VOLLEYBALL TO HOST NCAA: SPORTS UPDATE NOV. 27

VOLLEYBALL FINISHES 3RD IN THE BIG TEN STANDINGS

An efficient night for the No. 13 Purdue volleyball squad, which included a .348 team hitting %, led to a sweep at Michigan, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-17).

No Boilermaker recorded more than two errors as Purdue earned its seventh .300 attack % or better this season. The effort was led by Eva Hudson’s 14 kills and .324 attack % and a career-high-tying .455 clip by Chloe Chicoine (11-1-22).

Hudson’s next kill will mark her 1,000th and the sophomore will become the fastest Boilermaker in the rally-scoring era to reach the milestone.

Freshman setter Taylor Anderson dished out 33 assists while libero Maddie Schermerhorn secured a team-leading 17 digs.

A decisive 3-0 victory (26-24, 25-18, 25-18) at Michigan State solidified No. 13 Purdue’s third-place finish in the Big Ten standings, led by sophomore Eva Hudson’s dominating career-high-tying .500 hitting % and a double-double 21 kills and 10 dig-performance.

Eva Hudson became the fastest Boilermaker in the rally-scoring era to reach 1,000 kills, with her first kill of the match and joined Debbie McDonald (1986-1989) as the only Boilermaker to ever accomplish the feat.

Fittingly, the sweep was the 21st victory of the season for the team (21-8, 15-5 Big Ten) as head coach Dave Shondell wrapped up his 21st regular-season with the Boilermakers.

VOLLEYBALL TO HOST NCAA FIRST & SECOND ROUNDS

The volleyball squad was selected as a No. 3 seed and host site for the NCAA First & Second Rounds, with matches played on Thursday, November 30 and Friday, December 1. Purdue will welcome Fairfield, Eastern Illinois and No. 6 seed Marquette as the teams designated to play in Holloway Gymnasium alongside the Boilermakers.

Purdue is slated to play Fairfield in the First Round, scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. No. 6 seed Marquette vs. EIU will play immediately before at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. Winners from each round will meet on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

Tickets went on sale Monday, Nov. 27 at 10 a.m. ET.

The Boilermakers will host the opening rounds for the third time in the last five seasons as they earn their 35th overall tournament appearance. Additionally, it is the ninth consecutive year and the 18th time in the last 20 seasons Purdue has earned a bid. Thursday’s matchup will be the first-ever between Purdue (21-8) and Fairfield (22-6). Meanwhile, the Boilermakers will have an opportunity to play either Marquette (20-10), a team they faced earlier this season in a thrilling five-set victory, or Eastern Illinois (28-4), a team last played in 1992.

Purdue, which finished third in the Big Ten standings behind a 21-8, 15-5 Big Ten record, feature a young squad that has secured a 6-3 record vs. top-25 opponents and 11-4 vs. opponents ranked or receiving votes, all the while competing in the toughest schedule Shondell has constructed in his 21 seasons. The team’s No. 3 seed is the highest in the NCAA’s current seeding format, which began in 2022.

In other volleyball news later on Monday:

Anderson was selected as Big Ten Setter of the Week, announced by the conference office following the final week of the regular-season.

The Boilermakers own a program-record 15 individual weekly honors this season, including two Setter of the Week and one Freshman of the Week nod for Anderson. The Boilermaker has been honored for two straight weeks (last week: Freshman of the Week). Purdue ends the regular-season with an honoree in five of the last six weeks, including the last three straight.

Anderson led Purdue to back-to-back road wins within 24 hours with sweeps at Michigan and Michigan State to close the regular season and solidify Purdue’s third-place finish in the Big Ten standings. The Boilermaker averaged a league-leading 11.50 assists per set, all the while averaging 1.67 blocks per set, which was third-highest among all Big Ten players.

Purdue hit at some of the most efficient rates of the season with Anderson guiding the team to a .348 attack % at Michigan and a .324 mark at Michigan State.

OFFENSE ERUPTS AS PURDUE DOWNS SOUTHERN INDIANA

The women’s basketball team erupted on offense in a 95-57 win over Southern Indiana on Sunday in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers moved to 3-3 on the year and shot 57.6% from the field with nine 3-pointers.

Purdue shot over 50% for the first time this season and posted its second highest field goal percentage of the Katie Gearlds era. Ten of the 11 active players scored with eight recording five or more. The Boilermakers dished out 24 assists on 34 made field goals and committed just 10 turnovers.

Abbey Ellis paced Purdue with her sixth game in double figures this season with 19 points. The Australian turned in an all-around performance going 7-of-11 from the field, 4-of-4 at the line, dishing out seven assists and six rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.

Jeanae Terry posted a similarly solid all-around night with six points, six rebounds and eight assists over 18 minutes on the court. Madison Layden was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field with four 3-pointers for 16 points.

Rashunda Jones led the freshman line with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Mary Ashley Stevenson fell one point shy of her career mark with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting at the line. McKenna Layden hit from distance twice to finish with a career-best eight points. Emily Monson added a rebound, assist and a block. Sophie Swanson made her collegiate debut with two points and two rebounds in eight minutes of action.