors in 46 attacks. Not only was it the most kills in a match since her 26 at Michigan State, it is the most in a four-set match for the junior. Meanwhile, she added a career-high tying five blocks and 10 digs for her 10th double-double this season.
- Ryan McAleer led the back row with 23 digs, two shy of tying a program record for digs in an NCAA tournament match.
