Purdue Sports Update: Sept. 1

Volleyball Opens Season in Tennessee With Two Wins

In front of over 11,000 fans at Bridgestone Arena, Purdue (2-0) downed Tennessee (1-1) behind a 3-1 score (25-17, 25-19, 21-25, 25-20). The match saw Purdue hit .379% in the outing, led by three attackers: Wollard, Heaney and Anderson each hit over .340% while totaling at least 16 kills.

The win was the first of the season for the Boilermakers against a team ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA poll, with the Volunteers the first team outside the top-25.

Match Notes

• Wollard’s 17 kills were one shy of her career-high
• Anderson led the team with 17 kills on a .423 clip and two blocks
• No Boilermaker posted more than five attack errors in the match.
• Purdue’s .379 hitting %
• Wollard totaled 35 kills over the first two matches of the season
• Anderson dished out back-to-back double-doubles to open the season, registering 41 assists, 10 digs while going errorless on the attack once again (3-0-5)
• Heaney set career-highs 16 kills and five digs
• Purdue and Tennessee Athletics have met seven times over the last five years, with the Boilermakers undefeated at 7-0 during the stretch. Volleyball contributed four of those wins.
• Purdue Volleyball is 10-1 all-time vs. Tennessee

No. 15 volleyball went the distance against USF in the opening match of the season, securing the 1-0 record after a 23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 15-10 final score.

Notes

• • Every offensive player (six total) that rotated to the front row and had more than two attacks owned at least six kills.
  • Kenna Wollard not only led the team with a career-high-tying 18 kills, but set a career-high in digs (8). Wollard also led all players with three aces.
  • Taylor Anderson had one of her strongest performances from the attack, setting a career-high 14 attacks while going errorless with six kills (.429%), just one kill shy of her career-best
  • Anderson reached a double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs (two-shy of her career-best)
  • Dior Charles was 6-0-7 after the first two sets and finished the day with a team-leading .444% (6-2-9).
  • Grace Heaney set a career-high 10 digs and 30 attacks and was two kills shy of her first double-double.
  • Julia Kane set a career-high13 digs, second-most on the team behind A. Anderson.
  • As a team, Purdue’s most efficient set came in the final frame, going 5-1-14 (.286%) and a set-high 80% sideout.
  • Purdue out-blocked USF 11-9
  • The Boilermakers held the Bulls to a .000 or negative hitting % in three of five sets, including the fifth set.
  • Akasha Anderson led the effort in the fifth set, posting an errorless two kills on three swings and two blocks. She finished the day second on the team with 11 kills and a team-leading five total blocks, including two solo stuffs.

Soccer Falls to Evansville, Loyola (Chi.)

Soccer dropped a tough road match Thursday night, falling 2–1 to Evansville at Arad McCutchan Stadium. 

The Boilermakers fired off 22 shots to the Purple Aces’ eight and held nearly 60% possession, but a pair of second-half goals earned the first-ever victory for Evansville over the Boilers.

In the 13th minute Chiara Singarella scored an unassisted goal off of a free kick, to put the Boilermakers ahead with her third goal of the season. Purdue continued to push forward, racking up nine first-half shots and forcing Evansville goalkeeper Elke Travis into five saves, but could not find a second goal before the break.

The momentum shifted in the second half. In the 56th minute, Evansville equalized when Ella Hamner converted a chance set up by Taylor Johnson and Chrysta Vasquez. Just over a minute later, Taylor Wehrer scored the game winner. Despite 13 second-half shots and multiple corner kick opportunities, the Boilermakers could not find the equalizer.

Emily Edwards recorded two saves in goal for Purdue, while Cherry Yu and Megan Santa Cruz each had multiple efforts on target.

Soccer battled through 89 minutes of scoreless play Sunday afternoon in Chicago, only to see Loyola Chicago strike in the final minute for a heartbreaking 1–0 defeat.

The loss drops the Boilermakers to 2–3–1 on the season.

From the opening whistle, Loyola carried the momentum, outshooting Purdue 19–4 with nine shots on target. Still, the Boilermakers’ back line and goalkeeper Emily Edwards held strong. Edwards was outstanding, finishing with eight saves, including key stops in both halves to keep the match level. Edwards tied her career-high in saves, finishing with eight in the match.

Purdue’s best early look came in the 2nd minute when Zoe Cuneio forced a save off a corner kick opportunity. In the second half, Megan Santa Cruz and Angelina Thoreson each had chances, but the Ramblers’ defense limited Purdue to just one shot on goal all afternoon.

The Ramblers netted a goal in the 50^th minute of play, but it was overturned doing to an offsides call.

The decisive moment came with just 34 seconds left in regulation. Loyola’s Ansley Cryan finished off a pass from Zoe Hevey, finally breaking through and sealing the defeat. Purdue nearly equalized seconds later when Thoreson’s shot sailed high, but the final whistle followed.

UP NEXT

The Boilers head to Dayton next Thursday, September 4, to close out the road streak before heading home to Folk Field for Senior Day on September 7.

Purdue Concludes Cross Country Season Opener

Cross Country opened the season on Friday night at the Winrow Valparaiso Open with second place finishes by the men’s and women’s teams.  

Men’s Notes
• Nerius White led the men’s team with a ninth-place finish in 18:19.0. It was just the second 6k of his career. 
• Nate Assa finished 11th in 18:30.4 in his collegiate debut. He joins Kiefer Bell and Douglas Buckeridge as the only three Purdue freshmen to break 18:35.0 in a 6k since 2018.
• Quintin Lowe followed right behind Assa with a personal best 18:39.7. It was his best 6k run by over 25 seconds.
• Daniel Emmert ran 18:41.7 in his collegiate debut to finish 13th. He is one of five Boilermaker freshmen to run faster than 18:50.0 in the last eight seasons.
• Neal White also had his collegiate debut on Friday and ran 18:53.7.

Women’s Notes

• Elise Peckinpaugh was the highest Boilermakers’ finisher in sixth. She ran 17:36.8 to set a 5k personal best by 48 seconds. It was her first time racing in the 5k in her collegiate career.
  • Julia Economou followed in ninth with a personal best 17:46.0. Her mark is the best of her career by over a minute after she ran 18:50.5 in her collegiate debut in 2023.
  • Sofia Munoz came in 11th after she finished in 18:10.3 and set a personal best by nearly 18 seconds.
  • Ally Wigand followed the personal best trend with a four-second improvement (18:18.5) to finish 13th.
  
  Next Up
  Purdue heads to Michigan State for the Big Ten Preview on Friday, Sept. 12.