Purdue Sports Update Oct. 14

VOLLEYBALL SPLITS WEEKEND ON ROAD

No. 10 Purdue went the distance with the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers, falling in extra points in the fifth set, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 15-17. The Boilermakers nearly had its highest-ranked win since 2011, however their serve proved the Achilles heel, giving up 19 serve errors in the match.

The Boilermakers had the fifth-set lead at 15-14 following a block assist by Raven Colvin and Kenna Wollard, but the Husker responded with a 3-0 run to clinch the match. Purdue went errorless in the fifth set, posting 13 kills and a .481 clip.

The Boilermakers’ efficiency shined, hitting .311% overall in the match while holding the Huskers to .242% and out-blocked the home team, 15-5. It was a Big Ten play season-high for the Boilermaker block.

Eva Hudson posted a double-double behind a season-high 26 kills and 15 digs. The junior hit at a .349 clip (26-4-63) to lead the offensive effort. Meanwhile, Chloe Chicoine totaled a season-high 22 kills alongside 13 digs on a .327 clip (22-4-55) and a season-high 5 assists.

Setter Taylor Anderson rounded out the double-doubles with 52 assists, 10 digs, 7 blocks and an errorless three kills on four attempts to guide the team and  produced Purdue’s lone service ace.

Colvin led the block with 11 total on the night.

There were 13 ties and four lead changes in the fifth set alone and 40 total ties in the match.

With the result, Purdue suffered its fourth loss of the season, all to top-10 opponents, as the team moves to 12-4 (3-2 Big Ten). Meanwhile, Nebraska improves to 15-1 (5-0 Big Ten).

Just 17 hours after stepping off the floor in Lincoln, Nebraska, the No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers took down the Iowa Hawkeyes, 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21) in the team’s third road win of the Big Ten season. With the result, Purdue improves to 13-4 (4-2 Big Ten) while Iowa falls to a 9-9 (3-3 Big Ten) record.

Coming off a five-setter at No. 2 Nebraska, which was the longest match in Purdue’s known history, the Boilermakers responded to its 19 service errors the night before with 10 aces at Iowa, including four in the team’s first 11 points.

The Boilermakers hit a set-high .400 attack % in the opening frame before closing the match hitting .213 while Iowa edged the Boilermakers with .216%. Purdue was out-blocked 8-13, but held the advantage in kills (56-48) digs (50-48) and reception % (.961 vs. .888).

Anderson propelled Purdue to victory behind 42 assists, a career-high six kills, seven digs, three block assists and an ace.

Purdue’s back row was anchored by libero Ali Hornung, who dug 17 balls and went errorless after facing a team-leading 21 receptions.

Hudson led the team with 18 kills (18-8-46) at a .217 clip while nearly matching her career-record with three aces in the match, eight digs and a pair of block assists. Colvin registered 12 kills (12-4-23) at a .348 clip while leading the team with four service aces and adding four digs and a trio of blocks. Her weekend rounds out with 14 blocks within 24 hours.

Iowa evened the match behind a .577 hitting % (16-1-26) and four blocks in Set 2, while attack errors plagued the Boilermakers, who hit .125% in the set. In Set 3, Purdue dominated its way to a 19-9 set score. Iowa tried to gain momentum by fending off four set points, but a kill by Colvin sealed it. In Set 4, Iowa fought back after Purdue took an early 10-5 lead, coming within one point at 19-18. Colvin was on three of the team’s next four points to pull away, a run that included two kills and a block assist.

Purdue will begin its longest homestand since opening week, which the team will be home for four matches over the next two weeks. Next week, Purdue will play its first match against a Big Ten expansion team, taking on UCLA next Thursday at 7 p.m. ET inside Holloway Gymnasium. Then, The Boilermakers will play its first of two Mackey matches on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd against Indiana at 7 p.m. ET. The match will serve as a the annual Monon Spike trophy match between the rivals.

Hill Breaks 50 Free Record to Highlight Home Opener

Hannah Hill eclipsed a program record in the 50 freestyle on the opening leg of the women’s victorious 200 free relay, accounting for the top moment on a day in which Swimming & Diving finished atop both team scoring ledgers at the Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate.

The Boilermakers won 14 of the 24 events contested – eight by the women and six by the men. Purdue swept the springboard diving events and was victorious in three of the four relays.

After winning the 50 free in 23.11 earlier in the day, Hill blazed her way to a 50 split of 22.32 on the leadoff leg of 200 free relay as the event of the meet. She eclipsed Lauren Gustafson’s team record (23.49) that had stood since the 2013 Big Ten Championships, making it the longest-standing individual swimming benchmark in the team record book. It’s also the second time this year – dating back to Feb. 2 – that a longstanding Purdue record finally changed hands. Hill’s classmate Maggie Love eclipsed the 200 IM mark, which had stood since 2012, in the final dual meet of the 2023-24 campaign.

Brady Samuels (100 back) and Love (100 IM) both won an event at the Indiana Intercollegiate for the fourth consecutive year. Freshman Lara Phipps was victorious in the 100 free in her home debut and anchored Purdue’s 200 medley relay team to victory as well.

Hill and Phipps also finished second to teammates in the 100 back and 100 IM.

Abby Marcukaitis won the 100 backstroke for the second weekend in a row. She also led off Purdue’s victorious 200 medley relay team to begin the meet. Nathaniel Thomas (100 free) and Love joined Hill and Marcukaitis among the Boilermakers’ individual event winners that also continued to relay winners.

The men’s seniors won the class relay challenge in the 200 medley relay to open the meet. Lance Lesage, Luke Fortner, Samuels and Idris Muhammad were the runner-up overall in the event. Individually, Muhammad was victorious in the 50 free with a time of 20 seconds flat.

With 13 total divers on the roster this season, Purdue was able to field men’s and women’s diver relays for the 200 free relay to close the meet. The men’s divers finished sixth in their heat and 18th overall.

The Boilermakers are idle next weekend and compete again Friday, Oct. 25 for a co-ed dual meet at Missouri. The Friday matinee begins at noon ET.

Boilermakers ITA Ohio Valley Regional Run Comes to an End

The men’s tennis team saw its run at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship at the Schwartz Tennis Center come to an end on Sunday.

Aleksa Krivokapic won 7-5, 6-2 in the Round of 32 against Jack Batchelor from Bellarmine, but his run ended in the Round of 16 against Shunsike Mitsui from Tennessee in a 6-2, 6-1 loss.

Juan David Velasquez bested Niklas Von Hellens from Bellarmine 6-3, 6-4, but he also dropped his Round of 16 match against Alejandro Moreno from Tennessee 6-4, 7-5.

The Boilermakers will be off until the Hokie Invitational, hosted by Virginia Tech on Nov. 1.

Soccer ties Indiana, falls to Ohio State

In a defensive battle that featured just a combined three shots on goal and four corner kicks, Emily Edwards made a clutch save in the 86th minute to preserve Purdue’s scoreless draw at Indiana on Thursday.

The Boilermakers (6-6-2, 2-4-1 Big Ten) posted their sixth shutout of the season, four of which have come on the road. They remained unbeaten (2-0-3) in Bloomington dating back to 2015.

The Hoosiers (6-5-2, 1-5-1 Big Ten) kept possession of the Golden Boot traveling trophy after regaining it with their victory in West Lafayette last season. In the event of a draw in the rivalry series, the team with possession of the trophy entering the game keeps it for another year.

Edwards deflected a shot by Layla Sirdah over the crossbar in the 86th minute, making the most significant play of a two-minute stretch that began with Purdue’s longest segment of possession inside the 18-yard box. Chiara Singarella and Gracie Dunaway helped create the extended pressure and were both credited with shots in the 84th minute.

The Hoosiers built a counterattack that led to Sirdah’s open look at Edwards, who was in excellent position and reacted quickly to push the shot over the bar. Avery Snead missed wide right with a header on the ensuing corner kick.

The Purdue Soccer team fell to No. 8 Ohio State in a windy 4-2 bout at Folk Field on Sunday afternoon.

Chiara Singarella and Abigail Roy provided the Boilermakers’ (6-7-2, 2-5-1 Big Ten) highlight reel plays, knocking in their 15^th and fifth career goals, respectively.

Singarella, the junior transfer who followed head coach Richard Moodie from South Alabama to Purdue, improved on her team-best tally with her fifth score of the season.

In the 30th minute, Singarella took a perfect centering pass from Gracie Dunaway and headed the ball to the back of the net to get the Boilers on the board.

Purdue stays home for its final home contest of the season this week against Rutgers. For Hammer Down Cancer night, kickoff from Folk Field is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday.