VB Season Preview: The Kids Are Alright

Last Saturday, I was up in West Lafayette for two reasons: to ride a metric century at the Wabash River Ride (great weather, good ride, would do it again next year) and to catch the final preseason volleyball scrimmage. I got a glimpse of the new video scoreboards in Holloway, one on each wall (pictured below; sadly, you can’t use them effectively when players are changing teams each set), and also of the 2019 recruiting class that may well determine whether the Boilers finally make a push into the top part of the conference.

With the offseason departures of defensive specialists Olivia Van Zelst and Julianna Reisinger and the transfer of OH Garrett Joiner to Lipscomb, Purdue has just four upperclassmen on their roster alongside 12 sophomores and freshmen. If some of the freshmen have the same kind of impact the 2018 class did, there could be some interesting times ahead for the Boilers over the next couple of years … and with a couple of key roles opening up, they’ll have more than enough opportunity to make that happen.

Let’s start with a quick position-by-position overview of returning players and newcomers. Until I get the glossary post up, think about the starting lineup like this: two outside hitters, two middle blockers, a setter, and a defensive specialist. Libero is always announced as part of the starting lineup, but she technically doesn’t start. Also, there’s effectively a third OH starter (the one who comes in when the DS would rotate to the front row) and a DS who is a regular serving substitute when one of the MBs rotates to the back row. (Typically, the libero will rotate in for an MB in the back, but she can only serve from one spot in the rotation, so someone else has to serve for the other MB when Shondell doesn’t let her serve herself.)

Outside Hitter

(Note: Purdue lists all of its hitters as outside hitters, whereas other schools will list Opposite or Right Side for players in those positions.)

Junior Caitlyn Newton returns as the primary returning OH, having spent her first two seasons backing up All-Americans Danielle Cuttino and Sherridan Atkinson (although Newton’s emergence as a freshmen helped move Cuttino back to MB to strengthen Purdue’s attack). Her hitting percentage rose from .137 as a freshman to .220 as a sophomore in 500 more attacks; continuing that trend will be a key to replacing Atkinson, although the latter’s attempts will likely be distributed among more players. Sophomore Grace Cleveland is the only other returning OH; after arriving on campus as a MB, she found a more direct path to playing time at OH and should continue to grow there in 2019.

Three freshmen should have the chance to get some key playing time: Emma Ellis, one of three Senior Aces in the 2019 class, looked pretty good during the scrimmage, unveiling a nice curling shot toward the sideline (kind of like a slider in baseball, breaking away from the DS poised to dig it). I’ll confess I had a difficult time distinguishing Maddy Chinn from Madeline Koch (also a Senior Ace), who goes by Maddie - having three capable freshmen at OH is not a problem in the slightest. One of the three will slide into Newton’s spot as she moves up into a full-time starting role, and the others should be in the mix as well.

Middle Blocker

Long a position of strength for the Good Gals, 2019 will be no different as the only two seniors on the roster are MBs, redshirts Blake Mohler and Shavona Cuttino. Mohler earned third-team All-American status last season, leading Purdue with a .358 hitting percentage, her second straight season hitting .300 or better (and as a freshman, she hit .299). Mohler has been a fixture in the starting lineup since match 1 of her freshman season, missing just two matches as a sophomore and appearing as a non-starter just once last season, and she will continue that streak as possibly the only player who’s all but irreplaceable in the lineup. Cuttino has been a consistent force at MB, joining Mohler in the .300 club last season and hitting a career-best .344 as a sophomore, but she was passed in the rotation by then-freshman Jael Johnson in late October, and Johnson may well hold onto the second MB starting spot - again, when you have three capable MBs, that’s anything but a problem. Johnson hit only .214 in her first year but was a key component of Purdue’s defense, recording 4 solo blocks and 44 block assists.

While the Boilers are strong experience-wise, an injury to any of these three might well see Cleveland rotating back to MB, given that none of the six incoming players are listed at the position, but Shondell does like versatility, and he might give one of the freshmen OH a spin at MB if needed.

Setter

Redshirt sophomore Hayley Bush found herself the lone “returning” setter on last year’s roster after Lexi Dorn transferred; Bush made the most of the opportunity, recording 1416 assists, 231 digs and 10 aces while starting every match of her freshman season. In the 5-1 that Shondell runs, the backup setter gets little or no playing time, so fellow sophomore Joy Chen barely saw the court, appearing briefly in just four matches. Both will be challenged by the third Senior Ace, Megan Renner, who got plenty of reps at S in the scrimmage and might get some in non-conference play as well.

Libero/Defensive Specialist

Sophomore Marissa Hornung wrested the libero job away from senior incumbent Brooke Peters last season; if anyone is going to push Hornung in that role, it’ll be junior Jena Otec, who worked her way into the starting lineup in conference play last season and proved to be a capable back-row partner for Hornung. Reisinger’s departure leaves the serving specialist role open; sophomore Emma Terwilliger will compete with freshmen Ava Torrance and Maddie Schermerhorn for that job.

When a power-conference team signs a 5’1” DS, you know she’s got range and quickness, and Torrance displayed that on several occasions on Saturday. Schermerhorn is the opposite, closer to Otec (who is 5’10” like Schermerhorn), and might play a similar role if she gets playing time, seeing a few back-row plays called for her.

Non-Conference Schedule

Purdue opens with a couple of MAC squads, Ohio and Ball State, before heading up to Notre Dame to take on a reasonable Irish squad; their first test may well come the following weekend in Nashville, where they face Louisville on 9/13 and then either Xavier or host Lipscomb, but the highlight of the schedule will be another matchup with the Kentucky team that ended Purdue’s season in the second round last year, with former Purdue libero Carly Cramer as an assistant coach. The Stacey Clark Classic will round out non-conference play as Purdue welcomes Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, Eastern Michigan and Murray State in what should be three solid Boiler wins …

Conference Schedule

and Purdue will need that as the conference schedule starts off with possibly the toughest trip you can make: at Wisconsin, at Minnesota. Northwestern is the opponent for two of the next four matches, with Illinois making its lone appearance on the schedule in Holloway as part of the first weekend and Indiana hosting the Boilers in a mid-week match in brand-new Wilkinson Hall.

The return match at Northwestern kicks off a three-match road trip, with stops at Nebraska and Ohio State before coming home for a four-match stretch against Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana and Minnesota. Purdue will play four straight at home one more time - Ohio State, Maryland, Rutgers and Michigan - before a final conference road trip to Michigan and Michigan State.

The Good Gals catch something of a break facing Penn State, Wisconsin and Illinois just one time and playing Rutgers twice, but the start and end of conference play will be tough, especially if Michigan State can rebound from a disappointing 2018.

Predictions

Massey has Purdue going 7-1 in the eight known non-conference matches, with one match (on 9/14) yet to be determined; that’s likely a Purdue win as well. He then has Purdue at 11-9 in conference play; 19-10 and a winning record in the Big Tenteen is probably enough for an NCAA bid.

I’m going to guess 7-2 for a start - Purdue tends to have one early match where they’re just not playing their best, and the one in South Bend might well be that match. Notre Dame may not be at Purdue’s level this season, but they will be hosting, and home court can sometimes be the difference between a close loss and a close win. For the same reason, I think the Good Gals will pull a couple of surprises in Holloway - let’s say the Minnesota and Michigan matches. Flip one of the road matches to the L column and we’ve got 12-8 in conference play, 19-10 overall, but a stronger resume and a certain at-large bid.

If a couple of the freshmen have the same kind of impact that 2018’s class did, that might just be enough for Purdue to pull a second-round upset and return to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013. Otherwise, the Good Gals might be one season away from a breakthrough.