Purdue Sports Update Oct. 2

Volleyball Gets Win and Loss in Mackey

No. 10 Purdue’s eight-match winning streak was snapped by Illinois behind a 3-1 decision at Mackey Arena (21-25, 25-12, 23-25, 24-26). The

With the result, Purdue suffered just its second loss of the season, moving to 10-2 overall (1-1 Big Ten) while Illinois improves to 7-4 (2-0 Big Ten).

The loss to Illinois was just the second in the last six matches between the two teams.

Key Performances

• Kenna Wollard, ranking second in the Big Ten in total kills, led the team with 16 kills, eight digs and five block assists
• Purdue made a statement in Set 2, responding to the dropped first set with a decisive 25-12 win, which included
• Grace Heaney produced nine points in Set 2, including an errorless six kills on seven attacks

Boiler Notes

• Purdue set a season-high 14 blocks, double Illinois for the match
• The Boilermakers were more efficient offensively, holding the Illini to .185% including a -.103 mark in Set 2.
• Purdue hit a day’s best .429 attack % in Set 2, marking the sixth consecutive match that the team’s hit above .400 in a set.
• Grace Heaney finished the day with a .476 attack % (12-2-21), continuing her season-long streak of hitting over .400% on Sunday matches.
• Purdue held Illinois to 12 points in Set 2, the fewest points allowed by a Big Ten opponent in Mackey since Purdue’s 25-9 Set 3 victory last year (10/19)
• Purdue nearly had a Set 3 comeback, posting five consecutive points on Illinois’ set point.
• All-time record in Mackey: 15-6
• Attendance: 8,373

The volleyball squad opened Big Ten play in sweeping fashion, downing Washington (5-6, 0-1 B1G) 25-21, 29-27, 25-22 at Mackey Arena.

The Boilermakers are off to their best start since 2022, and its first conference season-opener won in three sets. The sweep included a thrilling Set 2, in which the Boilermakers not only erased an eight point deficit, but denied the Huskies four set points before storming back for the victory.

No. 11 Purdue returns for its second of three Mackey matches this season, hosting Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. The match will be aired on Big Ten Network. Fans are encouraged to come out early before the match, with Purdue Athletics hosting a free-to-attend Block Party from 12-2 p.m. ET at the Sally & Bob Weist Plaza, located outside between Holloway Gymnasium and Mackey Arena. Fans can enjoy inflatable games, music, food trucks including The Tap, bracelet making, 1v1 basketball pop-a-shot, posters, prizes and more.  

Key Performances

• Kenna Wollard led the team with 17 kills in the match, responsible for back-to-back kills that denied Washington set point, extending the match to 25-25 and 26-26.
• Akasha Anderson posted four points in Purdue’s final push in set two, including a block to five Purdue the 28-27 go-ahead point and finished the night with 14 kills on a .393 clip
• Despite her position as opposite/right side, Grace Heaney led the team with 12 digs, adding an ace and nine kills to the performance.
• Taylor Anderson racked up 39 assists, a season-high five blocks and seven digs

Notes

• Winning Streak: 8 matches
• Purdue is off to the best start to the season since 2022
• The Boilers have hit at least .400 in a set for the last five straight outings
• The last time Purdue swept a Big Ten opponent in the season-opener: 2022
• The match saw 32 tied scores and 16 lead changes over the course of the match

Up next, No. 10 Purdue travels to the west coast, taking on UCLA on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET followed by No. 17 USC on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both matches will air on Big Ten Network.

Soccer Splits Versus West Coast Crew

Purdue fought hard but couldn’t hold off a second-half surge from Washington, falling 3–1 on Sunday afternoon at Folk Field. The Boilermakers move to 5–6–2 (2–3–0 B1G) on the season.

The Huskies grabbed the lead in the 27th minute when Alex Buck finished off a cross from Maya Loudd and Kelsey Branson.

Purdue’s attack came alive after halftime, and in the 60th minute Irene Campo buried her team-leading sixth goal of the year, slotting home a setup from Lauren Adam and Emilia Deppe to bring the match level, her second-straight game with a goal.

But Washington answered quickly. Buck struck again in the 67th minute with an unassisted goal, and just two minutes later, Branson made it 3–1 off assists from Avery Nguyen and Ava Morton.

Purdue kept pressing, generating seven second-half shots, with Cherry Yu, Campo, and Megan Santa Cruz each testing the keeper. Still, Washington goalkeeper Tanner Ijams made three saves to preserve the win.

The Boilermakers finished with eight shots (four on target), while keeper Emily Edwards tallied four saves against the Huskies’ 10-shot attack.

Soccer defeated Oregon 3-0 for its first home conference victory of the 2025 season.

Angelina Thoreson started the scoring early with a strong individual play when she stole the ball, dribbled it into the box and finished off the goal in the sixth minute.

The sixth-minute goal is Purdue’s second-quickest strike of the season after scoring in the second minute in the season-opener against Indiana State. The goal is Thoreson’s third of the season and her first in eight games.

After Thoreson scored on the first shot of the game, Purdue outshot Oregon 6-2 overall and 4-1 in shots on goal the remainder of the half.

During the second half, scoring chances continued to be scarce before Irene Campo hit a perfect strike from outside the 18-yard box into the top right corner of the net in the 85th minute.

In the next minute, Lilly Bane followed with a goal from outside the 18 on the left side that hit off Oregon’s goalkeeper and went in.

Campo’s goal was her fifth of the season to move one shy of Chiara Singarella’s team-leading six and Bane’s goal was her second of the season.

UP NEXT

The Boilers will take on Indiana on Friday, October 3^rd at 7:00 p.m. est.

Purdue Moves Up Leaderboard in Final Round

Samantha Brown and Ashley Kim fired under-par rounds of 71 (-1) to pace Women’s Golf in the final round of the Windy City Collegiate Classic at Glen View Club. In an extremely talented field, the Boilermakers (+10) carded a 2-over 290 on Tuesday to leapfrog Big Ten foe Illinois (+12) and finish eighth on the leaderboard.

Returning to the lineup, Brown led the Boilermakers with an even-par 216 (69-76-71) to tie her career-low 54-hole total. The sophomore took advantage of the par 5s throughout the tournament, playing the lengthy holes 6-under to rank fourth in the field in par-5 scoring. She birdied every par 5 in the final round, including a pair that was part of four straight birdies to end her day. With birdies on holes six through nine, Brown flipped her round into red figures to finish 1-under, get back to even for 54 holes and tie for 18th. It was her second under-par round of the event following a 69 (-3) in the first round that was highlighted by her third career hole-in-one.

Kim’s 71 featured four birdies as she moved into the Top 25 of the individual leaderboard. After a bogey at the 11th, her second hole of the day, the junior got the stroke back with a birdie on No. 12. She added back-to-back birdies on No. 17 and No. 18 to card an opening 34 (-2) before making the turn. Five straight pars followed, and a birdie at the sixth pushed her to 3-under on the day. Consecutive bogeys tried to prevent Kim from recording her best round of the tournament, but she stayed 1-under with a par on the final hole.

Luana Valero (+5) and Lauren Timpf (+6) placed 35th and 40th, respectively. Timpf’s final round 73 (+1) was her lowest of the event, while Valero added a 75 (+3). Fellow freshman Ida Lindqvist shot a 75 (+3) of her own on Tuesday, tying for 50th at 9-over for the best tournament total and leaderboard finish in her collegiate career. Lindqvist found success on the par 3s, ranking second in the field in par-3 scoring (-2). During the final round, she birdied three of the four par 3s.

Duke and defending national champion Northwestern tied for the team title (-13), as the Blue Devils recorded the lowest final round of the day, a 7-under 281.

After playing in four tournaments during the month of September, Purdue takes a multiple-week break before returning to competition. The Boilermakers conclude the fall by going to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational (Oct. 17-19).

Boilermakers Wrap Up Play at Windon Memorial Classic

The men’s golf team wrapped up play at the Windon Memorial Classic on Tuesday, finishing 12^th out of 16 teams.

Purdue finished at 3-under par 861 with rounds of 286-286-289. Illinois won at 36-under par 828, while the Boilermkers were seven shots out of 10^th place (Marquette) and four shots behind USF in 11^th place.

Purdue finished with 52 birdies (8^th in the field), but was 14^th in the field in pars made with 157, while ranking second in the field with 57 bogeys.

Andre Zhu and Kentaro Nanayama finished tied for 30^th at 2-under par 214. Zhu tallied rounds of 70-73-71, while Nanayama had rounds of 75-68-71.

Supapon Amornchaichan was tied for 42^nd at 1-over par 217 (71-71-75). Sam Easterbrook finished tied for 64^th at 5-over par 221 (70-78-73) while Will Harvey was tied for 70^th at 7-over par 223 (75-74-74).

Purdue will play in the Fighting Irish Classic next Monday and Tuesday at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Indiana.

1-2 Finishes, Rowe’s Backstroke Sweep Highlight FSU Trip

Blake Rowe swept the 100 and 200 backstroke events as one of three Boilermakers to move up Men’s Swimming’s all-time leaderboards at the season-opening, two-day Seminole Fall Classic hosted by Florida State.

Men’s Team Scores
1.) Florida State 365
2.) Purdue 239
3.) West Virginia 186.5
4.) Tampa 167.5

The Boilermakers won four events on the weekend, headlined by 1-2 finishes in the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley Saturday. Rowe was part of both tandems, going 1-2 with Dylan Burau in the 200 back and then finishing as the runner-up to classmate Evan Mackesy in the 200 IM.

Freshman Jonah Lee was Purdue’s top finisher in all three breaststroke events, headlined by his victory in the 100 breast Saturday. Lee moved into 12th place in program history with a time of 53.59.

Lativa native Jānis Dzirkalis impressed in his NCAA debut while racing in short course yardage events for the first time. Friday, Dzirkalis brought home Purdue’s 200 medley relay team with an electrical 50 free split of 18.70. He teamed up with Burau (22.30), Lee (24.02) and Alex Hotta (21.21) for a time of 1:26.23, good for eighth in program history.

Individually, Dzirkalis was the runner-up in the 50 and 100 free, finishing second to Florida State record holder and French national Michel Arkhangelesky in both events. Arkhangelesky out touched Dzirkalis by .02 hundredths in the 50 free. Dzirkalis’ time (19.56) was just .05 hundredths shy of Purdue’s freshman record (19.51) that has stood since 2019.

Moved Up Purdue’s All-Time Leaderboards
• Jānis Dzirkalis, 19.56 in 50 Free – 8th in Team History
• Jānis Dzirkalis, 43.29 in 100 Free – 7th in Team History
• Burau, J. Lee, Hotta, Dzirkalis, 1:26.23 in 200 Medley Relay – 8th in Team History
• Blake Rowe, 47.47 in 100 Back – 11th in Team History
• Jonah Lee, 53.59 in 100 Breast – 12th Team History

NCAA Provisional Qualifying Times (B Cuts)
• Jānis Dzirkalis – 50 Free (19.56) & 100 Free (43.29)
• Blake Rowe – 100 Back (47.47) & 200 Back (1:42.66)
• Jonah Lee – 100 Breast (53.59)
• Evan Mackesy – 400 IM (3:47.63)

The Boilermakers return to action Saturday, Oct. 11 for the home opener at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. Purdue will host teams from around the state for the annual Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate. Action begins at noon and admission for all home meets is free this season.

Milwaukee Classic Doubles Champions

Henrik Villanger and Maj Premzl of the Purdue men’s tennis team continued its hot start to the fall season, claiming the title of Milwaukee Classic Doubles Champions.

The duo went undefeated at 4-0 at the Classic to secure the winner’s title, taking down TCU’s Maximus Dessault and Collin Beduhn, 6-4.

With the conclusion of the tournament, the men’s squad will return to action next weekend for the Michigan State Invite, set for October 3-5.

Henrik Villanger was also selected the Milwaukee Tennis Classic Sportsmanship Award, presented in honor of CHarles C. (Chas) Mulcahy, who co-founded the tournament in 1975. The award is presented annually to one young man and one young woman competing in the tournament who demonstrates meaningful and significant sportsmanship to serve as a role model not only for the tournament, but also for the sport of tennis.