Last weekend’s matches went exactly as you’d expect: the Boilers rolled over Rutgers, then managed to take a set at Penn State but couldn’t repeat their stunning upset of a year ago. The weekend left Purdue squarely in the top half of the conference, but far enough behind the top teams that they’re almost certainly looking at road matches in the NCAA tournament.

#21 Purdue 3, #125 Rutgers 0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-21)

Not much to say about a match in which the worst team in the conference never led at any point in any set. The Scarlet Knights played a solid third set, which is good to see from a team that was overwhelmed in the second, but they ended up with nothing to show for it.

Personnel notes

Usual starters and subs, with Maddy Chinn playing one set at OH in place of Ellis. Odd not to see more backups against Rutgers, especially with set two going 25-12, but it may also be that Shondell wants his starters to get as much experience as they can prior to NCAA tournament time.

Match notes

Purdue led 12-5, 16-3, and 11-6 at the start of the three sets. Not much to say other than that.

The Boilers crushed Rutgers in the box score as well: attack percentage (41 at .257 to 33 at .102), assists (38-31), aces (6/+3 to 2/-2), blocks (10.0-5.0), and digs (55-43). Caitlyn Newton (11 at .186) and Grace Cleveland (10 at .400) were the only players on either team with double-digit kills; Cleveland served 4 aces (+3) to lead all players, with Newton (+1) and Jena Otec (-1) serving the others. Hayley Bush had a match-high 27 assists and just missed a double-double with 9 assists. Cleveland, Chinn and Blake Mohler each had a solo block, with Cleveland tying Shavona Cuttino for match honors at 3.0. Otec had 18 digs to lead everyone, with Marissa Hornung not far behind at 14.

The Rutgers attack was led by sophomore OH Anastasiia Maksimova, who had 8 kills at .120; sophomore MB Merle Weidt was the only Scarlet Knight above .200, getting 6 kills at .357. Sophomore setter Inna Balyko had a team-high 26 assists and a team-high-tying 10 digs for a double-double, sharing team honors with senior libero Karysa Swackenberg. Sophomore OH Tali Marmen (-1) and junior RS Beka Kojadinovic (+1) had the two Rutgers aces; Marmen and Balyko each had a solo block, with Balyko’s 1.5 total leading the team.

#21 Purdue 1, #7 Penn State 3 (17-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-25)

When you’re playing a stronger opponent on the road, usually you just want to make sure you don’t get swept. Purdue took care of that in the second set; unfortunately, that proved to be their one solid set of the night, but last year was by far the exception rather than the rule. The list of teams that have won back-to-back matches in Rec Hall is, I will guess, very very small.

Personnel notes

Jael Johnson played briefly, getting a kill on one attack (not many players hit 1.000 against Penn State either). Other than that, same as usual.

Match notes

Purdue dug themselves a 2-7 hole in the opening set and never really recovered. They did make it close, rallying to 7-8, but four points later it was 7-12, Purdue took a time out, and from there they could do little more than play out the string.

The second set was much different, as the Good Gals led early, 3-1. They pushed the lead to 7-4, then 14-10, and finally 20-14. You knew Penn State had a rally in them, and sure enough, here came the hosts, cutting that lead to 21-18, then 23-21, but fortunately, the Boilers held on, getting a kill from Ellis and an attack error from Serena Gray to finish out the set.

The last two sets were typical Penn-State-at-home sets, as the Nittany Lions opened up 2-7 and 6-11 leads, respectively. The Boilers made a run early in both sets, but PSU answered with authority, and then it was just a matter of time running out for the Good Gals.

As you would expect, the better team held the advantage across the board: attack (48 at .194 to 64 at .305), assists (42-60), aces (3/-4 to 4/-2), blocks (6.0-9.0), and digs (61-69). Mohler was one of two bright spots in the Purdue attack, racking up 13 kills at .360; Cleveland added 10 at .273, and Newton had 12 kills, but with 10 errors, hitting just .049 as Penn State made her work for every kill. Bush had another double-double, with 37 assists and 10 digs, and had 1 (+1) of the three aces, joined by Cleveland (even) and Otec (-2). Mohler led the Boilers with 2.0 total blocks, while Hornung (26) and Otec (10) made it three Purdue players with double-digit digs.

Penn State was led by sophomore RS Jonni Parker (a match-high 17 kills at .244), redshirt senior MB Tori Gorrell (14 at .333) and sophomore MB Serena Gray (13 at .400). Sophomore setter Gabby Blossom led all players with 53 assists; Parker (2/even), Blossom (1/+1) and Gray (1/even) had the four Penn State aces. Sophomore OH Allyson Cathey (New Albany, IN HS) and sophomore MB Kaitlyn Hord each had a solo block; Hord added 5 assists for a match-high 3.5 total. Senior libero Kendall White (Zionsville, IN; Cathedral HS) led everyone with 29 digs, and sophomore DS Jenna Hampton added 11.

Overall thoughts

Purdue’s serving has noticeably improved over the last several matches; Penn State has an excellent return game, but other than that, the change to a plus service game is huge. There are few better ways to make an immediate improvement in your team’s performance than by reducing service errors, and this is likely one big reason the Boilers have had a solid second half to their season. We’ll see if that helps them during their huge home-and-home against Michigan.

Conference roundup

Wisconsin finally dropped a conference match, losing a 1-3 stunner at Ohio State; that dropped them into a first-place tie with Minnesota, who swept both opponents as a perfect lead-in to tonight’s battle for the conference lead. Nebraska and Penn State kept pace at a game back, and the Huskers have added a Wednesday sweep of MSU. Michigan may be for real after their 3-1 win against Illinois, keeping them just three back overall. Purdue and Illinois wrap up the likely tournament-eligible teams, although Illinois is close to the point the Boilers were at a few seasons ago, with a bunch of quality losses and not enough wins to make their resume good enough - a Friday win over Penn State might be their ticket to the Dance.

Ohio State is still a game back of the Illini after their big Badger upset; Michigan State narrowly beat Northwestern at home to stay within range of the Buckeyes; Maryland didn’t take a set against Minnesota or Wisconsin; Iowa also was swept twice and has Nebraska Saturday; Indiana got their second conference win to pull into a tie with Rutgers, and Northwestern has a chance to create a three-way tie if they beat Rutgers at home Friday.

Signing Day

Two 2020 recruits became official Boilers-to-be on signing day, as 6’2” MB Taylor Trammell and 6’2” MB Lourdes Myers announced they had signed with Purdue. Trammell, from Henry Clay HS in Kentucky, is the #72 Senior Ace and was first-team All-State in 2018 and honorable mention this year; Myers, from St. Thomas Aquinas in Louisville, OH, is the #62 Senior Ace and was the 2018 North Coast Offensive Player of the Year. Both players will be welcome additions to a middle blocker depth chart that returns only Jael Johnson next season.

Two more Boilers signed as well but did not announce yet; it’s reasonable to assume they are MB Molly Brown and L/DS Savana Chacon, since those are the two remaining Purdue commits. It’ll be interesting to see if this becomes the second straight year where Purdue doesn’t bring in a transfer, as they’re projected to lose just the two redshirt seniors and add these four freshmen. Even with a departure or two, the Boilers would end up with as many players as they have now, and if everyone stays then Purdue might get to the depth I’d like to see them have, where there are enough players at each position to allow the staff more choices from week to week.

Next up

Not much remains for the Good Gals, as they have four easy matches and a home-and-home with Michigan; the latter is possibly their last chance to earn home-court matches in the NCAAs, but the other four are important as well, as the Boilers can’t afford a letup. Massey has Ohio State taking a set and Maryland getting swept; Purdue’s home form has been good as of late, so I think it’s more likely to be 3-0/3-0.

Friday, 7 PM: vs #52 Ohio State (TV: BTN+; stat tracker)
Saturday, 7 PM: vs ##78 Maryland (TV: BTN+; stat tracker)

Road matches = one image, courtesy of Purdue Sports