VB Comeback Upsets Kentucky, Boilers Move To 5-1
Sometime around 8:30 PM last night, I had a completely different lede in mind. Purdue had stolen the opening set in Lexington, the site of their second-round season-ending NCAA loss in 2018, but they’d fallen behind by large margins in sets 2 and 3, and despite closing the gap in each, they dropped those and had built a deficit in set 4 as well.
Fortunately, I got to wipe that entirely from my mind (yes, I do occasionally “write” some of this while I’m watching), as the young Boilers rallied to force a fifth set, then silenced the Memorial Coliseum crowd with an incredible 8-0 run to start the fifth set; they’d end up leading 12-2 before a late UK rally made the score somewhat better, but at 15-8, the Good Gals took the final set in stunning fashion, wrapping up a week that saw them drop Louisville in four sets and Lipscomb in the same number to take the LUV Invitational in Nashville.
The upset of Kentucky moved Purdue up 24 spots to #19 in Massey; they’re currently the fifth-best Big Tenteen team in his system, with #24 Illinois rounding out the group in the top 25.
Shorter recap this week; in retrospect I should have done the first two earlier and saved this one for tonight or maybe after the Stacey Clark. I’ll remember that for … tomorrow.
Purdue 3, #24 Louisville 1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-21, 25-18)
Once again, the Boilers were facing a team with more in-season experience - Louisville had played six matches to Purdue’s three - but the Good Gals were up to the task, dropping a close opening set before running away with the next three. I’d give you a PBP breakdown but … there isn’t one. (Neutral-site matches, i tell you …)
Personnel notes
Maddy Chinn saw her first action at OH, appearing in three of four sets and getting 2 kills and 5 block assists. Emma Ellis played in just two, getting a kill and a block assist. Maddie Schermerhorn appeared briefly in one set. Everything else was the same, with Shavona Cuttino appearing to lock down the #2 MB job (Jael Johnson did not play).
Match summary
A convincing neutral-site win for Purdue: .261 to .141, 56-52 kills, 56-51 assists, 5/even to 3/-3 at the service line, 14-6 blocks, 63-57 digs. Caitlyn Newton posted a career-high 26 kills at .316 to lead everyone by a wide margin (no one else had more than 15) - Newton’s total was just 7 short of the all-time Purdue record for kills in a four-set match (33, Bev Krupa vs. Michigan, 11/14/1998). Grace Cleveland added 11 kills at .226 and Shavona Cuttino hit .400 with 6 kills. Hayley Bush led all players with 48 assists, sharing match honors from the service line (2/even) with Jena Otec (2/+2), and added 12 digs for a double-double. Otec topped the Boilers with 19, while Marissa Hornung made it three in double figures with 15 digs. Blake Mohler had 8 block assists for a match-high 4.0 total; Cuttino added 6 and Chinn had 5.
Louisville’s attack was led by senior OH Melanie McHenry (Speedway HS), who had 15 kills but was held to just .135; redshirt freshman OPP Aiko Jones added 12 kills at .276. Assists were split between freshman setter Shannon Shields and junior setter Tori Dilfer, who had 25 and 20 respectively. McHenry had a solid all-around game for the Cardinals, with one of their three aces (1/+1), the only solo block of the match (1.5 total), and 12 digs for a double-double. Other UL players with aces were sophomore MB Emily Scott (1/even) and junior libero Alexis Hamilton (1/even). Scott had a team-high 4 block assists, while Jones tied McHenry for second honors with 1.5. Hamilton also had 21 digs to lead all players.
Purdue 3, #182 Lipscomb 1 (23-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-17)
For the second straight day, the Boilers got off to a slow start, playing down to the hosts before nearly pulling out the first set. The Bison* took the last three points in the opening set, but that must have been their best effort, as Purdue cruised in the final three sets, holding Lipscomb to negative hitting in sets 2 and 3 and hitting .333 in the final set.
*I will correct this every single time Purdue plays Lipscomb in any sport
Personnel notes
Cuttino split time with Jael Johnson at MB, as Johnson played in two of the four sets. Maddie Koch made another appearance, playing in three sets; Maddy Chinn played in two as well, and Ava Torrance made her Purdue debut, appearing briefly in one set.
Redshirt watch: only Megan Renner is eligible now. It’s possible that might be by design, since it might seem better to have two years between Bush and Renner to maximize their playing time.
Match summary
Purdue started the second set 13-0 - that’s, um, pretty good. 16-1 is the biggest lead I can ever remember them having. The Bison actually played well in the third before struggling late (they were even at 17 but were outscored 8-3 the rest of the way), and kept Purdue in check until late in the fourth, seeing a 16-12 lead become 22-12.
Once again, the Boilers dominated the box score, with edges across the board: attacking (49 kills at .231 to 40 at .063), assists (46-36), aces (7/-1 to 4/-2), blocks (12.5-6.0 - yes, the dreaded triple-block, the bane of statisticians everywhere), and digs (45-40). Cleveland had a fantastic night, leading all players with 16 kills and with a .375 hitting percentage; Newton (15 at .242) and Mohler (11 at .300) joined her in double digits, with Bush providing 43 assists. Newton (-1) and Cleveland also added two aces apiece, joining Hornung (+2) in that group. Mohler had the match’s only solo block and added 5 assists for a match-high 3.5 total, while Cuttino and Newton added 2.0 each. Hornung squeaked past Otec for match honors with 15 digs to the libero’s 14.
Senior MB Maddie Phillips led Lipscomb with 11 kills at .231, while Purdue transfer, sophomore OH/RS Garrett Joiner, had 9 at .286 and freshman OH/RS Lauren Myrick added 9 but hit .000. Senior setter Morgan Elmore had 31 assists and 8 digs, not far behind junior libero Alyssa Zwolensky, who led the Bison with 11. Four Lipscomb players had a service ace: Myrick (+1), Phillips (+1), junior DS Ashley Maher (even) and sophomore DS Alexis Triplett (even). Phillips added 4 block assists, with Elmore recording 3 and junior MB Sami Rubal adding 2.
Purdue 3, #16 Kentucky 2 (25-21, 20-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-8)
This match was definitely worth watching, and if you’ve got ESPN access, you can watch the replay - I suggest you do so, even if you only watch the fifth set.
Personnel notes
Maddy Chinn kept the freshman OH position the whole match; Maddie Schermerhorn played sparingly but did appear in four sets. Jael Johnson came in for short stints in two sets, and Ava Torrance appeared in one.
The announcers - a good crew IME - pointed out that Newton had two fingers taped, and also that this is pretty common for attackers/blockers. It did appear to affect her on multiple occasions (one time, she conceded an ace that went straight through her hands, and I’d bet anything it caught her just wrong), and when it happened in the back row then Schermerhorn would typically come in defensively for her.
Match notes
Purdue trailed just once in the first set, 0-1, and outplayed Kentucky throughout, holding a .308-.217 attacking advantage. The second set started out with matching runs, but UK turned a 7-8 lead into 10-18, and that sent the teams to the locker room even at 1. They did the same in set three, as Purdue saw a 7-4 lead become a 7-14 deficit, and another UK run made it 10-20. Purdue got a late 7-1 run to make it 19-23, but the WIldcats closed out the set, and they looked poised to make it a 1-3 match.
Instead, the Boilers took control early, using an 8-0 run to lead 10-5, extending it to 13-7. UK responded with a run of their own, going up 16-18; Purdue tied it at 18, then led 20-19 before the Wildcats put them down 20-21. The Boilers ran off the next four points, then sealed the set after UK reached 22, and that set the stage for the set five thrashing I mentioned above.
Newton finished off a solid road trip with another massive performance: 24 kills at .288, plus 9 digs, a solo block and 2 block assists. With UK’s attention squarely on Mohler (5 kills at just .056), Cleveland was free to fire away, picking up 15 kills at .186, while Chinn added a career-high 9 at .261 and Cuttino chipped in 7 at .353. Bush led all players with 50 assists and notched another double-double with 10 digs. Emma Terwilliger had two aces (+1) in that fourth-set run to put Purdue up 10-5, good enough to lead all players. Otec posted a career-high 29 digs, not far off Purdue’s five-set leaderboard, and Hornung added 17. Cleveland, Cuttino and Mohler all added solo blocks to join Newton, with Cuttino’s 4.5 total the best overall.
Kentucky was led, to absolutely no one’s surprise, by their all-time leader in kills, senior OH Leah Edmond, who had a match-high 27 at .258; she also had one ace (+1), 12 digs, and 4 block assists. Senior OPP Caitlyn Cooper had 11 at .261, while junior setter Madison Lilley had 5 kills and no errors to hit .455, adding 44 assists and 14 digs to join Edmond with double-doubles. Lilley (even), grad transfer MB Leah Meyer (+1) and sophomore DS Lauren Tharp (+1) also added aces. Junior libero Gabby Curry had 15 digs, with sophomore OH Alli Stumler (Floyds Knobs/Christian Academy of Indiana) recording 14 and Tharp making it five Wildcats in double figures as she had 10. Junior OH Avery Skinner had a match-high 2 solo blocks, tying junior MB Kendyl Paris with 2.5 total for team honors.
Overall thoughts
After the loss at Notre Dame, I thought I might have to lower my expectations a little, but with Notre Dame knocking off Michigan in five last night, plus the wins over Louisville and Kentucky, I might have to raise them. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next week at Wisconsin and Minnesota - in a sense, it’s the perfect opening weekend, because there aren’t many teams in the country who could go on that trip and come back anything but 0-2. Since the pressure will be off, Purdue might surprise, and remember that the returning Boilers were part of that amazing 3-2 comeback win at Penn State last season. Anything could happen.
Up next
Donuts! The Stacey Clark Classic means a morning opener, which means free donuts, which means I’ll get extras because not even hungry students will get up that early and watch a solid volleyball team just to get free food. (Some of them will be up. But there were practically leftover donuts last year. I’m just saying.)
The Good Gals will need to be focused here. None of their three opponents are comparable to any Big Tenteen squad, and yes, that does include Rutgers, who are actually 6-3 this season. Massey likes Purdue in 3 sets each match - let’s see this happen.
Friday, 10:30 AM: vs. #150 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (TV: BTN+; stat tracker)
Friday, 7:30 PM*: vs. #148 Murray State (TV: BTN+; stat tracker)
Saturday, 3:00 PM: vs. #216 Eastern Michigan (TV: BTN+; stat tracker)
Yep, we’ve got the statbroadcast.com stat tracker this season, and it’s awesome.
You know the rule: road game means we improvise picture-wise. This week, we go back to the home opener for a team shot from the win over Ohio, so again, this week’s shot was taken by Charles Jischke.
