PARADISE INVITATIONAL AT A GLANCE
- Purdue and Houston will be competing in the first-ever NCAA match played outside the United States.
- It is the fourth year in a row Houston, Kentucky, SMU and Purdue have come together for a "tournament", with Purdue hosting in 2023, SMU in 2024 and Kentucky in 2025.
- There will be eight AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List honorees slated to play in Paradise this week.
- HOUSTON: The Cougars, with 13 (of 18) players in their first year at Houston, are near the top of the NCAA, averaging 14 kills per set. They are led by Barakat Rahmon, who ranks 4th int he Big 12 with 1.23 blocks/set and 5th in hitting % (.355).
- #8 SMU: The Mustangs are entering the tournament after taking down its second top-10 opponent this season. The squad includes two AVCA Player of the Year Watch List honorees in Favor Anyanwu and Suli Davis.
- #3 KENTUCKY: A nation-leading four Wildcats were named to the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List (Brooklyn DeLeye, Morgan Gaerte, Kassie O’Brien and Molly Tuozzo). In addition, Kentucky is coming off a week that culminated in Tuozzo named SEC Player and Defensive Specialist of the Week, O'Brien as Setter of the Week and DeLeye as Offensive.
TOP OF THE BIG TEN
- Purdue's Addy Tindall (3.84) and Mimi Mambu (3.78) rank #2 and #3 in the league for kills/set, respectively. Purdue's the only school with two players ranked in the top-10.
- The pair combined for just three attack errors vs. Texas A&M in 58 attempts.
PURDUE & HOUSTON: LAST TIME OUT
- The Boilers and Cougars met a year ago, with Purdue dominating 25-17, 25-23, 25-18. In the match, the newcomers shined, with Dior Charles hitting .500 with eight kills, Akasha Anderson hitting .500 on the outside with one attack error and nine kills.
- Taylor Anderson set a very even match, with every player attacking posting 8, 9 or 10 kills (six total players, including Anderson's own eight kills.
LAST WEEK AT A GLANCE
- Last week, Purdue went 2-1 as the squad continued a gauntlet to start the season, playing three matches in a six-day span.
- The Boilers averaged a .238 clip with 14.45 kills/set, 15.18 digs/set and 2.50 blocks per set.
- Lameen "Mimi" Mambu led the team with 4.18 kills per set, doing so on a .250 clip.
- Kate Hansen led the team in efficiency and blocks, totaling 13 (1.18/set) and a .395 attack %.
Ryan McAleer put up a defensive clinic vs. Georgia where she racked up 27 digs and was one assist shy of a double-double. Overall last week, she averaged 4.27 digs per set.
- Taylor Anderson continues to improve, totaling 11 blocks (second only to Hansen), 31 digs (second only to McAleer) while totaling 116 assists (10.55/set).
- The team's most efficient set was .462% vs. #12 Texas A&M. Overall, they hit at least .333 in four sets and held opponents under .200 for four sets.
BIANKA LULIC BEHIND THE SERVE LINE
- In her first start of the year vs. IU Indy, Lulic accounted for 21 serves in the first set and a half due to her tough serving.
- The middle recorded a kill for Purdue to take the 1-0 lead in the match, then went to serve, where she stayed for the next nine points. Purdue's 10-0 lead to start the match included back-to-back aces.
- Lulic totaled a career-high four aces vs. IU Indy, seeing 24 total serve attempts in the match. She added three block assists and three kills.
