Purdue Sports Update Oct. 31

No. 10-ranked Volleyball Ties Big Ten Match Attendance Record

The No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers (16-5, 7-3 Big Ten) tied its own Big Ten regular-season match attendance record with 14,876 fans inside a sold-out Mackey Arena against the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers (15-4, 9-1 Big Ten). Purdue fell, 0-3 (20-25, 23-25, 13-25).

It was the second time in the last week Purdue hosted a match in Mackey Arena. Not only did Purdue tie its own Big Ten regular-season match attendance record set just a week ago, but Purdue now holds two of the top three largest crowds to witness a women’s collegiate volleyball match this year. The sold-out Mackey Arena also means Purdue now holds three of the top-four attendances in league history for two Big Ten teams battling in the regular season (Purdue vs. Wisconsin on 10/17/2008 held 10,570 fans in Mackey Arena).

Eva Hudson led both teams with 17 kills. She posted a match-leading 50 attempts and added five digs and a pair of block assists.

Meanwhile, Chloe Chicoine led the defensive effort with 14 digs.

Lourdes Myers registered a team-leading five block assists and as well as five kills, second-most on the team.

The Boilermakers were held to a season-low .089%  while Wisconsin hit .186% on the day. Purdue was out-blocked 7-15.

Purdue will spend its next three matches on the road, beginning with a plane trip out east to Maryland (Friday, November 1), Rutgers (Saturday, November 2). The following week, Purdue will continue its away matches at Indiana (Friday, November 8).

Women’s Hoops Roll to Exhibition Win

The women’s basketball team jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back in a 101-50 exhibition win over Indiana Tech on Tuesday night at Mackey Arena.

The Boilermakers placed seven players in double figures led by 15 points from Jayla Smith and Lana McCarthy. Sophie Swanson and Reagan Bass chipped in 13 points each. Rashunda Jones was a perfect 6-fo-6 from the field for 12 points. Kendall Puryear tacked on 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Destini Lombard connected from distance twice to go for 10 points.

McCarthy powered the Boilermakers on the glass to complete a 15-15 double-double. Purdue outrebounded Indiana Tech 55-22 and flipped 20 offensive rebounds into 16 points. The Boilermakers also outscored the Warriors 54-22 in the paint.

All five starters got on the scoresheet in the first five minutes as Purdue built up an 18-6 lead. After Indiana Tech closed within eight with 7:58 to play in the second quarter and head coach Katie Gearlds called timeout, the Boilermaker rolled off a 26-0 run that carried into the third quarter. Purdue went 11-of-17 from the field during the run and forced Indiana Tech into 14 straight misses.

The Boilermakers forced 19 turnovers and scored 30 points off Indiana Tech miscues. The Warriors finished the game shooting 32.8% from the field and 20.7% (6-29) from distance.

NOTES
• Purdue is now 4-0 in exhibitions under Gearlds.
 • Despite taking just one shot and going 4-of-4 at the line, Ella Collier led Purdue with five assists.
• The Boilermakers got 44 points out of their bench.
• Purdue’s 39 made field goals, 55 rebounds and 13 turnovers were the most in an exhibition under Gearlds.

UP NEXT
Purdue will open the 2024-25 season at Mackey Arena on Nov. 6 with a 7 p.m. tip against Purdue Fort Wayne.

The 2024-25 Purdue women’s basketball season is presented by Purdue Global, Purdue University’s online educational solution for working adults.

Boilermakers Conclude Resurgent Season with Setback at Michigan State

Head coach Richard Moodie has his soccer squad’s trajectory on the rise heading into the offseason, with a 3-1 setback at No. 18 Michigan State on Sunday doing little to tarnish what was an otherwise auspicious opening campaign for the first-year leader of the program. The Boilermakers (7-9-2, 3-7-1 Big Ten) were helped along at DeMartin Soccer Stadium by a second-half goal from outgoing senior Gracie Dunaway. 

Dunaway’s goal, her fourth of the season and 18th for her career, tied the match at 1-1 in the 63rd minute. The Spartans responded with goals in the 82nd and 84th minutes to keep the Boilermakers at bay. Michigan State improved to 12-1-5 (7-1-3 Big Ten) with the win. The scoring effort from Dunaway climbed her career accumulation to 10th all-time in the program’s record book.

Sunday was the final game as Boilermakers for 10 seniors. Sydney Boudreau, Dunaway, Megan Hutchinson and Abigail Roy finished their careers as four-year letterwinners who were with the program since the fall of 2021. Zoie Allen joined the program as a transfer in 2022 to be a three-year letterwinner at Purdue. Lexi Fraley, Mackenzie Jones, Lauren Meeks, Cloey Uddenberg and Claire Wyville all transferred in this year for their final collegiate seasons.

Purdue Concludes Wrestle Offs to End Preseason

Wrestling took to the mat for the first time in the 2024-25 season with its annual intrasquad scrimmage Friday night, better known as Boilermaker Wrestle Offs.

Team Gold faced Team Black in a back-and-forth affair. It ended 21 all, with Team Black ultimately earning the victory by criteria.

“Tonight was a good chance to see how our guys stack up as we enter the season,” head coach Tony Ersland said. “There are a few things you can take away from public scrimmages like these, but the main thing is getting the feel for real-time competition again. Now it’s time to do it for real next weekend at Gardner-Webb.”

With 10 matches in total, the two teams of 10 were split remarkably evenly. Team Gold and Team Black alternated match wins from beginning to end.

Last season’s NCAA qualifier and 2023 national runner-up Matt Ramos, the preseason No. 5-ranked wrestler in the country, got the night started with a 17-5 major decision over Ashton Jackson.  

Dustin Norris and No. 23 Greyson Clark took major decision wins over Jacob Macatangay and Christian White, respectively, before redshirt sophomore Isaac Ruble scored the only pin of the night on Jaden Reynolds.

The next three matches went to the other preseason-ranked stars on the roster. No. 15 Joey Blaze and No. 22 Stoney Buell earned technical falls over Delaney Ruhlman and RJ Powers, and No. 31 Brody Baumann took a narrow 7-6 decision over Orlando Cruz.

In his first action as a Boilermaker, true freshman Isaiah Quintero notched a decision victory over Cooper Rider.

After six quick takedowns from Ben Vanadia earned a technical fall over freshman Quinn Herbert, Hayden Filipovich won the battle of the heavyweights against Dominic Burgett with a close 2-0 decision.

Ruble’s pin ultimately made the difference for Team Black as they won the scrimmage by criteria.

Freshmen Ruhlman, Powers, Quintero and Herbert all donned the Old Gold & Black for the first time.

Purdue is set to start the regular season with a non-conference dual at Gardner-Webb on Friday. The meet is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Paul Porter Arena and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Boilermakers Sweep Co-Ed Dual at Mizzou

Brady Samuels, Adele Sands and Pat Broderick all won multiple individual events as the swimming & diving teams finished strong with an extended string of victories to rally for a sweep of Friday’s co-ed dual meet at Missouri.

The Boilermakers won 10 events on both the men’s and women’s sides of their first dual meet of the season. The women were victorious 161-139 vs. No. 25 Missouri. A year after they were evenly matched in a rare draw, the men edged the Tigers by just two points – 151-149.

Purdue swept a co-ed dual on the road for the first time since January 2019 at Michigan State.

“I couldn’t have asked for a more complete team effort today,” Purdue men’s coach Alex Jerden said. “We were just a hair faster, had a few things go our way, and these guys had each other’s backs every race. We showed a lot of determination and had a lot of fun.”

Freshmen accounted for five of the 19 victories in the individual events. The women’s victorious 400 freestyle relay also featured a pair of freshmen.

Sands swept her individual events – the 200 and 500 free. Lara Phipps won the 100 free for the second meet in a row. Avery Worobel was victorious in 1-meter diving. And Charles Lee’s victory in the 200 breaststroke not only gave Purdue a sweep of the men’s breaststroke events, but also ignited a key five-event win streak that allowed the Boilermakers to rally for the victory in the team scoring.

Purdue won nine of the 10 individual freestyle events, all but the women’s 1,000 free – the first individual event of the meet.

Samuels was victorious in the 100 and 200 free as well as the 100 butterfly as the only student-athlete to win three individual events Friday. Broderick swept the distance freestyle events, teaming with freshman Evan Mackesy for a significant 1-2 finish in the 500 free (.13 hundredths of a second apart) during Purdue’s comeback push.

It was during the final stages of the meet that Jordan Rzepka ripped a 93-point dive in the final round of 3-meter diving to make him the event winner. He won an event at a meet that featured Missouri for the fourth consecutive year.

Beginning with Lee’s victory in the men’s 200 breast, the Boilermakers won 10 consecutive events to set up the dual sweep. After Lee, Sands (500 free), Broderick (500 free), Keira Kask (100 fly), Samuels (100 fly), Kathryn Ackerman (200 IM), Matheo Mateos (200 IM), Worobel (1-meter diving), Rzepka (3-meter diving) and the women’s 400 free relay team all won events during that stretch.

Hannah Hill (50 free) and Abby Marcukaitis (100 back) continued their strong starts with event victories. Marcukaitis was victorious in her marquee event for the third meet in a row and Hill anchored Purdue’s 400 free relay team to victory.

Sands and Phipps joined Caitlin Hurley and Hill on the relay winner as the quartet featured two sprinters and two distance specialists.

Purdue’s other event winners Friday included Sophie McAfee (3-meter diving), Idris Muhammad (50 free) and Raymond Whittaker (100 breast). The women had the top four finishers in 1-meter diving and finished 2-3-4 in two events they did not win – the 200 back and 200 breast. The men went 2-3-4-5 in 1-meter diving.

The Boilermakers are back in action Friday, Nov. 8. The men compete at Louisville and the women at Rutgers.

Boilermakers Set for Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Friday

The cross country team is set to compete in the 2024 Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Friday morning in Savoy, Ill., hosted by the University of Illinois.

Gates open at the Illinois Orange and Blue Golf Course at 9 a.m. on Friday with the women starting their 6,000-meter race at 11:35 a.m. with the men’s race to follow at 12:35 p.m.

The races will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.

The Boilermakers got an early look at the conference circuit ahead of the first running as an 18-team race for the women and 15-team race for the men back on Sept. 13 for the Big Ten Preview. Payne Turney paced the Boilermakers on the women’s side in 13th to help Purdue finish sixth. The men placed fifth with Nathan Walker leading the way.

Last time out, the men dominated their race at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals to win, as Nathan Walker and Douglas Buckeridge came in second and fourth, respectively. The men had four of their scoring runners finish in the top 20. Turney finished 34th in the women’s race to lead Purdue to a 13th-place finish.

Walker and Turney have led their respective teams in every race this year.