Volleyball Advances to Sweet 16

Purdue to face No. 2 SMU Thursday

No. 3 seeded Purdue took down No. 6 seed Baylor, 25-16, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 in the NCAA Second Round, punching their ticket to its third straight Regional Semifinal and sixth in the last seven years.

The Boilermakers will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the No. 2-seeded SMU Mustangs, a team they faced in non-conference play, on Thursday, December 11 at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The match will begin 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Pitt vs. Minnesota match.

NCAA Tournament Notes:

• The Boilermakers punched their ticket to the sixth NCAA Regionals appearance in the last seven years, including third consecutive year.
• It will be Dior Charles, Akasha Anderson, Lindsey Miller and Bianka Lulic’s first NCAA Regional appearance.
• Purdue nearly set a program record for hitting % in an NCAA match, out-pacing the record of .454% in the third set before Baylor came from behind to disrupt the sweep. In the end, Purdue posted the second-highest hitting % in a four-set match in program history, including the highest in 37 years (4-set record: .439% in 1987).

Boiler Notes

• As a team, Purdue led in all statistical categories , including blocks (12-5), hitting % (.405 – .250) and aces (10-2).
• Purdue’s 10 aces tied a season-high (at Indiana, 10/16).
• Taylor Anderson dished out 45 assists while leading Purdue to a .405 attack % and posting the match-winning point on a block solo.
• Kenna Wollard posted an impressive 18 kills with just three errors on 34 swings for a .441 attack % and 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, including the fourth in the last five matches. She was errorless over the first two sets, hitting .714% with 10 kills on 14 attacks.
• Akasha Anderson, coming off one of the best matches of her career against Wright State in which she became the first Boilermaker this century to stay errorless while posting as many kills or attacks as she did (16 kills, 29 attacks), racked up 17 kills on a .361 clip with just three errors – two of which came in the final set.
• The Boilers had just two attack errors over the first two sets of play, averaging a .466% efficiency while out-blocking the Bears, 8-1
• With the win, HC Dave Shondell sits at 511 career wins, one away from tying legend and all-time winningest head coach at Purdue Gene Keady.
• Led by Taylor Anderson, the Boilers hit three sets over .450% in the NCAA First/Second Rounds.
• Julia Kane came one shy of tying her career-best, ending the night with three service aces alongside eight digs and three assists.
• Ryan McAleer led the back row with 15 digs and four assists.
• Grace Heaney set a career-high with three service aces. The redshirt-sophomore added an errorless four kills on 15 swings, four blocks (1-3) and a trio of digs.
• The Boilers have reached double-digit blocks in three of the last four matches.
• Lindsey Miller led the team in efficiency, recording 10 kills with one error on 16 attacks (.562%) with four blocks.

Purdue downed Wright State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-19) in the NCAA First Round. With the win, the Boilermakers advance to the Round of 32 and will take on No. 6 seeded Baylor Bears tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

With the victory, Purdue reaches 25 wins for the sixth time under Shondell’s reign as the Boilermakers improve to 25-6 (15-5 Big Ten).

NCAA Tournament Notes:

• Akasha Anderson put up the first errorless performance this century with as many attacks: 16 kills, 0 errors, 29 attacks. Meanwhile it is the first errorless showing for a Boiler with 10+ kills since 2021 (Jael Johnson 10-0-17 vs. BYU in the NCAA Regional Semifinals).
• Dave Shondell Remains perfect in the NCAA First Round, improving to 21-0
• It is the 12th sweep in the NCAA First Round under Shondell
• Purdue will play Baylor for the first time since 2019, when the teams met in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Waco, Texas.

Boiler Notes

• The 13 points allowed in Set 1 marked the third-lowest amount allowed by an opponent this season (season-low: 11).
• Akasha Anderson had the most efficient match of her Boilermaker career, posting an errorless 16 kills on 29 attacks for a .552 clip.
• Taylor Anderson dished out 39 assists with seven digs and two kills as she led Purdue to hit .381% in the match, including .567 in Set 1, nearly a team-season high.
• Unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection and AVCA National Player of the Year Semifinalist Kenna Wollard posted her eighth double-double of the season with 13 kills, 10 digs, once ace. Her back row performance led the team.
• Grace Heaney, the opposite, led the team for the majority of the match in digs, ending the night with nine digs, six kills and a pair of block assists.

Wrestler Blaze Comes Up Big in Vegas

Joey Blaze hit the jackpot to win the 2025 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational championship on Saturday.

The junior 165-pounder from Perrysburg, Ohio, became the seventh CKLV champion in Purdue history. Undefeated at 10-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country, Blaze ran the table as the top seed without surrendering a single takedown.

Blaze’s victory is a major statement after his runner-up finish (157 lbs) at the 2025 NCAA Championships, when he became Purdue’s youngest national finalist since at least 1950.

Purdue finished tied for 10th out of 30 as a team with 56 points. It is the fifth time in the past seven years the Boilers have finished top-10 in Vegas.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Blaze won five matches, including two against ranked wrestlers on the two-day trip. After steamrolling his first three by a total score of 39-6, Blaze faced his first tests against No. 15 Ty Whalen in the semis and No. 19 Nicco Ruiz in the finals. The Boiler upended each of them with a pair of 4-2 decisions.

Blaze’s combined CKLV score was 47-10. Through 10 matches this season, it’s 143-31.

FOUR PLACEWINNERS

Purdue put four wrestlers on the Cliff Keen podium, the team’s most since 2021.

No. 19 Stoney Buell (157) made it to the semifinals alongside Blaze but fell to No. 1 Ty Watters. Buell went on to finish in sixth place. It was a big step forward for the redshirt senior, who placed for the first time in four ventures to Vegas.

No. 21 Brody Baumann (174) fought hard on Friday, winning his first two before suffering an injury in the quarterfinals against No. 19 Brody Conley. He toughed out another match in the blood round, winning a 16-13 decision with a noticeable limp to clinch eighth place. He medically forfeited his remaining matches on Saturday.

No. 23 Ben Vanadia (197) looked impressive as the 8-seed. He won his first two to get to the quarters, where he scored the first takedown all season on No. 2-ranked Rocky Elam, but ultimately got dropped to the consolations. Vanadia pushed for one more win on Saturday, beating Spencer Mooberry 11-4 to take seventh place.

PERSPECTIVE

For the first time since 2002-03, head coach Tony Ersland’s Boilermakers have won a Cliff Keen championship in consecutive years. This was Purdue’s 19^th trip to CKLV, and only four Boilers had ever won the whole thing prior to last season.

The annual Vegas event is considered the biggest and most important tournament of the NCAA wrestling regular season. With over 120 nationally ranked wrestlers competing, the results will hold major implications for seeding in the NCAA Championships in March.

UP NEXT

The 6-0 Boilermakers return to dual action next Sunday, Dec. 14, at Morgan State in Baltimore. A victory would give Purdue its first 7-0 start since 2006.

The dual is set for noon ET in Hurt Gymnasium. Broadcast details will be announced in the coming days.

Boilermakers Drop Big Ten Opener at #6/8 Michigan

The women’s basketball team dropped its Big Ten opener to No. 6/8 Michigan on Sunday afternoon, 104-56.

The Boilermakers (5-4, 0-1) were led offensively by four players with nine points, as the team shot 32.8% from the field and went 8-of-24 from behind the arc.

Hila Karsh hit three times from behind the arc for nine points, while Kiki Smith and Nya Smith hit made a triple to notch nine points. Tara Daye also finished with nine.

Madison Layden-Zay scored eight points with a pair of 3-pointers. She pulled with 19 of Karissa McLaughlin’s career Purdue record of 244 and 13 shy of Katie Gearlds for third on the all-time list.

On the glass, Michigan (8-1, 1-0) edged Purdue 35-30. Purdue grabbed 11 offensive rebounds and scored 10 second chance points.

Michigan put five players in double figures, led by Olivia Olson’s 26 points.

UP NEXT
The Boilermakers return to Mackey Arena to start a three-game homestand to finish non-conference action on Thursday with an 11 a.m. tip against Lipscomb for the annual Education Day.

Buckeridge Turns in #5 Purdue 5000m Performance in Boston

Track & Field’s Douglas Buckeridge began the season with the No. 5 time in 5000m in Purdue history at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener.

Buckeridge Notes
• Buckeridge ran 14:01.12 in the 5000m to jump up to No. 5 in school history. He entered the season No. 7 with a personal-best 14:05.92 set in January during the 2024-25 season.
• The performance in Buckeridge’s second top five time in indoor school history – he also sits fifth in the 3000m (8:04.85).
• His time placed 89th out of 199 finishers at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. 
• This is the second year in a row Buckeridge opened Purdue’s indoor season in Boston and he improved his time by 12.8 seconds after he ran 14:13.82 last season.

Next Up
Purdue’s team begins the 2025-26 season Jan. 9-10 at the Rod MCravy Memorial in Louisville, Kentucky.

Dzirkalis Sweeps Freestyle Sprints in Madison

A sweep of the freestyle sprints by Jānis Dzirkalis and a 1-2 finish from Blake Rowe and Dylan Burau in the 200 backstroke headlined Men’s Swimming’s four event victories in a dual meet loss at No. 20 Wisconsin on Saturday.

The Badgers won the meet 156-104 to deal Purdue its first defeat in dual action this season.

The Boilermakers closed the meet with a victory in the 200 free relay. Dzirkalis teamed with Andy Kelly, Nathaniel Thomas and Burau to finish the day on a high note for Purdue.

Dzirkalis swept the freestyle sprints at a dual for the third time this season, winning the 50 and 100 about 25 minutes apart with the traditional 20-minute meet break between the two races. He out touched UW’s Enzo Solitario by .08 hundredths of a second in the 100.

Dzirkalis and Rowe now share the team lead with the six individual event victories apiece this season.

As the two fastest Boilermakers ever in the event, only 0.84 hundredths separated Rowe and Burau in their 1-2 finish in the 200 back. Rowe’s winning time of 1:42.15 was just .01 hundredth shy of an NCAA Championships qualifying time, a standard the sophomore has achieved twice previously this season. Burau’s time of 1:42.99 was a personal season best and Purdue’s second-best mark this season.

Burau was also the runner-up in the 100 back, teaming with Rowe for a 2-3 finish. The Boilermakers also went 2-3 in the 200 breaststroke and with Gio Mango and Maxwell Blume. Evan Mackesy (200 IM) and Pat Broderick (1000 free) were also the runner-up in an event. Senior Cooper Callahan posted a lifetime best of 48.56 as Purdue’s top finisher in the 100 butterfly.

Burau’s 50 split of 19.34 on the third leg of the race was the top showing by a Boilermaker in the 200 free relay. Dzirkalis contributed to a team-high eighth relay winner this season. Thomas was part of his sixth relay winner.

Frezzotti Announces 2026 Slate

Head coach Magali Frezzotti announced the full 2026 slate on Thursday, bringing 20 games to Bittinger Stadium, one more than the previous 2025 season. 

The season kicks off Friday, Feb. 6 at 3:00 p.m. est. against Cap Baptist, on the campus of UNLV.

The schedule will allow us to do exactly what we are set to do: compete at a high level all season long and set Purdue SB up for a post season run. We play a lot of high quality opponents both in conference and in the non-conference schedule.Maggie FrezzottiHead Softball Coach

Purdue will travel to the campuses of UNLV (Feb. 6-8), Alabama (Feb. 13-15), Georgia Tech (Feb. 20-22), and Lipscomb (Feb. 27- Mar. 1) during the preseason, before returning to host the Boilermaker Classic (Mar. 6-8). Purdue’s official home opener is slated for Friday, Mar. 6, at 5:00 p.m. est.. against Northern Illinois. 

The Boilers will face seven programs who made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2025 (Liberty, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern)  including both Liberty and Oregon who earned their way to the Super Regional round. 

Big Ten action begins when the Ohio State Buckeyes travel to West Lafayette Mar. 13-15, as the beginning of an eight-game homestand for Purdue. During conference play, the Boilers will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., Bloomington, Ind., New Brunswick, N.J., and Iowa City, Iowa.

The 2026 Big Ten Tournament will be hosted by the Terrapins of Maryland and will run May 6-9.

There is free admission to all Purdue home games.