WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Less than 24 hours after taking down the defending national champions, the No. 14 Purdue Boilermakers (2-1) gutted out a five-set victory over Georgia (27-25, 19-25, 25-10, 24-26, 16-14) inside Mackey Arena to close the squad’s Big Ten /SEC Challenge matches. The 10 points allowed in Set 4 marked the fewest in a match since October 2024 (vs. Indiana: 25-9).
The Boilermakers went the distance in a match that saw 39 tied scores and 15 lead changes – including six ties in the fifth set and 16 in the fourth.
Purdue’s back row, led by junior libero Ryan McAleer’s near double-double and elusive 30-dig club performance (9 assists, 27 digs), combined for 89 digs– the most by a Purdue team since 2021 (89 vs. Illinois on October 1, 2021).
In total, two Boilermakers earned the double-double status: Taylor Anderson (45 assists, career-high 18 digs), Grace Heaney (15 kills, 16 digs). Meanwhile, Lameen Mambu saw a career-high 21 kills, including four in the fifth set.
Freshman defensive specialist Elle Schara posted her first double-digit dig match, totaling 11 in the match while keeping the Bulldogs out-of-system with a serve that also earned her an ace.
UP NEXT
Purdue will play two more home matches before heading to the Bahamas for the Paradise Invitational. On Sunday, the squad will take on its third top-20 opponent this season in No. 18 TCU, which took down No. 8 SMU earlier this evening in five sets. The match will be the first of the season in Holloway Gymnasium.