Purdue Sports Update Nov. 27

Volleyball Takes On the Pacific Northwest

Volleyball will spend its final week of the regular season out west, as it is set for a pair of matches against two of the Big Ten Conference’s newest members.

Tomorrow, in a 2023 Regional Semifinal rematch, Purdue will take on No. 13 Oregon in its ninth top-16 matchup of the season. The match is scheduled for a 10:30 p.m. ET start on Big Ten Network. Then, the Boilermakers head to Seattle for a Black Friday showdown at the Washington Huskies, a team receiving votes in the AVCA poll. The match, which will be the first-ever between the two programs, will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

THE #7 OVERALL DRAFT PICK: RAVEN COLVIN

• With the seventh overall pick of the Real Pro Volleyball Federation draft, the Grand Rapids Rise selected Raven Colvin.
• One of Purdue’s best blockers in program history, Colvin ranks #2 in Purdue history in career total blocks, block assists and blocks per set and #8 in block solos. She is also #3 in the nation among Division I active players in career blocks per set.
• The Grand Rapids Rise, which includes Purdue alums Jena Otec (2017-21) and Sherridan Atkinson (2016-18), will begin its season January 10 and runs through May 2, 2025.

PURDUE’S LAST 10 MATCHES

• Ali Hornung is averaging 4.74 digs per set. Meanwhile as a team, Purdue is averaging 16.97 digs per set as a team.
• Offensively, Purdue is averaging 2 more kills per set than opponents with an efficiency or .271% while holding opponents to a .172%.
• Eva Hudson is averaging 5.58 kills per set on a .285% and 2.42 digs per set.
• Chloe Chicoine is totaling 3.26 dig per set, second on the team in kills with 2.68 per set.
• Taylor Anderson is averaging 11.55 assists per set with a .511 attack %.
• Middles Raven Colvin and Lourdes Myers are each averaging over a block per set, including Colvin’s 1.48 and 2.32 kills per set. Meanwhile, Myers holds a .339 attack %.

DEFENSE LIVES HERE

• In the last seven years, Purdue has held opponents to a .191 average attack % or lower in 2024 (.188), 2022 (.194%), 2021 (.173), 2020 (.180), 2019 (.189), 2018 (.191).
• When looking at the back row, Purdue’s owns 15.68 digs per set this season. To put in perspective, it is just the second time in the last 10 years the Boilermakers have posted that kind of number (other: 2020’s 16.00 digs per set).

A GLANCE AT THE SERIES HISTORY VS. OREGON

• Purdue and Oregon have met just four times in its series history (1984, 2007, Spring 2021, 2023), including three times under HC Dave Shondell.
• The Boilermakers have never played at Oregon before. In fact, every matchup has come at a neutral site.
• Last time Purdue and Oregon met (12/7/23), the Ducks defeated the Boilermakers 3-0 (14-25, 19-25, 27-25) in the NCAA Regional Semifinal. In the matchup, Purdue started four freshmen while Oregon’s lineup was nearly entirely made up of seniors or 5th-year players.

SCOUTING #13 OREGON

• Redshirt senior Onye Ofoegbu leads the team with a .372 hitting percentage (third in the Big Ten), totaling 220 kills this season. The middle blocker is also ranked fourth in the conference with 117 total blocks.
• As a team, Oregon ranks fifth nationally in blocks per set, averaging 2.69 blocks per set.
• Junior Mimi Colyer has totaled a team-high 348 kills this season, averaging 3.95 kills per set. Colyer and Hudson were the top freshmen in the country in 2022, with Colyer receiving National Freshman of the Year following Oregon’s postseason run, which ended in the Regional Finals.
• Last time Purdue and Oregon met (12/7/23), the Ducks defeated the Boilermakers 3-0 in the NCAA Regional Semifinal. Oregon returns nine of 20 players on their 2023 roster.
• Setter Cristin Cline averages 10.15 assists per set in her second season at Oregon, tallying 853 total assists.
• Senior libero Mackenzie Morris has racked up 288 digs in 25 matches, averaging 3.20 digs per set.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON

• Washington ranks second in the Big Ten in both aces per set and team service aces, earning 168 aces and averaging 1.71 aces per set. Setter Molly Wilson has registered 29 service aces this season, a team high.
• Senior Madi Endsley and junior Emoni Bush lead the team in total kills, registering 256 and 251 kills, respectively.
• Washington went undefeated in their first 13 matches of the season until eventually falling to No. 9 Wisconsin.
• Freshman middle blocker Julia Hunt leads the team with 112 total blocks and a 1.18 blocks per set average.

McCarthy Earns First Big Ten Freshman of the Week Honor

Women’s basketball freshman Lana McCarthy has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the first time, the league announced on Monday afternoon
 
McCarthy was instrumental in guiding Purdue to wins over Bellarmine and UT Arlington at Mackey Arena. The Bedford, N.H., native averaged 15 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games while shooting 61% from the field. She added a pair of assists and steals with one block.
 
McCarthy opened the week with her second double-double of the year, going for 12 points and 10 rebounds against Bellarmine. Just four games into her rookie season, McCarthy already matched Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton for the most freshman double-doubles at Purdue since 2004-05.
 
McCarthy followed up the performance with an 18-point night against UT Arlington, matching her career high. She tacked on five rebounds, one block and a steal. After battling through foul trouble in the first half, she posted 16 points in the second half to help the Boilermakers pull away for the win.
 
The 6-6 forward is one of nine freshmen nationally and one of two from the Big Ten averaging over 11 points and 7.0 rebounds per game (11.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG). She is tied with Notre Dame’s Kate Koval with the most double-doubles by a freshman against Division I opposition this season.
 
The Boilermakers will head into the Elevance Fort Myers Tip-Off this week with a game Thursday afternoon against Middle Tennessee at 4:30 p.m., before an 11 a.m. tip against No. 4 South Carolina. Both games can be heard on 95.3 BOB FM or Purdue Stretch Internet with a video stream on the Women’s Sports Network.

Baseball Hosting UCLA, ASU, Notre Dame as Part of 27-Game Home Slate

Baseball’s 2025 schedule features 27 home dates at Alexander Field, headlined by games against UCLA, Arizona State and Notre Dame as first-time visitors to the ballpark.

Head coach Greg Goff has unveiled a slate that features six home weekends and a 13-game homestand. The Big Ten Conference schedule has expanded from eight to 10 weekend series (24 to 30 games), meaning five of the Boilermakers’ six home weekends will be conference series.

Purdue hosts Michigan, UCLA, Rutgers, Northwestern and Nebraska for Big Ten series. UIC comes to Alexander Field for the open weekend (March 14-16) in the Big Ten schedule.

The Boilermakers drew Washington for their inaugural Big Ten West Coast road trip, making their first-ever trip to Seattle for the first weekend of April. But the final month of the regular season is very travel friendly. After an Easter Weekend (April 18-20) trip to Penn State, Purdue plays nine of its final 16 games at home. The only road trips during that stretch are to Champaign, Bloomington and Muncie.

Arizona State (April 14), Austin Peay (April 22) and Notre Dame (April 29) all come to Alexander Field for midweek action in the month of April. The ASU game is a Monday matinee that came to be in conjunction with the Sun Devils’ Big 12 Conference road trip to Cincinnati for a game with the Bearcats. Purdue has not hosted Notre Dame since 1997, but the midweek series continues after the teams played in the state of Indiana last season for the first time since 2007.

The Boilermakers play home-and-home midweek dates with both Indiana State and Ball State. They’re scheduled to play 32 of their 56 (57%) regular-season games in the state of Indiana.

Big Ten play opens as early as ever – the weekend of March 7-9. Purdue drew a road series at Minnesota for the first conference weekend, which will be contested inside U.S. Bank Stadium (the home of the Minnesota Vikings). It will mark the Boilers’ second visit to U.S. Bank Stadium after also playing in the Gophers’ six-team Big Ten-ACC Tournament in February 2020. Purdue has not played Minnesota indoors since an April 2009 series inside the Metrodome. The teams also opened the 2011 conference schedule against each other in the Twin Cities, a series that was moved from the Metrodome to Target Field after the dome collapsed due to a blizzard that winter.

The Boilermakers are slated to begin their season at a Triple-A ballpark in Texas for the fifth year in a row, opening at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas, again. This year it’s a four-game series vs. first-time foe Stephen F. Austin at the stadium in suburban Houston that serves as the home of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston Astros affiliate).

Purdue plays consecutive weekends in North Carolina for the fourth year in a row. Niagara and Akron are the opponents for weekends No. 2 and 3 as the Boilers return to Ting Stadium in Holly Springs.

Since 2022, Purdue is 10-2 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, 15-4 at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs and 18-5 in the state of North Carolina.

The home opener at Alexander Field is slated for Wednesday, March 12 vs. Butler. It marks the beginning of the season-long 13-homestand. There are also five-game homestands in both April and May.

A full list of gameday promotions and special dates at Alexander Field will be released in early March. Purdue has set attendance records at Alexander each of the last two years.