WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In No. 12 Purdue’s (12-6, 5-4 B1G) best serving match of the season, the Boilermakers gritted out a 3-2 victory vs. No. 20 Minnesota (11-6, 5-4 B1G) behind 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 19-25, 15-12 set scores.
The Boilermakers held the Gophers, who entered the match ranked 11th in the nation for aces, to a season-low three, while serving up nine – a season-high against a power-conference foe. Two Boilermakers set career-highs behind the serve line in the victory, led by Grace Heaney’s four and MaryKate Scheumann’s three. Sienna Foster and Elle Schara each contributed to Purdue’s serving excellence with an ace each.
Ryan McAleer joined the elite 1,000 dig club at Purdue, leading all players with 18 digs to finish the night with 1,001 career digs. The junior added five assists in he outing, and went perfect in receptions for the 10th time this season.
Heaney’s well-rounded performance saw a career-high 26 total points, a feat that included a season-high 19 kills on a .390 clip – just three shy of her career-best – and a season-high-tying six blocks. Not only did she set a new career-best in aces (4), but did so in double-double fashion, rounding out her performance with 11 digs. It was her fourth double-double of the year, including the second in the last five matches. Heaney has hit above .300 for four of the last five matches.
Taylor Anderson dished out her fifth double-double of the season behind 48 assists, 14 digs, with an errorless five kills on 11 attacks (.455%) and three total blocks. With her performance, Anderson moved up in Purdue's all-time assists leaderboard, surpassing Dary Orin (4,523 from 1985-88) for sixth place in Purdue history behind 4,525 assists. She will have the opportunity to tie fifth place in 43 assists (tying Annette Bauer's 4,568 assists from 1981-84). Meanwhile, in the match, Anderson guided Purdue to two sets hitting over .300 (Set 2: .303 and Set 3: .353).
The Boilermakers led in Set One, 20-16 before the Gophers went on an 2-8 run to storm back and take the set. Purdue returned the favor in Set 2, closing it out on a 9-2 run to come from behind. Set 3 saw the most dominant performance by either team in a set, with the Boilermakers posting a .353 attack % and 83% sideout in the set, while holding Minnesota to a .189 clip and a 60% sideout. The Gophers held control in the fourth set, but the Boilermakers regrouped in Set 5 and pulled away after Grace Heaney scored the 4-4 equalizer, followed it up with another kill, and didn’t look back.
Five Boilermakers reached double-digit digs (McAller, Heaney, Anderson joined by Scheumann’s 22 and Schara’s 10) - the most players to reach at least 10 digs since October 2024 (vs. Nebraska, 10/11/24). However, Purdue totaled more team digs: 73 vs. Minnesota in 2026 compared to the 64 recorded in 2024.
Purdue’s defense and serving were key for the squad to out-last No. 20 Minnesota, with the Boilermakers holding the 73-66 edge in digs, the 11-10 edge in blocks and 9-3 edge in aces. Minnesota finished with two more kills than Purdue 21-63) and did so on a more efficient attack (.197- .251).
With the win, Purdue owns four victories against ranked opponents, including the third in West Lafayette, and moves to 21-9 in five-set matches over the last five years. Meanwhile, Holloway Gymnasium has seen 32 ranked foes toppled inside its walls over the last 15 years.
UP NEXT
Purdue continues its three-match homestand on Sunday, hosting Northwestern at 4 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network. Just three regular-season home matches remain for the Boilermakers: Sunday vs. Northwestern, Thursday, October 29 vs. Rutgers and Saturday, November 7 vs. UCLA.