WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Volleyball is set to add middle blocker Kate Hansen, a graduate transfer from Clemson, for the upcoming fall season. She will wear the No. 12 jersey.
Hansen, standing at 6-3, brings Purdue’s fall roster up to nine players with a height of 6-3 or taller, up one from last season’s record-setting year, which was believed to be the tallest roster in program history.
“Kate has started the past three years for teams in elite volleyball conferences,” said Art and Connie Euler women’s volleyball head coach Dave Shondell. “She brings physicality, experience, and a unique desire to succeed to our program. We always are looking for awesome, high-character athletes to create a productive culture every year at Purdue and Kate absolutely fits that criteria.”
The Weatherford, Texas, native started in 62 matches over the past two seasons for Clemson, joining the program’s career hitting % list at No. 10 with a .292 clip. In total, she registered 395 kills and just 81 errors on over 1,000 attempts.
Her offensive success at Clemson led to racking up 10 double-digit kill matches last season. Her accuracy led to committing just one attack error or less in 19 matches, hitting at a .400 clip or better in 13 matches, and seven at .500 or higher.
Highlights during her time as a Tiger include a 14-kill, .542 clip offensive showing complimented by seven digs, three blocks and an ace vs. Syracuse (11/25/25) and a 14-kill on a .429 clip performance with seven blocks and two aces vs. Georgetown (9/18/25), totaling a career-high 21 points. Meanwhile, as a sophomore Hansen posted an 18-point performance at Florida State (11/24/24) with 11 kills on a .400 attack %, two aces and six blocks.
Hansen began her career at Texas Tech in 2023 where she was a starter and led all Power Five freshmen with 1.27 blocks per set (99 total blocks) before injury cut her season short.
Purdue’s fall squad features the return of all three 2025 All-Americans, a program record: Taylor Anderson (second team), Kenna Wollard (second team) and Grace Heaney (third team) in addition to the program’s youngest libero to receive All-Big Ten honors: Ryan McAleer (second team).
In total, the upcoming Purdue team includes two transfers in Lameen “Mimi” Mambu, a sophomore from Georgia Tech, and Hansen. Overall, the team boasts eight freshmen, including four true freshmen and four redshirt freshmen, two sophomores, four juniors, three seniors and one grad student.