Purdue Sports Update Oct. 5

BOILERMAKERS BOUNCE BACK IN SWEEPING FASHION

The No. 19 Purdue volleyball squad made a statement in its 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-16) sweep over Illinois on Wednesday night, marking not only the most decisive victory of the season, but also one of the fastest.

The Boilermakers, fueled up after a pair of losses last week, posted one of its most balanced performances of the season, with six Boilermakers contributing offensively and every member of the team recording at least two digs in the match.

With the result, Purdue improves to 9-5 (3-2 Big Ten), while Illinois falls to (7-8, 2-3 Big Ten).

The Boilermakers return to Holloway on Saturday night with a 7 p.m. ET matchup vs. Iowa on B1G+.

Quick Hits

• After four consecutive matches going to five sets vs. Illinois, the Boilermakers swept the Illini for the first time since April 2, 2021, which also came inside Holloway Gymnasium.
• The Boilermakers came out firing, with their post decisive set victory with a 25-11 first set score. The last time Purdue had such a large margin of victory in a set was a year ago vs. Ball State (25-11, Set 1) on September 17, 2022.
• It is the first time this season Purdue has held its opponent to under 20 points in every set.
• Eva Hudson put on a clinic with 16 kills and a .394 hitting %. Not only was it the most efficient match of the season for the sophomore, the Boilermaker came two digs shy of a double-double. Additionally, she saw 18 receptions in the back court, making no errors in the process.
• Lourdès Myers went errorless on the attack with six kills on 11 attempts (.545%), marking the first time since the season-opening weekend the middle has gone errorless. Defensively, she added two blocks (one solo, one assisted) and two digs.
• Taylor Anderson recorded her third double-double of the season and first during Big Ten action. The freshman led the team with 11, coming one shy of her career-high (set vs. #19 Kentucky).
• Illinois spread out the attack, leading to six Boilermakers with at least five digs in the match.
• Kenna Wollard registered a career-high five digs, four of which came in Set 2.
• Chloe Chicoine closed the match with 11 kills and a team-high four service aces
• As a team, Purdue secured nine service aces, the most in a Big Ten match this season. 
• It was Purdue’s third sweep of the season and second during Big Ten play.
• The match clocked in at 1 hour and 17 minutes. It is the second time the Boilermakers have won.

FODOR PICKS UP RANKED WIN AT ALL-AMERICAS

Csilla Fodor wrapped up her action at the ITA All-America Championships in Cary, N.C., this week with a pair of impressive wins.

After falling in the opening round of the qualifying singles flight to Mae Canete from Missouri, Fodor rallied in the consolation bracket to post a pair of solid victories.

Fodor downed Pauline Ernstberger in straight sets. The fifth-year senior cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over the three-time All-Mountain West singles honoree to set up a meeting with No. 55 Anna Arkadianou from Florida State.

Fodor needed just a pair of frames to coast to a dominant win over one of the top singles players in the ACC, winning 7-5, 6-1 to close out her week.

The fifth-year senior closed her All-American Championship career with a 2-2 record.

The Boilermakers will be off until Oct. 19 when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the 2023 ITA Ohio Valley Regional.

MEN’S GOLF SLIPS TO EIGHTH AT FIGHTING IRISH CLASSIC

The No. 25-ranked Purdue men’s golf team could get nothing going in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic, finishing tied for eighth at 18-over par 858.

The Boilermakers totaled a 54-hole tally of 18-over par 858 (281-285-292) to tie Louisville in eighth place. No. 5-ranked Tennessee won the event at 10-under par (280-280-270), while Indiana, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Iowa State, Rutgers and Kent State closed out the top seven.

Purdue’s counting team played the first six holes in 4-under par, but played the final 12 holes in a combined 16-over par, including 13-over par on the back nine.

Kent Hsiao led the Boilermakers in the final round with a 1-over par 71, for a 54-hole total of 8-over par 218 (72-75-71).

Herman Sekne was Purdue’s top finisher, placing tied for 21^st at 2-over par 212 (69-67-76). Peyton Snoeberger was tied for 28^th at 4-over par 214 (70-71-73). Sam Easterbrook tied for 43^rd at 7-over par 217 (70-75-72), while Nels Surtani was tied for 57^th at 12-over par 222 (74-72-76).

Playing as an individual, Nick Dentino was tied for 61^st at 13-over par 223 (74-75-74).

Purdue closes out the fall season by hosting the Purdue Fall Invitational at the Ackerman-Allen Golf Course next Monday and Tuesday.

BIG TEN RELEASES 2024 WRESTLING SCHEDULE

The Big Ten Conference announced its 2024 wrestling dual schedule on Monday, revealing the dates for Purdue’s final eight matches of the upcoming season.

Today’s announcement put the final pieces of the puzzle into place for the 2023-24 schedule, as the Boilermakers will face Rutgers along with their traditional seven opponents comprising of the Big Ten West schools and rival Indiana.

“We are excited for the opportunities ahead of us,” said head coach Tony Ersland. “We work all offseason to face the best competition in the country in the Big Ten and we welcome the challenges that that brings us. We’re very pleased with how the schedule played out and can’t wait to get things going.”

Ersland’s team will come into the year with four individuals in the Intermat preseason rankings, led by 2023 NCAA Runner-Up and preseason No. 1 at 125 pounds Matt Ramos. The redshirt-junior is the first Boilermaker to sit atop a preseason list since Intermat debuted its rankings in 1998 and the first to be No. 1 since Chris Fleeger in March of 2003.

The Big Ten slate will be a gauntlet once again as the Boilermakers’ eight conference opponents have a combined 55 wrestlers in the preseason ranks, 23 of which are in the top-10. Five of the eight teams appeared in the initial Intermat team dual rankings.

The conference slate begins at home on Sunday, January 14 when Rutgers makes the trip to West Lafayette for the first time since 2019. The Boilermakers have won the last two matchups with the Scarlet Knights, most recently taking an 18-15 win in Piscataway, N.J., in January of 2021.

Purdue will then travel for three straight road contests. A weekend headed west starts with a Friday night dual on January 19 against Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and finishes in Lincoln on Sunday, January 21 in a match with Nebraska. In the Boilermakers last trip to Lincoln, they came away with an 18-15 upset over the No. 10 ranked Cornhuskers. It was the first top-10 dual win of Ersland’s head coaching career.

The final leg of the road trip will be a short drive down south to face intrastate rival Indiana. The Boilermakers have taken 12 of the last 13 against the Hoosiers and haven’t lost in Bloomington since 2009.

Purdue kicks off February with a home dual against Wisconsin on Sunday the 4^th. The following weekend is a home/away combo with the Boilermakers taking on Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Friday, February 9^th before returning home to face Minnesota in Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday the 11^th. Purdue battled for upset wins at four different weight classes to grab an 18-14 win over the Gophers on senior night the last time the two programs took the mat in West Lafayette.

The final dual of the season comes at home on Friday, February 16 against Illinois. It was a decisive 25-13 victory for the Boilermakers over the Fighting Illini in their most recent matchup in Holloway.

Purdue’s schedule will give them a two week break before heading to College Park, Md., for the Big Ten Championships March 9-10. It will be the first time Maryland has hosted the event since joining the conference in 2014. The NCAA Championships return to Kansas City, Mo., for the first time since 2003 where Purdue took 14^th, the program’s best finish in the last 30 years.