We have now reached the point where posting 3-1 road wins is somewhere between tolerable and disappointing. It’s an indication of how well the team has played over the last year or so that we can look at an 18-5 team that is tied for fourth in the toughest conference in the country and say “Yeah, but …” because expectations are that high now. It’s good that the Boilers held on to win both matches - a loss in either one would have been costly, particularly to a Rutgers squad that has yet to post a Big Tenteen win this season - but it’s not so good that they posted unimpressive wins while some of their competition was doing quite a bit better.

They’ll have a chance to do the same this week, as the Boilers travel to Madison and Minneapolis, one of the toughest road trips in volleyball. Two wins would give them a real shot at a share of the conference title; anything less would make it a tall task, since both schools are currently ahead of the Boilers. Having said that, Purdue is in the top four, and that’s an accomplishment in itself. Going 0-2 this weekend would not be a disappointment. As for last weekend …

Purdue 3, Maryland 1 (25-15, 25-23, 22-25, 27-25)

Personnel

Back to our usual lineup, with Raven Colvin and Emma Ellis fixtures as second MB and second OH respectively. Emma Terwilliger served once in one set.

Recap

No recap today due to time constraints.

Stats

Purdue had a significant edge in everything other than digs (understandable) and blocks, which was a tribute to Maryland’s front row: attack was 59 at .199 to 44 at .120, aces were 9-3, blocks 15-13, assists 54-40, and digs 72-67.

The Boilers put three players in double-figure kills: Ellis with a team- and career-high 15 (at .370), Caitlyn Newton with 14 at .089, and Grace Cleveland with 13 at .250. Hayley Bush took match honors with 47 assists and added 11 digs for her usual double-double, and also served one of Purdue’s nine aces (even), with the others coming from Newton (3/-1), Jena Otec (1/+1), Cleveland (1/even), and Jael Johnson (3/even). Johnson had three solo blocks and five assists for 5.5 total, easily leading everyone, and Cleveland added one solo and 3.5 total, followed by Colvin (3.0) and Newton (2.0). Otec led all players with 30 digs; Newton also had a double-double with 11 digs.

The Terrapins’ attack was keyed by sophomore OH Sam Csire, who had a match-high 16 kills at .133; fifth-year OH Paula Neciporuka added 10 at .105 and served all three of Maryland’s aces (+3). Sophomore setter Sydney Dowler had 36 assists and 10 digs for a double-double. Maryland had five solo blocks, with 2 from Csire and one each from fifth-year MB Hannah Thompson, Dowler, and junior MB Cara Lewis, with Thompson’s 3.5 total leading the team. Freshman libero Milan Gomillion had a team-high 24 digs; fifth-year DS Kaylee Thomas added 16.

Purdue 3, Rutgers 1 (20-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-20)

Personnel

Same as against Maryland, only with no subs making an appearance.

Recap

No recap today due to time constraints.

Stats

The Rutgers service game gave the Boilers problems, with a slight edge in aces to the home team (6-7), but the rest of the stats were in Purdue’s favor: attack (56 at .267 to 47 at .168), blocks (12-9), assists (49-41) and digs (67-59).

Newton and Cleveland each managed 17 kills, sharing top honors in the match, with Newton hitting .204 and Cleveland hitting .405. Bush’s 42 assists led all players again, although both she and Newton missed out on double-doubles with 8 and 9 digs respectively. Aces came from Marissa Hornung (3/+3), Newton (1/even), Cleveland (1/+1) and Johnson (1/even). Ellis had the lone solo block, while Johnson had 9 block assists to lead all players with 4.5 total. Otec’s 18 digs were tops among everyone, with Hornung (13) and Maddie Schermerhorn (10) also in double figures.

Rutgers was led by fifth-year RS Beka Kojadinovic, who had 16 kills at .343, and sophomore MB Tina Grkovic, with 11 kills at .280; Kojadinovic added a team-high 15 digs for a double-double. Senior setter Inna Balyko had 34 assists and 14 digs for a double-double. The Scarlet Knight aces came from Kojadinovic (3/-1), fifth-year OH Samantha Graver (1/+1), fifth-year RS Kamila Cieslik (1/even), senior OH Anastasiia Maksimova (1/-1), and sophomore libero Madyson Chitty (1/+1). Redshirt senior MB Shea McNamara led the hosts with 3.0 total blocks.

Overall thoughts

3-1 wins aren’t impressive but they are effective, and as Wisconsin can tell you, not everyone survives a trip out East unscathed. The real question will be the upcoming matches and how the teams around Purdue fare. A win in either match would be huge; 2-0 would be incredible.

Conference standings

Wisconsin stayed on track with easy sweeps on the road, while Minnesota was the big mover last week, posting a four-set win and a sweep at OSU and Illinois to move into a tie for second with Nebraska, who also swept at Illinois but was swept at OSU. Purdue moved up to fourth with their wins, joining Penn State, who beat the Michigan schools at home and will visit both schools this week. Ohio State dropped to sixth after losing to Minnesota but got the surprise sweep of Nebraska to stay close, while Illinois fell to seventh after being swept twice at home.

Michigan isn’t out of the running quite yet, losing at Penn State but sweeping Maryland to move one game ahead of the Terps, who probably needed a win against Purdue or Michigan to keep their faint NCAA hopes alive. Northwestern is tied for ninth after a win over Indiana, who falls into a tie for 12th with Michigan State after the Spartans knocked off Rutgers and came close to shocking Penn State on the road. Iowa also beat the Hoosiers, closing to within a game of those two, while Rutgers is still looking for its first conference win.

Purdue definitely has the toughest schedule this week, and with the only other match between contenders coming Sunday with Ohio State at Illinois, an 0-2 week could see the Boilers slide to sixth. However, it’ll also be the last road matches against contenders, as the Good Gals finish home against Michigan, at Northwestern, and then home against Indiana and Nebraska. 13-7 or 14-6 seems most likely at this point - not sure that 14 wins is enough to break into the top four, but then only six teams can even top 14 wins as it is, and if Illinois beats Ohio State that’ll drop to five. Anyone up for a program-defining road win?