To no one’s surprise, the Boilers cruised to victories over Ohio State and Maryland last week. The Buckeyes put up quite a struggle before the break, taking one set and playing another close, but it was all Purdue after that. Maryland … did not play quite that well.

The Good Gals sit comfortably in sixth, 20th in Massey, definitely in the tournament and almost certainly not hosting (tied for 21st in RPI).

#19 Purdue 3, #52 Ohio State 1 (28-30, 25-15, 25-22, 25-17)

Set the All-American. Repeat until match ends.

In what was basically a replay of the Nebraska match, only with inverse effectiveness by Purdue, the visitors came out strong in the first set but nearly didn’t finish, hanging on for a thrilling 28-30 win. They hung with the Boilers for about half of the second set, and after that, it was all Old Gold and Black, as the Good Gals hit .414 in the second set and .361 in the fourth to close out the match.

Personnel notes

Maddy Chinn drew the starting nod in the freshman OH spot; all other regulars played as expected, and no subs made an appearance.

Match notes

Purdue came out flat, falling behind 0-1, 1-4 and 2-7. Shondell didn’t use a timeout, and the Boilers pulled out of it on their own, cutting the lead to two, and then responding to a 1-3 OSU run with a 4-0 run to tie the set at 10. The Buckeyes got another 1-3 run to lead 11-13, then traded points for 12-14; Purdue scored four straight to draw an OSU timeout and lead 16-14. Again, the visitors stayed close, tying it after yet another 1-3 run, then trading points through 20-19, when an 0-4 OSU run drew a Purdue timeout. Purdue got within one, forcing OSU to spend their remaining timeout, but the Buckeyes would earn their first set point on a Gabby Gonzalez kill. Purdue fought that one off on a Blake Mohler/Grace Cleveland block of OSU star Jenaisya Moore, then used a Cleveland ace to kill off the second set point. Mohler made it 25-24, and the Purdue crowd stood at set point, only to see Lauren Witte tie it at 25. Hayley Bush made it 26-25, but set point #2 for the Boilers went the wrong way as well, with a Madison Smeathers kill tying things at 26. A Bush attack error got the visitors to their feet and drew Purdue’s second timeout, but Chinn tied it at 27 and everyone sat back down. A Moore attack error gave the Boilers a final chance for the set, but Moore would have none of it, putting down a Becca Mauer set for 28-all. Smeathers made it 28-29, and on their fourth try, the Buckeyes made good, using a Caitlyn Newton attack error to take a marathon set one, 28-30.

Both sides looked sluggish at the beginning of set two, probably recovering from the high-stakes end to the first set. Neither side led by more than one until the Boilers scored four straight to turn a 6-7 deficit into a 10-7 lead. Another 3-1 run made it 13-9, and OSU coach Geoff Carlston wasted no time in calling a timeout, perhaps sensing that they couldn’t fall behind much farther and still catch up. Sure enough, Ohio State stayed close through 16-14, but the Good Gals finally found their stride, rattling off five straight around OSU’s other timeout to lead 21-14, then following a Chinn attack error with four more points to close the set with authority, 25-15. The majority of the set had not been that good, but the end was solid, and Purdue went to the locker room even on the scoreboard but ahead on points (in a literal as well as metaphorical sense).

The teams came out for the third set … and it was a repeat of the first sets initially, as OSU went up 1-4, Purdue fought back to lead 7-6, and then the two sides played basically level through 14-15. Finally, the Boilers broke through, using a 4-0 run to draw an OSU timeout, then after a Gonzales kill, they scored three more around OSU’s other timeout. At 21-16, things looked pretty good … but the Buckeyes weren’t done. The teams traded pairs of points for 23-18, then traded points for 24-19. Set point #1 was a Bush attack error, set point #2 was a Gonzales kill, set point #3 was a Smeathers kill, and all of a sudden it seemed like the end of set 1 was going to be the end of set 3 … but a Purdue timeout settled the troops, and Bush used a quick attack to cash in set point #4, and the Boilers took control of the match, up 2-1.

Set four turned out to be what I’d expected in set one: a 5-0 Purdue lead and an OSU timeout. The Buckeyes made it 5-3, but they wouldn’t get any closer, as the Good Gals scored 5 of 6 to lead 10-4 and burn OSU’s other timeout. They’d get to within three at 11-8, then two at 14-12, but the Boilers wouldn’t be stopped, eventually expanding the lead to 21-14, then trading points through 24-17 and cashing in their first match point, using a Newton kill to make it 25-17. The Good Gals got the version of OSU that beat Wisconsin and pushed Minnesota to five sets, but fortunately, the Buckeyes weren’t quite as good as they were on those nights, and Purdue had enough to win 3-1.

Purdue led in all categories: attack percentage (63 at .273 to 51 at .173), assists (57-49), aces (6/-5 to 1/-7), blocks (10.0-4.0), and digs (66-62). Blake Mohler was the surprise leader in kills, posting a match-high 19, her best effort since getting 21 against Southern Miss last year, and hitting a sizzling .607, in what would be just outside the top six efforts in Purdue history in a four-set match if that board hadn’t already been adjusted earlier this year by Cleveland, who added 17 of her own at .378. Newton had 11 kills but hit just .045 as the Buckeyes were determined to force Purdue to earn kills away from the left pin … although Chinn had a good match from there, with 9 kills at .261. Bush led all players with 52 assists and added 14 digs for a double-double. Cleveland also had a match-high 3 aces (+2), with Newton (2/-1) and Marissa Hornung (1/-1) serving the others. Newton, Mohler and Chinn each had a solo block, while Cleveland had team honors with 3.0 total. Hornung’s 18 digs were also tops among all players; Jena Otec had 15 to make it three Boilers in double figures.

If you had any questions about who led the Buckeyes, you didn’t read the recap from the match in Columbus and probably haven’t even seen OSU this season, because it was standout freshman OH Jenaisya Moore. Moore had 17 kills at .224, served the Buckeyes’ only ace (-2), had their only solo block, and added 14 digs for a double-double; freshman libero Kylie Murr (Yorktown, IN HS) had a team-high 17 digs to be practically the only non-Moore Buckeye to lead a category. Freshman OH Gabby Gonzales added 13 kills at .108. Junior setter Becca Mauer had 30 assists and 10 digs for her own double-double, while Moore shared team honors with senior MB Madison Smeathers (Bargersville, IN; Center Grove HS) and junior MB Lauren Witte, who each had 1.0 total blocks. Gonzales narrowly missed out on being a third OSU player with a double-double, adding 9 digs.

#19 Purdue 3, #78 Maryland 0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19)

Cuttino had the day off on Saturday as Cleveland had yet another impressive match for the Boilers.

Maryland barely led at all during the match; the Boilers cruised to a 3-0 win and got some playing time for most of the subs.

Personnel notes

Shavona Cuttino got the day off, with Jael Johnson starting in her place and going the distance. All other regulars were the same. Ava Torrance served in one set and recorded a dig; Maddie Koch also played in one set and had a trillion.

Match notes

This match also got off to an auspicious beginning, with Maryland leading 2-3 and 3-4. The Terrapins had been swept five straight times prior to edging Indiana 3-2 on Friday, but you couldn’t tell from the way they started. However, normalcy soon returned, with the Boilers scoring five straight to lead 8-4. A 4-1 run and a 5-0 run would burn both Maryland timeouts and give the Good Gals a 17-7 lead; the visitors would get no closer than six, and Purdue put the set away with a Newton/Johnson block of Rainelle Jones for an easy 25-17 win.

Set two had less drama, with the Boilers scoring six of the first seven points. Maryland got as close as 7-5 and 11-9, but a Purdue timeout once again settled things down, and suddenly it was 16-10 after a Maryland timeout. The Good Gals scored two for every Maryland point the rest of the way - literally - and finished the set on a double-hit call on Nicole Alford. The 25-15 score reflected the ease with which the set had gone their way, and there was little to suggest that the third set would be any different.

Unfortunately, the beginning was very different, with a fired-up Maryland team taking the first three points, then carrying that lead to 2-5. They would lead as late as 13-14, using a 1-4 run to grab a final lead, but a 6-0 Purdue run dashed their hopes of taking a set, and at 20-17, Purdue used a 3-0 run to put the set out of reach. A Jada Gardner kill denied the Good Gals a win on their first match point, but Newton put down the second, and the Boilers had a 25-19 and 3-0 win.

Purdue’s edge was larger here than against Ohio State, although they notably trailed in blocks (6.5-7.5, with both teams recording a triple block). They did lead in attack percentage (42 at .315 to 35 at .192), assists (41-34), aces (7/+4 to 0/-5), and digs (44-35). Newton was the only Boiler with double-digit kills, getting 15 at .265. Bush led all players with 35 assists. Otec had a match-high 4 aces (+3), with Newton (2/+2) and Cleveland (1/even) recording the others. Newton and Mohler had a solo block apiece, with Mohler’s 2.0 leading the team. Hornung had a match-high 19 digs.

Maryland’s attack was led by junior OH Erika Pritchard, the only Terrapin with double-digit kills, as she had 13 at .258. Junior setter Nicole Alford added 29 assists. Redshirt sophomore Katie Myers had the only solo block for Maryland; she tied sophomore MB Rainelle Jones for team honors with 2.0 total. Sophomore libero Allegra Rivas had a team-high 12 digs, the only Terrapin in double figures.

Overall thoughts

Purdue had a relapse in serving against OSU, but returned to positive territory against Maryland. They also went through another period where they weren’t really guarding the net well and weren’t really placing their back row where they could cover around the block, and Ohio State took advantage of that. Once the Boilers cleaned that up, they kept the OSU attack in check and were able to build good leads. Hopefully they’ll get that fixed during practice, because Rutgers isn’t likely to test them, and they’ll have to be sharp against Michigan. (To be fair, those UM matches are basically for conference placement, since both sides are definitely in the tournament and only the top 16 are seeded, so both teams are likely to end up at nearby sites. Unfortunately, that could mean traveling to Penn State or Nebraska, although it’s possible Purdue will end up at Kentucky again. Another possibility might be, say, Marquette or Northern Iowa, teams on the edge of the top 16 and definitely teams that the Boilers could potentially upset.

Conference roundup

Wisconsin posted an impressive 3-1 win at Minnesota, retaking sole possession of first place. Penn State swept Illinois in Champaign to reach 14-2, joined by Nebraska, who survived a 3-2 scare against Iowa, and Minnesota, who swept Michigan - the Wolverines swept Iowa but fell four games off the pace. Purdue closed to within a game of UM and face Michigan twice in the next three matches, while Illinois is now seven games out and, with an RPI of 45, is cutting it really close. They have no more quality opponents, so an unexpected loss to Maryland, OSU or Northwestern could well knock them out of the 64-team field.

Ohio State won at Indiana to remain one back of Illinois and will host the Illini on Sunday; Michigan State didn’t win a set and is now tied with Maryland, who squeaked past Indiana in five sets. Iowa nearly pulled off a stunner in Lincoln but will likely end up on an eight-match losing streak with Wisconsin and Minnesota on the road this weekend. Indiana dropped into a three-way tie for last as Northwestern swept Rutgers.

Next up

Purdue closes out their home schedule with matches against Rutgers and Michigan. The Scarlet Knights have a couple of wins under their belt, but shouldn’t put up much resistance; the Wolverines, on the other hand, will be a real challenge. If the Boilers win Saturday and again next Wednesday in Ann Arbor, they might just squeak into a host spot, but that probably depended on Michigan knocking off Minnesota so that they’d be more of a quality win. Oh well …

Note that the start time for the Michigan match was moved up due to a conflict with men’s basketball - can’t have two sets of people parking in one set of parking lots.

Wednesday, 7 PM: vs #129 Rutgers (TV: BTN+; stat tracker)
Saturday, 1 PM: vs #26 Michigan (TV: BTN+; stat tracker)

Pics this week are from the Purdue-Minnesota match, courtesy of Purdue Sports and taken by Dave Wegiel. What’s that you say? Where are our home match pics? Look, here’s the events that the photogs were at since the 3rd: WBB on the 3rd, XC on the 4th, WBB signing day on the 7th, MBB on the 9th, football (away!) on the 9th, WBB on the 10th, MBB on the 16th, and WBB on the 17th. There are only so many of them, you know? We’ll make do.