Purdue Sports Update Oct. 10

Soccer to battle Indiana, Ohio State

 Purdue Soccer plays two more of its longest standing rivals this week, visiting Indiana for the annual Golden Boot game Thursday before hosting an Ohio State team on Sunday that has climbed into the top 10 in the national rankings.

Kickoff times are set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington and 1 p.m. Sunday at Folk Field in West Lafayette. Fans are encouraged to wear black to the field Sunday for the annual Boilermaker Blackout. It’s also the final Pups at the Pitch dog day of the season.

The Hoosiers ended Purdue’s eight-game unbeaten streak (4-0-4) in the series with their 1-0 victory in West Lafayette last season, winning back control of the Golden Boot trophy for the first time since the Boilers left Bloomington with it on the final day of the 2015 regular season. It marked the first time the trophy changed hands in West Lafayette.

The Boilermakers are 2-0-2 in their last four trips to Armstrong Stadium. The draws in 2017 and 2022 allowed them to retain the Golden Boot. Gracie Dunaway scored the first of the four goals in the 2-2 draw in 2022, her sixth and final goal of her sophomore campaign.

YEARS THE GOLDEN BOOT CHANGED HANDS
• 2012 – IU wins 3-0 in Bloomington
• 2015 – Purdue wins 2-0 in Bloomington
• 2023 – IU wins 1-0 in West Lafayette
Trophy introduced to the series in 2002; team with prior possession retains it in the event of a draw

No. 8 Ohio State (9-1-3) is one five Big Ten teams – along with Michigan State (9-0-4), Iowa (10-0-3), USC (9-1-2) and Rutgers (8-1-3) – with one defeat or fewer this season, suffering its only loss Sept. 8 at Auburn. The Buckeyes played both Iowa and Michigan State to draws in Columbus. Sunday’s game will mark the third year in a row a top 10-ranked team has visited Folk Field – No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 10 Rutgers in 2022, No. 4 Penn State last season.

Match Time Set: Indiana at Purdue

A first serve time has been set by the Big Ten Network for the Purdue vs. Indiana volleyball match on October 19. The match will begin at 7 p.m. ET and will take place in Mackey Arena.

The already sold-out match will serve as the Monon Spike trophy match and Alumnae Day for the Boilermakers in the first of two meetings this season between the teams.

The program picks up where it left off, as its last appearance in Mackey Arena eight years ago also served as the Monon Spike match vs. Indiana on September 24, 2016. The Boilermakers lead the series in Spike matches, 36-13 and the overall series record, 77-35.

Men’s Hoops game times set

– In conjunction with its television partners, the Big Ten Conference announced times and television designations for the 2024-25 Purdue men’s basketball season today.

Purdue will be featured prominently on the national stage, appearing on FOX five times, on FS1 six times, on CBS twice and an appearance on ESPN vs. Auburn. BTN will carry seven games, while Peacock will carry seven Purdue games. The Oregon game on Jan. 18, could possibly be changed to NBC Sports.

The remaining three broadcasts, including the exhibition game vs. Grand Valley State, will appear on B1G+.

Purdue’s last 13 games will air either on Peacock, FOX, FS1 or CBS.

Some highlights include a Noon battle against Texas A&M in the Indy Classic, tipping off at noon. The following week, the Boilermakers will face Auburn at 4:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN.

The showdown with Alabama in Mackey Arena will be aired on Peacock, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Other Peacock games include Oregon (Jan. 18; 3 p.m. ET), Ohio State (Jan. 21; 7:30 p.m.), Iowa (Feb. 4; 7 p.m.), Michigan (Feb. 11; 7 p.m.), Michigan State (Feb. 18; 7 p.m.) and Rutgers (March 4; 7 p.m.).

FOX will carry all of Purdue’s Friday games in Big Ten play (Jan. 24 vs. Michigan; Jan. 31 vs. Indiana; Feb. 28 vs. UCLA; March 7 at Illinois) with tip times scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

Purdue’s only “local” 9 p.m. ET, tip will come at Marquette on Nov. 19 (FS1). Purdue will have no home games tipping off later than 8 p.m. ET.

Purdue’s season opener against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 4, will start at 6 p.m. ET, and be carried by the Big Ten Network.

Link: Men’s Basketball Schedule

Women’s Hoops TV schedule includes nine appearances

The Purdue women’s basketball team is set for nine televised games during the 2024-25 season, the Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network announced on Wednesday.

The Boilermakers will play their first TV game on Sunday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. against Notre Dame for the Fighting Irish’s first visit to Mackey Arena since 2011. Purdue will also feature on BTN for its non-conference clash against Kentucky on Dec. 14 at 5 p.m.

Both of Purdue’s home matchups against west coast opposition will be televised, starting with UCLA on Jan. 7 on BTN, followed by a Jan. 22 tip against USC on Peacock.

The Boilermakers will be on the road for their next four televised contests, all on BTN – Jan. 27 at Illinois, Feb. 15 at Indiana, Feb. 23 at Ohio State and Feb. 27 at Penn State.

The regular season concludes with a 2 p.m. tip on March 2 against Indiana at Mackey Arena on Peacock.

Purdue’s final three games will be televised.

All non-televised home contests and road Big Ten matchups will be streamed on B1G+. The Boilermakers two games in the Fort Myers Tip-Off will be shown on the Women’s Sports Network. Purdue’s lone true road game in the non-conference season at Miami (OH) will be streamed on ESPN+.

Game times for non-televised games will be posted to women’s basketball schedule page on PurdueSports.com.

Boilermakers With Strong Showing at Fighting Irish Classic

The men’s golf team posted three consistent rounds en route to a to second-place finish at the competitive Fighting Irish Classic held at Warren Golf Course in South Bend.

The Boilermakers shot under 285 in all three rounds and had four players post top-20 finishes to finish second out of a 15-team field that included six Big Ten teams.

Purdue totaled a 6-over par 846 after rounds of 281-284-281 to finish 11 shots behind team champion Notre Dame (-5) and to edge Louisville (+7; 287-276-284) by one shot. Little Rock was fourth at 8-over par 848, while Tennessee was fifth at 13-over par 853.

The Boilermakers used their consistency across all three rounds to finish as the runner-up. Purdue’s counting scores during the 54-hole event ranged from 68 to 72.

Sophomore Jenson Forrester led the Boilermakers with a T-7 finish, shooting 1-under par 209 (68-72-69). Forrester got on the board early today with a big eagle on the par-5 6^th hole, then posted birdies on three of his last seven holes for his round of 69.

Freshman Supapon Amornchaichan had his best showing of his career, finished T-12 at 1-over par 211 (69-71-71). Amornchaichan chipped in for birdie on the difficult par-4 18^th hole to record his best career finish.

Nels Surtani and Sam Easterbrook posted top-20 finishes, placing T-17 at 4-over par 214. Surtani recorded rounds of 72-71-71, while Easterbrook shot 72-70-72.

Kentaro Nanayama jumped 17 spots into T-47 with a final-round 70 for a three-round score of 10-over par 220 (72-78-70).

Purdue will close out the fall season in two weeks, traveling to Saucier, Mississippi, for the Fallen Oak Invitational, starting Oct. 19.

Hornung Named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week

Following wins at Northwestern (W, 3-1) and vs. Michigan State (W, 3-0), libero Ali Hornung earned her first career Big Ten weekly honor as Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week.

Hornung led all Power 4 conferences in digs per set last week, averaging 5.71 over the two wins. In fact, Hornung led the team to a Power 4-leading 19.57 digs per set mark (second-highest in the Big Ten checked in at 16.86). She is joined by Nebraska’s Rebekah Allick (2.0 blocks per set) for the honor.

Playing at the top of her game, Hornung was coming off a career-high performance at #16 Minnesota when she entered the week. After totaling 18 digs and a perfect reception % on 27 attempts at Northwestern, she nearly bested her career-high with her 22-dig showing vs. Michigan State on Sunday. The effort not only included 10 digs in the first set alone, but anchored a Boilermaker team which went on to set a program record of 71 digs in a three-set match during the current 25-point scoring era.

Hornung helped limit opponents to an average .146 hitting % over the two matches.

She is the fourth Boilermaker to earn Big Ten honors this season, including the second as Defensive Player of the Week (last: Raven Colvin, 9/16).

Purdue remained at No. 10 in the AVCA Coaches’ Poll on Monday, marking the third straight week at No. 10. On deck, the No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers will take on the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network for the fifth top-10 showdown for the Boilermakers this season. Then less than 24 hours later, Purdue will clash with Iowa at 7 p.m.  ET on B1G+.

Basketball Fan Day Set for Jam-Packed Weekend on Oct. 19

The basketball teams will hold their annual Fan Day on Saturday, Oct. 19, beginning at 9 a.m. ET, in Mackey Arena.

The event is part of an action-packed weekend at Purdue with the football team battling Oregon on Friday, Oct. 18, and the volleyball squad taking on Indiana in Mackey Arena on Saturday night following Fan Day.

Both women’s and men’s basketball teams will be featured on Fan Day. The women’s team will start the activities with an open practice and scrimmage starting at 9 a.m. ET. At 10:45 a.m., there will be an autograph session that will last for approximately one hour for both teams before the men’s team will hold a practice and scrimmage beginning at Noon. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Autograph cards will be provided by Purdue Athletics for use during the autograph session and will be the only item that student-athletes will autograph. Outside items will not be eligible to be signed.

During the event, there will be children’s activities such as drawing their favorite Purdue Basketball players for Kids Day festivities, in addition to photo opportunities with the Final Four and Big Ten trophies.

Single-game tickets and multi-game plans will go on sale to John Purdue Club members beginning on Oct. 8, and to the general public on Oct. 11.

This will be the lone opportunity to see the men’s team in Mackey Arena before its exhibition game Oct. 30 against Grand Valley State at Mackey Arena. The women’s team will open its season on Oct. 29, with an exhibition game against Indiana Tech.

The 2024-25 Purdue men’s and women’s basketball seasons are presented by Purdue Global, Purdue University’s online educational solution for working adults.

The men’s team is coming off a spot in the 2024 National Championship game and a 34-5 record. Three starters return in addition to three other players that played at least 31 games this past season. Head coach Matt Painter also welcomes a five-member recruiting class that is ranked among the top 10 nationally.

The Boilermaker women’s programs heads into the fourth year under head coach Katie Gearlds with a roster of seven returners and seven newcomers looking to return the Boilermakers back to the postseason for the fourth straight year.

The men’s team will open the regular-season Nov. 4, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Mackey Arena, while the women’s team begins its regular season on Nov. 6, against Purdue Fort Wayne in Mackey Arena.

Big Ten Announces 2025 Wrestling Slate

The Big Ten Conference released its 2025 wrestling dual schedule on Tuesday, laying out eight matches on the tail end of the upcoming season for Purdue.

The Boilermakers will face off against six opponents from last year’s slate while adding two new challengers in Ohio State and Maryland.

“We can’t wait to get back on the mat and compete this season,” said head coach Tony Ersland, who enters his 11th year at the helm for Purdue. “We had a great offseason training for the grind that’s ahead. This is the premier conference in all of college wrestling, and I’m excited to see how we stack up in the Big Ten. It’s on us to make the most of the opportunity.”

Behind star senior Matt Ramos, the Boilermakers will kick off their conference slate with what will also be their home opener in a dual against Northwestern on Jan. 10 in Holloway Gymnasium. The Boilers took down the Wildcats 29-11 in Evanston last season highlighted by a sudden victory 4-1 upset win for Joey Blaze. The team won seven of the 10 matches that day with four going for bonus points.

After a nonconference trip to Northern Illinois on Jan. 12, the Boilers will return home to compete in Mackey Arena for the first time since hosting Wisconsin on Jan. 23, 2022. Purdue will take on in-state rival Indiana in the historic venue after having won 12 of its last 14 bouts against the Hoosiers.

The Boilermakers then hit the road for four consecutive duals, making their first stop in Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Purdue will head back west to battle Illinois, looking to avenge its narrow 19-18 loss at the hands of the Fighting Illini last season.

Purdue will wrap its road trip with two duals on the weekend of Friday, Feb. 7. The Boilermakers square off with Wisconsin that Friday before heading further north to compete at Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 9.

The Boilers then return to the friendly confines of Holloway in a Valentine’s Day bout against Maryland. Nine days later, Purdue concludes its regular season on Feb. 23 against Nebraska on Senior Day.

The Big Ten Championships will be hosted by Northwestern on March 8-9 in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The 2024-25 NCAA Championships are set for March 20-22 in Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center, home of the NBA’s 76ers and the NHL’s Flyers.