Purdue Sports Update Nov. 18

Volleyball Sweeps Rutgers, Illinois

No. 8 volleyball downed Rutgers in sweeping fashion, 25-14, 25-14, 25-16 in front of a sold-out crowd in Holloway Gymnasium. The effort was led by Chloe Chicoine’s 16 kills and .542 hitting % in the one-hour-16-minute match.

Raven Colvin amassed her 600th career block in the match on her way to four total blocks (1-3). The senior ranks second all-time in Purdue’s annals in both career blocks and block assists behind All-American Stephanie Lynch (2005-08).

Meanwhile, setter Taylor Anderson dished out 35 assists in the victory. With the performance, she reached her 1,000th assist of the season in Set 3 to bring her career total to 2,111. She finished the night with four kills, marking the third consecutive match she’s posted as many.

Purdue led for the entirety of the match vs. Rutgers, ending the night with a .370 attack % and eight blocks while holding its foe to .073 clip and four blocks. It was the fifth match this season the Boilermakers have hit above .350% as a team.

Purdue opened the match with a .351 hitting %, led by Chloe Chicoine’s .571 clip. The sophomore went on to post five kills in Set 2 and six in Set 3 all the while not committing more than one attack error in each frame. Her efficiency rated as the second-highest of her career, a mark that was set at Rutgers just two weeks ago. Additionally, her 16 kills were the third-most this season.

Eva Hudson, who was named earlier today as an AVCA Player of the Year semifinalist, posted 15 kills and 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, 26th of her career.

Lizzie Carr set a career-high hitting % with five kills on seven swings for a .714 clip and added one block assist.

Ali Hornung anchored the back row, digging 15 balls. The senior closes in on her 1,000th career dig, ending the night with 981. She served up half of the team’s aces (two of four).

Behind a stellar all-around team performance, Purdue swept Illinois, 25-17, 25-20, 25-19. The Boilermakers out-hit the Fighting Illini, .343 – .145% and out-blocked them 13-4.

The Boilermakers have swept five of their last six opponents and are 30-7 in sets won over the last 10 matches. Moreover, the team has hit over .300 in five of the last six matches.

Purdue set the tone for the match with four blocks in the first seven points of play, which began with a block solo by Hudson. Offensively, it took Purdue midway through the first set (23 attacks) before recording its first attack error, with a similar showing in the third set that led to a .643 Game 3 attack % at the 16-7 score mark.

Purdue registered 48 assists in the match, an effort led by Anderson’s 44, marking the second-most assists Purdue and Anderson has posted in a three-setter since the UC Davis match on September 1.

Hudson led all players with 18 kills on a .333 clip alongside seven digs, two blocks and a perfect reception %.

Hornung anchored the team with 16 digs. The senior approaches her 1,000th career dig, finishing the match just three digs away.  

Meanwhile, Carr tied a career-high five block assists in the match while nearly going errorless in the match, totaling eight kills and one error on 13 swings for a team-leading .538 clip.

Although the Boilermakers forfeited the lead just once in its three sets, the rivalry between the programs marked just the fourth sweep to occur since 2014 (15 matches) between the two programs.

Only two weeks and one home match remain in the regular-season. This week, Purdue will travel to University Park for a rematch vs. the No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network. Then, Purdue returns home for Senior Night on Saturday, facing off against No. 23 USC, a team that reverse-swept No. 11 Oregon earlier today on its home court. The Boilermakers and Trojans will face off at 7 p.m. ET on B1G+, Purdue’s only remaining streamed match of the regular-season.

WBB Bounces Back vs. IU Indy

The women’s basketball team shot 50% from the field and 61.5% from behind the arc to knock off IU Indy 83-64 on Thursday night in Mackey Arena.

The Boilermakers shook off a slow start offensively to score over 20 points in each of the final three quarters. A trio of Boilermakers finished in double figures, led by Reagan Bass with a season-high 22 points.

TOP STATS
Bass nearly recorded her first double-double as a Boilermaker on Thursday, grabbing nine rebounds. The senior scored at all three levels going 7-of-13 from the field, 1-of-1 behind the arc and 7-of-8 at the line. Bass added a pair of blocks and a steal.

Sophie Swanson gave the Boilermakers a boost from the outside with a season-high 17 points on 7-of-11 with a trio of 3-pointers.  Destini Lombard finished in double figures for the third straight game with an efficient night from the floor – 6-of-7 shooting and 3-of-4 from distance. Lombard added four assists.

Purdue connected on eight 3-pointers coming from four different players. The 61.5% clip marked just the second time the Boilermakers drained eight or more 3-pointers while shooting 60% or better from distance, matching the program-record performance of 15 triples (65.2%) at Illinois in 2021-22.

KEY MOMENTS
• After IU Indy opened the game with a 7-4 advantage, the Boilermakers rolled off eight straight points all from different players. Lana McCarthy and Kendall Puryear combined for eight of the Boilermakers’ 14 rebounds in the frame.
• 12-2 run to end the first. Regan caps it with a runner with six seconds left.
• Swanson connected on a long-range 3-pointer to start the second with five straight points to force an IU Indy timeout.
• Swanson and Bass combined for nine points as the Boilermakers opened a 30-14 lead with 6:18 to play in the second.
• Purdue carried a 39-29 lead into the break after shooting an even 50% from the field in the first half with 24 points in the paint.
• Swanson scored the Boilermakers’ first five points of the third to keep Purdue’s advantage at 10 points.
• Following a five-point run by IU Indy midway through the frame, Purdue connected on three straight 3-pointers to start a 18-5 run over the final 6:09 of the period.
• The Boilermakers went 8-of-8 at the line in the fourth quarter to close out the game.

NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series 6-1.
• The Boilermakers outscored the Jaguars 34-18 in the paint.
• Purdue flipped 17 IU Indy turnovers into 17 points.
• Rashunda Jones came off the bench for the first time this season and tallied eight points. She finished with a plus-minus of 25, including a plus-16 in 12 first half minutes.
• The Boilermakers won the rebounding battle 39-28 and flipped 10 offensive rebounds into 13 points.
• Lana McCarthy finished with six rebounds in 14 minutes on the floor.

UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will play their fourth straight home game to start the year on Monday with a 7 p.m. tipoff against Bellarmine at Mackey Arena on B1G+.   

Purdue Splits Tri-Meet; Shuts Out Buffalo, Falls to Army

The Wrestling team split its tri-meet on Sunday, shutting out Buffalo, 45-0, and narrowly losing to Army by criteria after a 19-19 tie.

Purdue’s 45-point win over Buffalo was the team’s largest victory since defeating Indianapolis by the same score on Nov. 24, 2019.

The Black Knights, who are among the “others receiving votes” category in the NWCA Coaches poll, scraped by Purdue with a secondary tiebreaker, which counts total pins.

BOILERS BATTER BUFFALO

The Boilermakers came out strong and completely dominated the Bulls in their home gym. Purdue did not surrender a takedown in any of the first 10 matches and took eight bonus point victories, drubbing Buffalo by a final tally of 126-16.

The men in Old Gold & Black raced to three quick technical falls to take an early 15-0 lead over Buffalo, with credit to No. 4 Matt Ramos (18-1, 3:00), Dustin Norris (15-0, 6:34) and Greyson Clark (18-3, 6:30).

Adding to the tech party, No. 29 Brody Baumann (19-4, 5:44) and Ben Vanadia (19-4, 6:52) tied for the team lead for total points scored in a match on the day.

Isaac Ruble pitched his fifth career shutout, taking a 13-0 major decision over Buffalo’s Sam Ewing. Stoney Buell also contributed a major decision (11-2) to add more bonus points.

No. 20 Joey Blaze notched a a 6-1 decision while No. 29 James Rowley handled a 4-1 win.

Hayden Filipovich put a bow on the dual with a punishing mat return, taking a six-point injury default over Magnus Bibla.

It marked Purdue’s first shutout over an opponent since defeating Indianapolis 44-0 in last season’s Boilermaker Duals on Nov. 19, 2023.

WEST POINT EDGES PURDUE

After the win over Buffalo, the Boilermakers had a 10-minute break before turning around to take on a fully rested Army West Point team.

The talented Black Knights put forth seven ranked wrestlers to face Purdue. Baumann notched his second ranked win of the season with a 10-8 decision over Dalton Harkins, the 32nd-ranked 174-pounder in the country.

Ramos continued to build on his blazing hot start to the season, blitzing to a 17-2 tech fall over No.  22 Charles Farmer for his 38th career ranked win. The reigning Big Ten Wrestler of the Week now has six tech falls, one pin and a total score of 118-10 through seven matches this season.

After Ramos put Purdue on the board first, Army came back to take a lead that grew as large as 12-5 before Purdue answered back.

Blaze and Rowley finished 2-0 on the day with major decisions to help Purdue claw back into the dual. Vanadia picked up a critical 8-2 decision to put the Boilers on top, 19-16, heading into the final match.

Using his significant size advantage to his benefit, Army’s No. 19 Lucas Stoddard bested Filipovich with a close 4-2 decision.

With both teams winning five matches and the score tied 19-19, Army took the win via secondary criteria with No. 28 Trae McDaniel landing the only pin of the dual.

UP NEXT

Purdue has one more tri-meet next weekend in Chattanooga, Tenn., facing Chattanooga and Princeton before a week off for Thanksgiving. The start time and broadcast info for next Saturday’s duals will be announced in the coming days.

Buckeridge Earns NCAA Cross Country Championships Qualifier in Runner-Up Finish at Great Lakes Regional

Purdue cross country’s Douglas Buckeridge finished as the men’s runner-up at the Great Lakes Regional to earn a spot in the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Buckeridge headlined the men’s team that finished fifth out of 31 programs. He finished in a time of 29:12.9 – 0.2 seconds behind the Great Lakes Regional Champion William Zegarski from Butler. The women’s team finished 12th out of 32 programs and Emma Squires paced the team with a 20:37.0 that placed 44th.

In his personal-best performance, Buckeridge ran nearly one minute faster than last year’s 10K time of 30:12.1 at the Great Lakes Regional. He is now a two-time All-Region selection after a 19th-place finish last season.

Buckeridge is the first NCAA Cross Country Championships Qualifier for the Boilermakers since both Curt Eckstein and Emma Tate went in 2021. He is the highest finisher since Jaret Carpenter won the region in 2018.

The men’s program placed five runners in the top 43 and six out of seven runners finished in the top 80. The field featured 213 total runners. Nathan Walker led the second wave with a 27th place finish in 29:50.3. Jason Polydoris (38th) and Kiefer Bell (39th) finished in 30:10.3 and 30:11.2, respectively. Caleb Williams rounded out the grouping with a 43rd-place finish in 30:17.3.

The women’s team had four runners in the top 75 as Squires was followed by Caroline Jordan’s 47th-place finish in 20:40.5. Payne Turney followed in 20:50.1 to earn 58th and Jaelyn Burgos finished 75th in 21:00.2.

With his qualification to nationals, Buckeridge will compete at Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Wis. nn Saturday, Nov. 23. The 10K men’s race will start at 11:10 a.m. ET / 10:10 a.m. CT.

Gallardo Guevara Heads to NCAA Singles Championships

Carmen Gallardo Guevara of women’s tennis is set to compete in the 2024 NCAA Singles Championship this week in Waco, Texas.

The senior from Spain is the first Boilermaker to reach the postseason since Silvia Ambrosio made the singles event in 2019.

Gallardo Guevara qualified for the national tournament after reaching the championship match of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional in October.

She rolled in straight sets in her first three matches of the tournament, before outlasting Julia Zhu from East Tennessee State over three frames in the quarterfinals. Gallardo Guevara qualified for the postseason after beating Daniela Rivera from East Tennessee State 7-5, 6-4. She came up short in the final match to No. 34 Bridget Stammel from Vanderbilt.

Gallardo Guevara will open her tournament on Tuesday in the Round of 64 against DJ Bennett from Auburn, who earned her bid after reaching the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships.

The individual championships, held separately from the spring team championships for the first of two years in a pilot program, will be streamed live on ESPN+ with commentary from Cracked Racquets. Action begins at the Hurd Tennis Center, hosted by Baylor, with the first round of singles on Tuesday morning while doubles starts on Wednesday morning. Each draw will advance one round per day, culminating in the crowning of champions on Sunday, November 24^th.