Looking at the rankings of Purdue’s opponents last weekend, it was easy to project sweeps in their Friday matches - neither Jacksonville State nor Purdue-Fort Wayne are particularly strong teams. Tennessee, however, is an up-and-coming team in a conference seemingly full of them (Mississippi, for example, is still unbeaten), and would have been expected to pose a stern test for the Boilers.

That test was aced, as the Good Gals posted their second sweep of a top-25 opponent Saturday, finishing the tournament without dropping a set despite getting younger players a lot of court time … the perfect way to wrap up non-conference play and prepare for their usual grueling opener. It won’t be like last season, playing two straight at #1 Wisconsin (although that’s exactly where the Badgers are right now), but the Buckeyes are also unbeaten and 6th in Massey - Friday’s match will be a significant challenge.

#5 Purdue 3, #118 Jacksonville State 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-20)

Personnel

Ali Hornung got the start in place of Marissa, with Maddy Chinn the first OH off the bench. Caitlyn Newton got to take a set off, as did Hayley Bush. Ava Torrance came in to serve in one set, and Megan Renner, Madeline Koch and Raven Colvin all played in one set.

Recap

The Boilers got off to a shaky start, actually falling behind 4-7 early. They cut the lead to 6-7, traded points through 7-9, then scored 5 straight to take a lead they would not relinquish. Another 5-0 run put the Boilers up 18-12 after the Gamecocks had cut the lead to one; from there, the Good Gals stayed in control, finishing the set with Ali Hornung on the line as a 4-0 run made it 25-16 Boilers.

The visitors started strong in set two as well, leading 1-3, 5-8, 8-11, and then getting an 0-3 run to push the lead to 9-14. At 11-16, Purdue finally found their rhythm, taking six of the next eight to close to within one, but they would not lead until 20-19. Unfortunately for Jacksonville State, that came during an 8-0 run to close the set, once again with Ali Hornung on the line, as 10 of the last 11 points went to the Old Gold and Black. Purdue would likely have been fine if they’d gone into the break at 1-1, but going in up 2-0 after being down for so long in the set must have been a big boost.

Indeed, they started much stronger in set three, leading 2-0, 5-1, and 7-2 … but once again, the Gamecocks would come back, using an 0-5 run to draw level and later getting four more points, including back-to-back aces by Katie Montgomery, to lead 9-12. They would lead as late as 14-15 before a 5-1 stretch for the Boilers put the home side in front to stay. Ali found herself on the service line to potentially close out the third set as well, but after an ace gave the Boilers match point, a service error gave JSU one last chance … for naught, as Colvin’s kill gave Purdue a closely-fought 25-20 set win.

Stats

The stats did not lean quite as heavily toward Purdue as you might like; the Boilers did lead in kills (39 at .284 to 32 at .035), blocks (13 to 2) and assists (32-30), but digs were even at 48, and JSU served 5 aces to 3 for the Boilers.

No Purdue player had 10 kills; Cleveland and Chinn were tied with 8 each (.250 and .217 respectively). Bush had 22 assists and one of three aces (even), with Ali Hornung serving the other two (+1). Cleveland and Chinn each had a solo block, with Cleveland’s 3.5 total leading all players. Otec had a match-high 17 digs; no other Boiler had more than 6.

Jacksonville State’s attack was led by redshirt senior OH Addie Halverson, who had a match-high 10 kills at an impressive .348. Fifth-year setter Lexie Libs (Floyds Knobs/Providence HS; yes, she was a teammate of Marissa Hornung at Providence) took match honors with 27 assists and just missed a double-double with 9 digs. Senior MB Katie Montgomery had three of the five Gamecock aces (+3), with junior libero Erin Carmichael (Avon/Avon HS, teammate of Ava Torrance) (+1) and freshman DS Brooklyn Schiffli (Indianapolis/Triton Central HS) (+1) serving the others. No JSU player had a solo block, but senior OH Lena Kindermann had an assist on each of the two team blocks for 1.0 total. Carmichael added a team-high 12 digs, joined in double digits by junior OH Kylee Quigley (10) and Schiffli (10).

#5 Purdue 3, #263 Purdue-Fort Wayne 0 (25-19, 25-6, 25-12)

Personnel

Mostly the same starters as in the morning match, only with Colvin starting for Taylor Trammell. This time Grace Cleveland and Maddie Schermerhorn got a set to rest; Emma Terwilliger served in two sets, as did Torrance; Renner played in two sets, and Koch and Savana Chacon played in one.

Recap

The opening set started much as the first match did, with the Mastodons unexpectedly hanging close to the hosts, leading 0-1 and staying in it through 6-5. At that point, Purdue ran off five straight, and although PFW did get a late 1-6 run to cut the lead to two, the Boilers responded with a 5-1 run of their own, trading points the rest of the way to take the opener 25-19.

Set two started off 14-0. Otec had a service error to make it 14-1, although at that point I’d think she must have been a bit tired of serving - it’s always fun to score points but you generally want a bit more variety. PFW got a Katie Crowe ace to make it 14-2, and that was pretty much it.

Looking at the final score, you’d think set three went much the same way … but it was the visitors jumping out early to an 0-3 lead, quite an improvement for a team that just lost a set by 19. Unfortunately, Purdue used an 8-1 run to erase all that work, and while they didn’t have a double-digit run in this set, after PFW closed to within 9-7, the Boilers ran off seven of eight to get some breathing room and continued to push the lead, not letting the Mastodons score on their serve the rest of the way and finishing on a 6-1 run for a convincing 25-12 win.

Stats

Dominance on the scoreboard, dominance in the box score: Purdue outhit PFW .456 to .012 (those are actual numbers, not just me lazily typing numbers in sequence) and nearly doubled them up in kills, 43-22. They enjoyed huge edges everywhere else, too: aces (9-2), blocks (6-3), assists (40-22) and digs (38-25).

Purdue’s attack was well balanced, with no Boilers in double digits and Newton (.250) and Colvin (.900) tying for match honors with 9 kills. Bush had a match-high 29 assists and joined the ace parade as seven Purdue players served at least one (Bush 2/+2, Newton 1/even, Otec 2/even, Johnson 1/even, Cleveland 1/+1, Renner 1/+1, Schermerhorn 1/even). Johnson also had the only solo block and led all players with 2.0 total, while Otec was the only player on either team with double-digit digs (11).

The Mastodon attack was led by sophomore OH Maggie Castleman (Monroeville/Heritage HS), who had 6 kills at .133. Senior setter Madison Gates was one of 6 PFW players with assists, having a team-high 10. Fifth-year OH Katie Crowe (Leo/Leo HS) (+1) and junior setter Maddi Nell (+1) had the two Mastodon aces, senior OPP Madelyn Wurster (Berne/South Adams HS) and sophomore MB Ramei Jackson tied for team honors with 1.0 total blocks, and junior libero Rachael Crucis led PFW with 8 digs.

#5 Purdue 3, #12 Tennessee 0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-23)

Personnel

With a top-15 opponent up, the usual starters took the court, with Chinn as the OH off the bench. Ali Hornung played in all three sets; no other bench player made an appearance.

Recap

Purdue got off to a strong start in the opening set, leading 2-0, 4-1, and 6-2 - the Volunteers would not score on their serve until it was 8-5, but they stayed close, and at 11-7 they used an 0-3 run to close the gap to one. The Boilers held fast and did not yield the lead, slowly pushing it back to 16-13; after Tennessee closed it to one a final time at 18-17, Purdue traded points through 20-19 and then scored the last five points of the set for a 25-19 win that was closer than the final score would indicate.

In set two, the Boilers jumped out to another early lead, running off five straight after an opening Volunteer point and then trading points through 7-3. The visitors got four of their own to tie at 7-7, but Purdue came back with a 4-0 run to regain their four-point cushion, and the lead floated between two and five points the rest of the way. At 21-16, Tennessee used an 0-3 run to close within two, but they would get no closer, and a Cleveland kill gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage heading into the break.

Purdue’s opening lead was smaller in set three, only 3-1, and Tennessee immediately came back with two to tie, then bested Purdue’s 2-0 run with three of their own to regain a one-point advantage. The runs continued, with the Boilers getting five straight, Tennessee responding with three, then three more Volunteer points after a Johnson kill, three more for Purdue, and four for Tennessee to open a two-point lead for the visitors, 14-16. The Good Gals tied it at 16, traded points through 17-17, but UT got two more to go up 17-19 and threaten to take a set. Fortunately, the Boilers had two more runs left: one to reverse the lead at 21-19, and one more after a Volunteer comeback made it 23-all. A Trammell kill gave the Boilers match point, and a UT attack error gave Purdue the sweep.

Stats

Purdue held a slight edge across the board: attack (47 kills at .272 to 43 at .210), aces (2-0), blocks (8-6), assists (42-40) and digs (51-46).

Cleveland led a trio of Boilers with double-digit kills, getting 12 at .357; Newton had 11 at .114 and Chinn added 11 at .280. Bush led everyone with 36 assists and 16 digs as she posted another double-double, adding an ace (+1) for good measure - Newton (even) had the other ace - and a solo block, tying Johnson for match honors with 2.0 total. Otec was the other Boiler with double-digit digs, getting 15.

Tennessee’s attack was led by junior RS Morgahn Fingall, who had a match-high 14 kills at .250, and fifth-year OH Breana Runnels, who had 11 at .219. Senior setter Natalie Hayward had a double-double of her own with 31 assists and 10 digs. Fifth-year MB Nicole Shanahan had a solo block*, and Shanahan and senior MB Danielle Mahaffey each had 1.5 blocks total. Junior libero Madison Bryant had a team-high 12 digs, with senior OH Lily Felts adding 10 of her own.

*there is a solo block incorrectly attributed to Bryant, who as a libero cannot be part of a block; the actual block was by Runnels and Shanahan, which would give Shanahan 2.0 total

Overall summary

As good as you could expect. 9-0 is solid, and while some of the sets were close, the important thing at this point in the season is the set win - plus, as a bonus, plenty of folks got valuable playing time. I would expect to see some of the same in matches against the bottom half of the conference, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the top freshmen see the court even against top competition, since you can’t develop quality depth for the NCAAs without giving them playing time against quality competition. No club or high-school opponents can adequately prepare you for power-conference opponents - it’s the same as in every other sport, there’s nothing like realizing that every single person on the other team was a star in high school just like you were. Get those adjustments out of the way early and the younger players will get up to speed faster.

Across the conference

• 1 Wisconsin stayed unbeaten with a couple of expected sweeps.

• 5 Purdue is up three spots from last week, sounds familiar.

• 6 Ohio State went to 10-0 with two wins over Notre Dame, a sweep in South Bend and a 3-2 win at home.

• 12 Minnesota reached 5-1 with a sweep of Iowa State.

• 19 Nebraska dropped two more matches, 1-3 at Stanford and 0-3 at home to Louisville, but righted the ship by winning their conference opener Wednesday at Northwestern.

• 22 Penn State added two sweeps to their resume, including one at West Virginia.

• 29 Illinois added three sweeps and then opened with a tough 3-2 win at Iowa.

• 34 Michigan added three sweeps as well.

Maryland is also unbeaten but had a pillow-soft schedule; it’s unlikely either they or Michigan State will work their way into the NCAA field. It looks like Northwestern, Indiana and Rutgers will hang out at the bottom with Iowa.

The ACC is suddenly strong at the top, with Pitt and Louisville in the top 4, Georgia Tech at 10, and North Carolina at 20; between them and the SEC, there will likely be fewer at-large bids available for the traditional powers, although I think the split in Big Tenteen above would mean they’ll likely still place 8 in the field. We’ll know a little more after 2-3 weeks of conference play.

Next up

New-kid-at-the-top Ohio State comes to a sold-out Holloway Gym on Friday, then the Boilers get a day off schedule-wise before heading south to Bloomington to face the Hoosiers on Sunday for the Monon Spike, which has a chain currently ending with 13 P links.

Friday, 7:00 PM: vs #6 Ohio State (BTN, live stats)
Sunday, 2:00 PM: at #97 Indiana (Big+, live stats)

Remember that the conference’s terrible marketing people renamed the service yet again for no real reason, and on top of that they didn’t bother to carry over any credentials, so you have to reset your password prior to using it, and of course there’s a tracker on the link they use to reset it. People are in charge of things for no reason.

Sorry folks, no pictures this week. There is a cool feature on Hayley at Exposure; the photogs were working on the MBB roster and … uh … a feature for a coach that chose to retire immediately rather than be fired due to the results of an ongoing investigation. I do need to write that post. Anyway, they’re assigned to whatever needs to be done, if they had been able to get to VB they would have been there. Pictures this week, I hope!