Dave Shondell has long supported Holloway Gymnasium as one of the best places in the country to watch volleyball, and for two nights last weekend, a few thousand people got to experience exactly what he was talking about. Fans of Wright State, Dayton and Marquette might not have seen what they were hoping for, but the majority of the crowd on both nights, dressed in Old Gold and Black, got exactly what they wanted: two emphatic Purdue wins from a team that will be making its first Sweet 16 appearance in six seasons. The Boilers ended their last four seasons on an opponent’s home court in tournament play, but for a change, they had the pleasure of reversing that, sending Wright State and Marquette home early.

On both nights, the Boilers wound their way through the crowd, thanking fans for supporting them this season. All of them went through the Block Party, giving some well-deserved recognition for one of the best student sections in the country; some just walked up whatever section they happened to be near, which is how I ended up about six feet from Jael Johnson. She must have thanked 20-30 people in our section (including me!) before realizing that most of the rest of the team was heading back to the locker room.

If you watch the video below, you’ll see the camera following Jena and Emma as they weave through the Block Party; each of the players must have thanked 50 to 100 people or more, once you count the traditional victory lap. Those of us who stayed after the match definitely got our money’s worth and then some - as loud as Mackey can get for basketball, it can’t do quite the same for volleyball, and there would have been no easy way for the players to get up and down through the crowd quite like that.

There was one set, the first against Marquette, where it seemed like things might end a bit differently. Other than that, the action followed the script. To the results!

#16 Purdue 3, Wright State 0 (25-9, 25-21, 25-11)

The Raiders took one set to get acclimated to their surroundings, played a solid second set, then simply didn’t have anything left for the finale.

Personnel notes

It’s NCAA time, so no cameos for bench players. Emma Ellis had the freshman OH position, Shavona Cuttino the second MB slot, with Maddie Schermerhorn as the DS and Emma Terwilliger the serving specialist.

Match notes

The visitors actually led 0-1 and 1-2 before a 5-0 run put the first set away; 3-0 and 4-0 runs made it 14-6, and an 8-0 run had the Good Gals up 24-8.

In set two, Wright State traded points through 3-4 before a 3-0 lead put Purdue up 6-4. At 9-6, they scored five straight to draw a Purdue timeout; the Boilers responded with a 6-0 run of their own, and 15-11 seemed pretty safe. The Raiders closed to within two a couple of times, but a late 3-0 run gave Purdue some space, and a Caitlyn Newton kill sent the Boilers to the locker room up 2 sets to none. (Note: the box score gave Purdue 26 points this set, so there’s obviously something off here.)

Purdue got the opening point in set three, then led 4-1; at 6-2, Wright State’s coach called timeout, correctly sensing that the set was getting out of hand. It didn’t work, as Purdue extended that run to 5-0. They would add a late 6-0 run, and another Newton kill sent the Horizon at-large team home to Dayton on the wrong side of a 3-0 score.

Purdue ran away with the box score as well as the match: 39 kills at .393 to 28 at .036, 37-25 in assists, 6/even to 0/-5 in aces, 12.0-3.0 in blocks, and 49-36 in digs. Newton was the only player on either side in double digits, with 14 kills at .324. Bush had a match-high 33 assists; Newton (3/+2), Bush (1/even), Marissa Hornung (1/even) and Grace Cleveland (1/-1) had aces. Blake Mohler had 3 solo blocks and 5.0 total, with Newton (3.0) and Ellis (1.0) adding one solo each. Hornung had match honors with 15 digs.

Wright State’s attack was led by junior MH Nyssa Baker (Fort Wayne, IN; Snider HS), who had 7 kills at .053. Sophomore setter Lainey Stephenson had team highs with 18 assists and 8 digs, while Baker had the only solo block and 2.0 total blocks. Sophomore libero Jenna Story and sophomore DS Ellee Ruskaup (Fort Wayne, IN; Carroll HS) added 6 digs each.

#16 Purdue 3, Marquette 1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-13)

For one set, Marquette looked like the team that beat Wisconsin in five sets in Madison; the rest of the match, they looked more like a Big East team that wasn’t Creighton.

Personnel notes

Cuttino struggled a bit, so after a couple of attack errors, Shondell subbed in Johnson at MB, and Johnson finished out the match. No other changes.

Match notes

The Boilers took the opening two points in set one, something they hadn’t done against Wright State; Marquette would tie the match at 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9 before getting an 0-5 run to lead 10-14. Purdue used their first timeout at 10-13; briefly rallied, then gave up three more points and used their last timeout at 12-17. A 3-1 run got the hosts within striking distance at 15-18, but they could get no closer than 2 after that, with Marquette getting side outs on the last five Boiler serves. An Ellie Koontz kill gave the Golden Eagles the opening set, 22-25.

The second set started almost identically, with the teams splitting the first 12 points and Marquette leading 6-7 and 7-8. At 10-10, Purdue finally managed a solid run, getting six straight around a Marquette timeout; the Golden Eagles cut the lead in half but could do no more, and Purdue finished the set with a 7-1 run to take the second set and even the match.

Set three also started even through 3-3, but this time, the Boiler run came earlier, with Purdue opening up a three-point lead and slowly widening it. Marquette called timeout at 10-6, eventually tying the set at 12; a Purdue timeout led to a 2-0 mini-run, but the visitors got two of their own and tied it at 14. Finally, a 6-0 run shook the underdogs loose, and the Good Gals took five of the last seven to win 25-17.

Marquette stayed in the final set through 6-5, but a 3-0 run drew their first timeout, and at 9-7, the Boilers scored 8 straight, burning the visitors’ remaining timeout. The crowd roared with each point as Purdue marched inexorably toward 25; when Newton’s final kill hit the floor, the Boiler bench rushed the court, and one final round of Hail Purdue echoed through Holloway as the Good Gals advanced.

Purdue’s attack did the job against the Golden Eagles, recording 61 kills at .341 to 46 at .146. The Boilers also led in assists (55-42), aces (3/-1 to 1/-3), blocks (14.0-5.0) and digs (53-39). Newton again led Purdue’s prolific attack, this time with 23 kills at .346; Cleveland (15 at .500) and Mohler (10 at .294) joined her in double digits, with Ellis just behind (8 at .294). Bush had a match-high 51 assists; Otec (2/+1) and Cleveland (1/+1) had the aces. Johnson’s 7 block assists were good for 3.5 total blocks, leading all players. Hornung led everyone with 18 digs, with Otec adding 11 of her own.

Marquette’s senior OH Allie Barber was the only Golden Eagle in double digits, getting 15 kills at .225. Senior setter Lauren Speckman had 21 assists, with junior setter Sarah Rose adding 19 plus the team’s only ace (even). Freshman OH Hannah Vanden Berg and senior MB Gwyn Jones (Greenville, IN; Floyd Central HS) each had a solo block, with Jones adding 2 assists for a team-high 2.0 total. Junior OH Hope Werch added 11 digs for the visitors.

Overall thoughts

The Marquette win was the Boilers’ first in the second round since 2013, when they swept Central Arkansas and upset 4-seed Missouri in Columbia. That year, they drew 13-seed Illinois in the regional, beating the Illini in Champaign before falling to 12-seed Wisconsin in the regional final. I don’t know that the Boilers have what it takes to knock off #1 Baylor and Yossiana Pressley, but they should make it interesting.

There is a precedent. In 2010, Purdue was the 16 seed, beating Kentucky and Louisville in West Lafayette. They headed to Texas for regionals, knocking off 1-seed Florida and taking the opening set from host 9-seed Texas; if it hadn’t been for Jaclyn Hart’s injury, the Boilers might well have made the Final Four that year.

Conference roundup

All five seeded teams advanced, with Minnesota the only team to be pushed to five sets (by Creighton in the second round). Both unseeded teams were eliminated, Illinois by Utah in the first round (the Utes would upset BYU in the second) and Michigan by hosts Kentucky in the second round (sounds familiar).

Wisconsin is the only top-four seed and, with so few early upsets, the only conference team to host regional action; they’ll potentially face Nebraska in a 4/5 regional final. Penn State will face unseeded Cincinnati, who stunned 6-seed Pitt in five sets, before a potential match with 3-seed Stanford; Minnesota has 10-seed Florida before 2-seed Texas, and of course the Boilers have 1-seed Baylor.

16 Purdue at 1 Baylor, noon Friday (TV: ESPNU); regional final 4 PM Saturday, ESPNU

A surprisingly early start time, 11 AM local. Baylor has dropped only 11 sets this year, five to Texas; Purdue’s path to an upset probably follows Oklahoma, who pushed the Bears to five sets in Norman in late October. Then again, Baylor swept OU in Waco in early October, so … anyway, let’s see what happens. The Boilers are playing with house money, since most of us figured they wouldn’t even be seeded; as we saw in 2010, anything can happen. If Baylor wins in straight sets, that wouldn’t surprise me; Massey says four.

4 Wisconsin vs 13 Texas A&M, 2 PM Friday (ESPNU); regional final 6 PM Saturday, ESPNU

The Badgers weren’t tested by Illinois State or UCLA and should cruise against the Aggies as well, but Nebraska could put up significant resistance. Then again, UW swept them home-and-home this season. Could they do it a third time? Massey says they’ll have a chance.

5 Nebraska vs 12 Hawaii, 4:30 PM Friday (ESPN3); regional final 6 PM Saturday, ESPNU

Nebraska dropped a set to Missouri but won 3-1; they’ll likely do the same thing against Hawaii. There hasn’t been a Final Four without Nebraska since 2014 - could this be the year? (The last Final Four without a current Big Tenteen member was 2002, and I don’t expect that streak to end.)

7 Minnesota vs 10 Florida, 6:30 PM Friday (ESPN3); regional final 8 PM Saturday, ESPNU

The Gophers nearly fell to Creighton, hanging on to grab set four 26-24 and set five 15-10. They’ll have less margin for error against a Florida team that neatly dispatched Alabama State and UCF; Massey likes Minnesota in five, but don’t be surprised if the regional final here has no Big Tenteen teams in it.

11 Penn State vs Cincinnati, 8 PM Friday (ESPN3); regional final 10 PM Saturday, ESPNU

The Nittany Lions got a gift from the Bearcats, who knocked off 30-1 Pitt in a regional that seems more like a T.S. Eliot play. Penn State split two matches with Pitt in September; they were surprisingly underseeded by the committee, and the Pitt loss gives PSU a chance to make up for that underseeding by surprising Stanford. They should get that chance in four sets, and while the Cardinal may finally be at full strength with Kathryn Plummer back in action, Penn State can give them a game. I like Russ Rose’s squad with the upset here.

Photos from first- and second-round action courtesy of Purdue Athletics, taken by Charles Jischke