In an unusual three-team tournament - most likely caused by a cancellation I know nothing about - Purdue volleyball rolled to 3-0 wins over Miami (OH) and Loyola-Chicago, wrapping up non-conference play with a 10-1 mark. Holloway was mostly packed for the Friday evening match with the RedHawks, but the unusual 1:00 PM start on Sunday left more than a few Boiler fans home instead of testing out the new cool-air system for the Loyola match.  

Since the Boilers never trailed the entire weekend and went nearly the entire match against Loyola without even a tie (ironically, the tie came in the set that finished 25-11), rather than a full recap, I'll just drop some stats and then do a non-conference wrap-up instead.

#16 Purdue 3, #71 Miami (OH) 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-19)

Kills: Purdue 45/.283 (Sherridan Atkinson 12/.308), Miami 30/.119 (Olivia Rusek 8/.185)
Assists: Purdue 42 (Ashley Evans 36), Miami 30 (Mackenzia Zielinski 17)
Aces: Purdue 6/-1 (Evans 2/+1, Brooke Peters 2/-1), Miami 2/-4 (Taylor Daignault 1/0, Stela Kukoc* 1/+1)
Digs: Purdue 55 (Peters 14), Miami 39 (Maeve McDonald 15)
Solo blocks: Purdue 1 (Shavona Cuttino), Miami 3 (Margaret Payne 2)
Total blocks: Purdue 6.0 (Shavona Cuttino 2.5), MIami 6.0 (Payne 3.0)

*in case you missed the tweet, yes, Stela is the daughter of former NBA player Toni Kukoc

#16 Purdue 3, #231 Loyola-Chicago 0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-11)

Kills: Purdue 44/.443 (Azariah Stahl 13/.722), Loyola 25/.160 (Elle Van Grinsven 6/.625)
Assists: Purdue 39 (Evans 29), Loyola 22 (Delilah Wolf 17)
Aces: Purdue 8/+3 (Peters 5/+3), Loyola 1/-7 (Alexandra Nunez 1/+1)
Digs: Purdue 34 (Peters 12), Loyola 22 (Nunez 7)
Solo blocks: Purdue 1 (Blake Mohler), Loyola 1 (Olivia Whittingham)
Total blocks: Purdue 5.0 (Mohler 2.0), Loyola 3 (Whittingham 1.0, Heather Kocken 1.0)

Note that total stats are down since Shondell cleared his bench in this one: Caitlyn Newton (6/.125) played in all three sets, Lexi Dorn (4 assists, 1 kill) and Olivia Van Zelst played in two, and Erin Williams (1 kill) played in one. 

Non-conference recap

Attack

Yep, that's right. Exactly one attacker is hitting under .300, and it's a true freshman whose worst match has been, oddly enough, against the weakest team Purdue's faced so far. (I'd rather see .294 at Kansas and .125 vs. Loyola than vice versa.) Penn State caught the Boilers in hitting percentage, which is to be expected since PSU is a national title contender and Purdue is perhaps not there yet, but the fact that there's even a discussion is a compliment to Ashley Evans and the offense that runs through her. (Evans is 19th in assists per set, with 11.38.) Mohler, Shavona Cuttino and Williams - plus Danielle when she comes in at MB - have been solid inside, while Atkinson and Stahl have provided the complements to Cuttino's outside attack that Purdue has been looking for.

Defense

If there's a surprise in this section, it's that Shavona, not Danielle, is leading the team in total blocks ... despite having played just 31 of Purdue's 37 sets this season. (Evans, Mohler and Stahl haven't sat through any; Atkinson and Danielle Cuttino have missed one each.) Mohler may get more attention as the top redshirt sophomore MB, but Shavona is doing just fine in her first year with real playing time ... and like Mohler, she has two years remaining. Danielle's presence will be missed next season, but the middle will be just fine next year with all three regular MB returning.

Peters has stepped in ably for Natalie Haben, and while the junior has slipped into all-mine mode on a couple of occasions, the rest of the time has seen her do a fine job of directing the back row; Damler has been her usual excellent self as well, as have Stahl and Evans, but it's notable that Jena Otec has had an immediate impact, and unlike previous seasons, it seems unlikely that this is just for non-conference play, since she's not taking time from another experienced DS. (Van Zelst has a year of practice experience, but as a redshirt freshman, her playing time this season is her first as well.) 

No worries about the low number of digs - when your blocking is solid, not as many attacks make it past them. 

Serving

Well, it's not great, but this is the closest Purdue has been to even since 2013-14, when they finished 146/-60. (The NCAA's site tracks service errors from 2010 forward.) Furthermore, Evans' +5 is a good sign, even if she's just 1/-2 against ranked competition (1 ace against Kansas, 3 errors against Creighton). 

On the other hand, those two matches in Lawrence bode ill for Purdue's serving numbers in conference play. Evans' ace was the only one Purdue had in both matches, while they had 8 service errors in each match. The Good Gals also struggled at Wyoming (2/-7), and even against Belmont in Lawrence (3/-4). I'm not sure if sight lines are a thing in volleyball like in basketball, but it sure seems like it.

It's tempting to scrape the NCAA's pbp to get total serves, which would be even better than net serves, but that's time I don't seem to have in the fall, so this will have to do for now.

Overall

The Boilers have rolled all the weak teams they've faced at home or on a neutral court; the Wyoming match was in Laramie, and the Boilers did win it. No ranked teams came to Holloway; Purdue split in Lawrence (beat Creighton, lost to Kansas). However, both those teams have tailed off recently, with Creighton dropping matches in Wichita against Wichita State and Iowa State, and Kansas falling at Santa Clara in a match not unlike Purdue's Wyoming trip.

Also, 10-1 is a pretty good record even if your strength of schedule wasn't all that. Having said that ...

Conference outlook

The Big Tenteen has been kicking ass and taking names. Penn State swept Colorado and knocked off Stanford twice, 3-0 and 3-1. Minnesota beat Texas 3-1 in Austin. Wisconsin hasn't played any ranked teams, but has only dropped 1 set in nine matches. Nebraska swept UCLA twice in Lincoln and took Florida to five sets in Gainesville. 

Those four, not coincidentally, are the four conference teams above the Boilers (Nebraska is one spot below them in the AVCA poll). They also represent six of the seven projected losses on Purdue's remaining schedule (the other is their final road match, 11/18 at Michigan; the Wolverines are a 68% favorite). Unfortunately, there are enough tossups that Purdue's expected W-L in conference play is roughly 12-8 (it's a little complicated since the match at Iowa is listed twice). Still, 12-8 and 22-9, with quality wins at Illinois, Iowa and Maryland, would be just fine.

If the Boilers are to take the next step, they'll have to win another big match on the road. Since regionals are at campus sites, you're almost guaranteed to face a top-4 team on the road if you want to make a Final Four. (Oddly, Purdue's 2013 Elite Eight run found that matchup earlier: they stunned 4-seed Missouri in Columbia in the second round, then bounced 13-seed Illinois in Champaign, only to fall to 12-seed Wisconsin in the regional final.) 

First, though, there's the conference schedule. If it goes according to plan, Purdue will be riding a nine-match winning streak when they head to Minnesota October 11, including a home-and-home sweep of Indiana (and another P for the Monon Spike). This would be their longest streak since a nine-match streak in 2015, which also included a home-and-home sweep of the Hoosiers; a road trip to Ohio State and Penn State ended that run.

Up next

Purdue continues a five-match home stand as they welcome Northwestern to Holloway for their first Wednesday-night match of the season; on Saturday, following the Purdue-Michigan Homecoming game, Ohio State takes on the Good Gals. Massey expects Purdue to crush the Wildcats (3-0, 96%) and beat the Buckeyes comfortably (3-1, 80%). 

Note that both matches are on BTN, which means no BTN2Go unless you already have BTN on cable or satellite. This is how you grow the sport, you see, by preventing people from watching it conveniently.

Wednesday ticket stubs are good for $2 off the Rutgers match on 10/21 or the Michigan State match on Black Friday. Yes, that's why they're offering discounts. If you're planning a football-volleyball doubleheader on Saturday, you can get a $5 general admission ticket if you show your football ticket stub ... although those deals tend to sell out, so don't be lollygagging.

Wednesday, 7:00 PM: #13 Purdue vs. #59 Northwestern, with audio link, game tracker, and coverage on BTN
Saturday, 8:30 PM: #13 Purdue vs. #37 Ohio State, with audio link, game tracker, and coverage on BTN

Hurray! Home matches! Photos courtesy of Purdue Athletics, taken by Charles Jischke and John Underwood