VB Falls At Notre Dame, Starts Off 2-1
So the new season brings about a number of changes, some of which are not related to volleyball or even to Purdue itself. My doctor stepped up his game from suggesting that I work on getting in shape to strongly suggesting it, since I was approaching risk-factor territory in certain areas. So I started riding my bike in earnest back in March, right around NCAA time, and that’s helped quite a bit - as mentioned previously, I was up in West Lafayette for the Wabash River Ride the weekend before the season started. (It’s a great ride and I recommend it to those of you in the area.)
But it also (obviously) cuts into my time for other things, which is why you’re getting the weekly recap after the next match has already begun instead of earlier in the week. I’d like to say it’s because I spent some of that week upgrading my bike, which I did, but honestly it was mostly just poor planning. Next week, it won’t be a Friday post. I think.
Purdue 3, Ohio 1 (22-25, 25-17, 31-29, 25-19)
You already know that Holloway has video boards now, and that as is generally the case, they’re not quite working completely yet. (Of course the ads were working from day 1. It’s a bit disappointing that Purdue chose to use most of the available area for the same old boring ads you could easily put up in the gym itself, rather than, say, team stats or out-of-town scores.)
That wasn’t the only thing not quite working well yet. Purdue came out like a tired simile, and if you didn’t know better, you’d think Ohio had actually played 3 matches prior to facing the Boilers last Sunday. Surprise! They did, but the people who print the program didn’t know that. So the Bobcats caught pretty much everyone off guard, taking set 1 and nearly adding set 3 as well before the Good Gals got things under control and held on for a tough opening win that was not what most people expected.
Holloway was nearly full, thanks I believe to a promotion that the university was doing; of course many of the people who crowded in for a rare Sunday match were content simply to watch quietly, clearing out about halfway through and leaving some space for the rest of us to watch a match we didn’t think we’d be seeing for quite so long.
Personnel notes
Bush, Mohler, Otec, Hornung, Cleveland and Newton all return to the starting lineup. Changes from last season:
Caitlyn Newton becomes six-rotation player
Shavona Cuttino back at MB ahead of Jael Johnson, suggesting maybe Cuttino wasn’t 100% in conference play
Emma Terwilliger becomes serving specialist
Jena Otec starts at libero ahead of Marissa Hornung
Maddie Koch (pronounced “cook”) was the only freshman to appear, rotating in at OH for her first action in Old Gold and Black.
Game notes
Purdue jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on a Grace Cleveland kill and a Hayley Bush ace, but a service error by Bush gave Ohio the serve; a Cuttino kill got it back, but Caitlyn Newton’s serve was an error, and then a Cuttino attack error tied it at 3-3. The Boilers wouldn’t lead again in the match, although they did tie it at 5-5 and 7-7. Slowly but surely, Purdue errors and Ohio good plays opened up a Bobcat lead, forcing a Purdue timeout at 10-14. The Good Gals got it down to 15-18 and then 19-21, forcing Ohio’s first timeout, but they would not get any closer, and after Purdue held off two set points, OU called their second timeout at 22-24, and a Sara Januszewski kill gave the visitors the opening set.
Despite the final score, the second set did not open any better than the first. The one good sign was Purdue retaking the lead after being tied 4-4 and 5-5; they used a 4-1 run to lead 9-6, then after Ohio cut a 12-8 lead to 12-10, four straight points put the Boilers up 16-10 and drew an OU timeout. Back-to-back attack errors by Koch made it 16-12, but a Cuttino kill and two straight Otec aces got the other Bobcat timeout at 19-12, and Purdue was able to ride out the lead to the break, getting a Koch/Cuttino block on Januszewski for set point, 25-17.
The third set turned out to be a fantastic one to watch for neutral fans, perhaps not so good for Boiler fans and even worse for the handful of folks who made the trip from Athens. Ohio jumped in front 0-2, then extended their lead to 1-5 before a Cleveland kill and a solo block from Koch stemmed the tide. An Otec service error gave Ohio a 3-6 lead, but three straight from Purdue tied it at 6 … only to have Ohio run off five more, burning a Purdue timeout in the process. At 6-11, the Good Gals scored the next seven, starting with a Koch kill and getting the rest with Hornung at the line, forcing an OU timeout. The Bobcats turned a 13-11 Purdue lead into a 13-14 deficit; the Boilers got two more, and then it was back-and-forth the rest of the way, as the sides were as even as possible until Ohio got three straight to turn 20-19 into 20-22. Purdue’s second timeout led to a 3-0 Boiler run; Ohio’s second timeout got them to the first set point, 23-24. Newton made it 24-all, but a Lizzie Stephens kill gave Ohio another chance … and Newton responded again, as Purdue would not defend another set point the rest of the day. Ohio fought off four straight set points, but set up two of them with service errors from a tied score (at 26-all and 28-all); the errors proved to be costly, as a fantastic save by Otec (as seen below from SportsCenter’s top 10) turned into a “kill” by Bush (that was incorrectly scored as a Hornung kill) as the entire Bobcat team stood stunned at the return of a ball that surely looked like a winner, and Mohler provided the final point with a kill (that was bizarrely recorded as a Hornung ace), making it 31-29 Purdue, and the Good Gals clung to a 2-1 lead overall.
Finally, a sense of normalcy returned to Holloway, as Purdue ran off three straight to start the fourth set. Ohio fought back one more time, turning a 6-3 lead into 6-7, but Purdue came right back with five of their own, and OU had to take a timeout. They would slowly cut into the lead, getting as close as 18-17 (which drew a Purdue timeout), but they wouldn’t tie it again, and the Good Gals turned that score into 23-17, burning OU’s final timeout and providing a safe cushion for the match winner - OU fought off a pair of match points, but a service error from Stephens gave Purdue a 1-0 record on the season.
Purdue didn’t play anywhere near their potential, holding narrow edges in most box score categories: outhitting Ohio just .200 to .174, getting 46 assists to 45 for OU, and matching the Bobcats with 47 digs. They did get 8 aces (13 errors, -5) to just 2 for Ohio (15 errors, -13), and had 14 total blocks to just 6 for OU. Newton was the only Boiler with double-digit kills, posting a match-high-tying 14 but hitting just .140; Bush took team honors by hitting .500 with 6 kills, while Mohler added 8 at .353. Bush also had 37 assists and 6 digs, plus an ace (-2) and 2.0 blocks. Otec and Newton both served two aces (Otec even, Newton +1), with Otec (21) and Hornung (10) posting double-digit digs. Koch struggled on offense, hitting -.067, but had both of Purdue’s solo blocks and tied Mohler and Cuttino for top honors with 3.0 overall.
Ohio was led by freshman OH Olivia Margolies, who had 14 kills and hit a team-high .379; senior OH Lizzie Stephens added 12 kills but hit just .043, although she also had 10 digs for a double-double. Junior setter Vera Giacomazzi led all players with 39 assists and added 12 digs to join Stephens in the double-double club; Stephens (-5) and Giacomazzi (-2) had the two Bobcat aces. Junior libero Macy Reihing led OU with 13 digs. Grad student MB Shayla Phillip and redshirt sophomore MB/Opp Dahlias Bouyer had the two solo blocks for the visitors, and Bouyer added 3 assists to lead Ohio with 2.5 total blocks.
Purdue 3, Ball State 0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-19)
Both the scoreboard and the box score were in better working order this time (it actually lists who started each set, who came in as a sub, and who the libero was on the box score, in addition to indicating the team who served first); as you can tell above, the Boilers were perhaps the most-improved stat of the group, blowing out Ball State in the opening set and then taking narrow wins in the two remaining sets.
The match marked the return of two former Boilermakers, Kelli Miller Phillips and Tiffany (Fisher) Koors; Phillips has been the head coach at Ball State since 2016 and hired Koors when she started in Muncie.
Personnel notes
Emma Ellis replaced Koch as the top-line freshman and played extremely well; she’ll be in the rotation until that changes. Maddy Chinn (OH) and Maddie Schermerhorn (serving specialist) made brief debuts in sets 2 and 1 respectively, while Jael Johnson started in Cuttino’s place all three sets.
Game notes
We’d just begun to chat with the people behind us about the rough outing against Ohio, and all of a sudden it was 7-1 Purdue; a Ball State timeout stopped the run, but they’d use their other timeout at 15-5, and it only got worse from there, with the Boilers leading 20-6 before coasting to a 25-12 win.
Set two looked like it would follow the same path, with Purdue turning a 2-2 score into a 10-3 lead; this time, the Cardinals managed to keep the set from getting completely out of hand, but they never really got a decent run going. They did manage to stave off four straight set points, from 24-17 to 24-21, but a Cleveland kill sealed the second set, and at that point the third set looked to be an all but certain Purdue victory.
It did turn out that way, although Ball State did lead 1-2 (they led 0-1 and 1-2 in set two). They actually kept Purdue fairly close through 14-12, and they used their first timeout at 17-12 (the standard five-point-deficit TO), but again, the damage was done, and they’d get no closer than four the rest of the way, with a Mohler kill wrapping up the match.
Purdue’s dominance on the flashy new scoreboard was reflected in the box score, as they held sizable leads across the board: .372 to .125, 42-30 in kills, 41-28 in assists, 6 (+1) to 3 (-2) in aces, 33-22 in digs, and 6.0-0.0 in blocks. (Correct. Ball State had no blocks.) Mohler was defended pretty well, getting just 5 kills at .273, but the other three Boilers did more than enough damage, as Cleveland (.333) and Newton (.500) both recorded 12 kills, and Ellis had a spectacular opening line, hitting .533 with 9 kills. Bush posted a match-high 36 assists; Newton (+1) and Otec (+1) had two aces each of Purdue’s six, and yes, that’s not a misprint, Purdue was +1 from the service line. That hasn’t happened since last season’s win over South Alabama (12/7/+5/.045). Otec had a match-high 9 blocks, while Johnson and Cleveland led Purdue with 2.0 total blocks (no solo blocks in this one).
Freshman OH Natalie Mitchem led Ball State with 8 kills, hitting .316. Senior setter Amber Seaman had 21 assists and one (+1) ace; freshman DS Maggie Huber (+1) and freshman OH Natalie Risi (+1) had the others. Risi also led the Cardinals with 7 digs.
Purdue 2, Notre Dame 3 (25-16, 24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 12-15)
The learning process for Purdue’s young team began last Friday, as the Boilers lost a winnable second set and saw a possible 3-0 road sweep turn into a 2-3 road loss, the first of the 2019 season.
Personnel notes
Cuttino back at MB for the first two sets, with Johnson subbing in the 2nd and starting sets 3-5 and Cuttino subbing in the 5th. Koch came in briefly in the 2nd, committed two attack errors and did not return. Schermerhorn played in sets 3-5 and got a dig, Terwilliger returned to serving specialist for all five sets, and Ellis was the back-rotation OH for all five sets.
Game notes
I pulled this from the NCAA’s site because someone messed up somewhere and the PBP is missing from the box score on both the direct link and the PDF link on Purdue’s site. The NCAA’s PBP is interesting in that it provides a TON of detail: it doesn’t show all the substitution detail, but it can show you either simple point info (block by Shavona Cuttino) or full point detail (every attack attempt and dig), and either simple PBP (Hornung serves) or detailed PBP (Hornung serves to Kiara Schmidt, Zoe Nunez sets, attack by Kristin Baer). The only thing it gets wrong is that on a kill, the simple PBP shows the attempted block, not the kill, so it looks like the blocker is scoring for the other team on a block. A for effort, C- for execution.
The first set made it look like Purdue was going to have an easy night of it, as the Good Gals went up 7-2 early, forcing an ND timeout. The lead would remain in the 3-5 range until 12-7, when the Irish ran off four straight and got Purdue to call timeout at 12-11. The Boilers made it 14-11, but three of the next four went to the hosts to close the gap to one. Perhaps feeling a little guilty, Notre Dame gave back three straight on attack errors; ND called their second timeout, but a Cleveland/Cuttino block on Caroline Meuth made it four straight errors and Purdue points. Sydney Bent ended the run with a kill, but a service error by Meuth gave Purdue the ball right back at 21-15, and Cleveland got 3.5 of the last 4 points on three kills and a combined block with Mohler on Charley Niego. Purdue won the set 25-16, and things were looking pretty good so far.
Set two was another one that was great to watch if you didn’t have a rooting interest: Purdue never led by more than 2, and Notre Dame led by 3 exactly once. At 7-7, Johnson came in, presumably for Cuttino; that was part of a 3-0 run that got Purdue up 9-7. ND worked it back to 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12 before going up 13-14; Purdue got two back and led at the media timeout, 15-14. Two ND points made it 15-16; Purdue would lead again at 18-17, but an 0-3 run keyed by a kill and an ace from Niego made it 18-20 Irish, and they extended it to a 1-5 run and a 19-22 lead, forcing Purdue’s first timeout. The Boilers then got a kill from Cleveland and a Cleveland/Mohler block on Meuth for 21-22, and it was ND’s turn to call a timeout. After a Bent kill, Cleveland got back-to-back kills for 23-all and the Irish used their final timeout. An attack error by Koch gave ND set point #1; Bent’s attack error tied it at 24. Lauren Wenzel got ND on the doorstep, 24-25, and a Mohler attack error made it 24-26 and 1-1 at the break … opportunity missed.
Set three was much like the second, with neither team leading by more than a point until an 0-5 run made a 7-5 lead into a 7-10 deficit. Purdue promptly ran off four straight points, getting a 6-2 run to regain the lead at 13-12. After a Niego kill, Newton posted back-to-back kills to put the Boilers up 15-13 at the media timeout. The teams traded kills through 18-16, then a Meuth/Wenzel block on Ellis and a Bent kill tied it at 18. Cleveland made it 19-19 with a kill and an attack error, but a huge 4-0 run burned both ND timeouts and put the Good Gals ahead to stay; kills from Niego and Bent would draw a Purdue timeout, but Newton would finish off the set with yet another kill (her 7th of the set), and the Good Gals were up 2-1.
Unfortunately, the Boilers had peaked with that late run, and they would lead only three more times the rest of the way, at 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in the fifth set. Set four was a slow, steady win for Notre Dame, staying close until 10-12 and then using a 3-8 run around the media timeout and both Purdue timeouts to lead 13-20; the Boilers would force ND to use both timeouts, at 17-21 and 21-24, but the Irish scored after each one, with the second being a Niego kill that tied the match at 2-2.
Set five was basically the second half of set two all over again: after trading points through 3-3, ND ran off three to lead 3-6; Purdue could only cut it to two and trailed 6-8 when they changed sides, then 6-10. A Purdue timeout led to a Bent service error, but Nunez and Baer blocked Newton to make it 7-11. Niego’s service error and a Newton kill cut the lead in half; ND called timeout, but a Newton kill and an Otec ace tied the set, 11-11. Baer and Nunez blocked Newton again, but she responded with a kill to knot it at 12, and it looked for all the world like we’d see overtime … but it was not to be, as Nunez put down a kill for 12-13, a Newton attack went wide for 12-14, and a Cleveland attack error ended the set and match, 12-15 and 2-3.
The opportunities were there, but Purdue just couldn’t put enough of them together. The Boilers outhit ND .245 to .183 and led 62-59 in kills and 56-51 in assists; they also had a 74-57 edge in digs and 16-11 in blocks, but the service line told a different story as the Good Gals managed just two aces (-7) while the hosts served 11 (-4). Purdue hit just -.050 in the final set while Notre Dame hit .417.
Three Boilers had solid attack games: Newton posted a match-high 21 kills at .312 and just missed a double-double with 9 digs, while Cleveland had 16 kills at .209 and Mohler had 11 at .450, with Ellis just outside double figures (9 kills at .154). Bush hit double-double territory again, with 48 assists and 14 digs, while Otec led all players with 23 digs and had both of Purdue’s aces (even). Hornung made it three Boilers in double figures, adding 11 digs. Mohler had a match-high 2 solo blocks and 6 total blocks, while Cleveland added 8 block assists for 4.0 total.
The Irish attack was led by sophomore RS Sydney Bent, who had 20 kills at .231; freshman OH Caroline Meuth added 10 kills at .000, but the all-around line of the day belonged to sophomore OH Charley Niego, who had 15 kills at .250, 14 digs, 4 block assists, and a match-high 5 aces (even). Sophomore S Zoe Nunez led all players with 50 assists and had one of ND’s two solo blocks, with Meuth adding the other. Grad student MB Kristin Baer added 8 kills at .278 and led the Irish with 2.5 total blocks, while freshman libero Kiara Schmidt led the hosts with 19 digs.
Overall thoughts
Ironically, if memory serves, Ellis loses this joust (note where the Ball State player’s hands are relative to Ellis’). She didn’t lose too many battles at the net that day, though.
Nothing out of the ordinary here: Notre Dame was a decent team last year, playing on the road is hard (especially for a young team), and it takes a while for many teams to get into their regular-season rhythm. I’m thrilled that Ellis has seized a starting role so quickly (she’s not actually a starter since she technically rotates in for a starting DS, but it’s a regular thing so in practical terms she’s a starter), and not worried about Koch, Chinn and Schermerhorn just making brief appearances. I’d like to see Renner and Torrance in the next few matches, just to see where they are - part of the issue has been that two of the three matches were very competitive, so Shondell couldn’t go deep into his bench as he’d probably like to at this point in the schedule. Hopefully that will change next weekend.
Up now … er, next
The Good Gals travel(ed) to Nashville for the Lipscomb LUV Invite: this is not your normal round-robin invitational, but a standard four-team tournament. Purdue opened the schedule with a 3-1 win over Louisville, while Lipscomb knocked off Xavier 3-1. That means the Boilers will face host Lipscomb at 7:30 PM tomorrow on ESPN+, while Xavier will battle Louisville at 4.
They’ll make it a three-match road trip by stopping in Lexington on the return trip, facing the Wildcats Wednesday evening at 7 PM in a rematch of last year’s season finale for the Boilers. Getting a neutral-site win over Louisville was big; managing to knock off Massey’s #16 team would be even bigger. UK is 5-2 right now and probably will be 6-2 by the end of the night, but their losses are to Utah (at Utah) and Creighton (at Northern Iowa); probably the closest the Wildcats will get to a Big Tenteen road trip until they face surprising Missouri on 9/29.
Friday: beat #24 Louisville 3-1 (no replay since they’re at a neutral site)
Saturday, 7:30 PM: at #182 Lipscomb (TV: ESPN+; replay, stat tracker)
Wednesday, 7:00 PM: at #16 Kentucky (TV: ESPNU; stat tracker)
As always, we’re grateful for the opportunity to share some quality photos with you throughout the season, courtesy of the fine folks at Purdue Athletics and the individuals who take pictures that make mine look like finger painting. This week’s shots were taken by Charles Jischke.
