Purdue Sports Update Oct. 7

Shondell becomes Volleyball’s all-time winningest coach

After dropping Set 1, the No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) stormed back for the 3-1 victory at Northwestern (3-8, 1-2 Big Ten) behind 23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 29-27 set scores.

After an errorless performance at Minnesota, where she posted seven kills on 15 swings for a .467 clip, right side Kenna Wollard picked up where she left off to lead the team to victory at Northwestern. In her second straight match hitting above .400, the sophomore ended the day with a team-leading 18 kills on a .438 clip. Not only was it a career-high in kills, it was the first time she has led the team. Finding her groove in Big Ten play, the Boilermaker went seven consecutive sets without an attack error, which came to a close in Set 3 of the night.

The Boilermakers snagged Set 4 despite the Wildcats’ efforts to push the match to five, including having set point at 26-27. Wollard took set point away on her 18th kill before Purdue forced a pair of attack errors to seal the victory. Eva Hudson and Wollard each recorded six kills in the final set.

Setter Taylor Anderson and Hudson each produced double-doubles in the outing. Anderson totaled 47 assists, 13 digs, one block solo and an ace while Hudson totaled 13 kills, a season-high tying three aces alongside 16 digs. She was one dig shy of tying her career-high.

Middle blocker Raven Colvin totaled 14 kills on a .458%, committing just three attack errors in 24 swings in addition to adding three blocks (1-2).

With No. 10 Purdue’s 3-0 victory over Michigan State (20-19, 25-22, 25-18), head coach Dave Shondell became the winningest head coach in program history, earning his 470th win at Purdue.

The torch was passed from AVCA Hall of Famer Carol Dewey, who led the Boilermakers from 1975-94, totaling 469 wins during her tenure, a .647 winning %, four Big Ten championships, six 30-win seasons and more.

Shondell is one of two active head coaches in the Big Ten (joined by Nebraska’s John Cook) and one of seven in all of Power 4 to boast as many wins. Shondell’s legacy already includes the highest rankings in program history, 23 All-Americans, four NCAA Regional Final berths, including a perfect record in the first round, all the while playing a large role in the growth of the program from helping in the formation of the original Purdue volleyball student section during his first years to back-to-back season sellouts in 2023 and 2024. His overall record at Purdue currently stands at 470-229 (.672%).

Purdue’s disciplined defense highlighted the match, which included 71 digs, the most by Purdue in a three-setter during the current 25-point rally scoring era, which began in 2008. In fact, it was most in a three-set match since 2005 (71 vs. College of Charleston, 12/3/05). The previous 2024 season-high was 57 digs in a three-setter.

Purdue hits the road next week for a pair of matches. On Friday, the No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers will take on the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers at 8:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network. Then less than 24 hours later, Purdue will clash with Iowa at 7 p.m.  ET on B1G+.

Fraley Scores, Edwards Stops PK but Illini Rally Past Purdue

Lexi Fraley scored the 20th goal of her collegiate career and goalkeeper Emily Edwards made a clutch save on a penalty kick, but Illinois scored twice in the final 34 minutes to rally past Purdue Soccer 2-1 Sunday at Folk Field.

The Fighting Illini (6-5-2, 2-3-1 Big Ten) scored in the 57th and 83rd minutes to become the first team to overcome a halftime deficit against the Boilermakers (6-6-1, 2-4-0 Big Ten) this season. Purdue had been 6-0-1 when scoring first and 5-0-1 when leading at halftime.

Fraley scored from the heart of the 18-yard box against a goalkeeper on her heels, burying her first goal as a Boilermaker in the 39th minute. It was set up by a beautiful lead pass from Abigail Roy played from the west sideline at the midfield stripe.

Fraley scored 19 goals in her three seasons at Ball State, including 10 in 2023. Sunday, she became the eighth Boilermaker to find the back of the net this season. The goal ended Purdue’s scoring drought at home at 333 consecutive minutes dating back to the second half of the Sept. 1 win vs. Dayton.

The Boilermakers are back in action Thursday for the annual Golden Boot rivalry game with Indiana. Kickoff in Bloomington is slated for 7 p.m. ET.

Boilermakers Win 6 Races at Season-Opening Meet

Six event victories and a pair of 1-2 finishes highlighted the season debut for the Purdue Swimmers as they raced against Michigan, Hope College and Calvin University at the third annual Be Better Invitational at the Holland Aquatic Center. 

The meet was officially contested as a non-scoring exhibition while featuring unique events like mixed-gender relays, an underwater 50 freestyle with fins, a 25-yard shootout eliminator and the 500 freestyle contested with five consecutive 100-yard legs in which swimmers started fresh on each 100. The invitational is held as a fundraiser for the Be Better Foundation, which has a mission of improving mental health awareness.

PURDUE’S EVENT WINNERS  • Brady Samuels – 100 Fly  • Masy Folcik – 100 Breast  • Abby Marcukaitis – 100 Back  • Patrick Broderick – 5 x 100 Free  • Caitlin Hurley – 5 x 100 Free  • Ana Rojas – 50 Free Underwater with Fins

PURDUE HAD 3 OF TOP 5 FINISHERS  • 50 Free Underwater (W) – Rojas, Hardy, Kask  • 200 Free (W) – Sands, Hurley, Mattice  • 100 Breast (W) – Folcik, Phillips, Erlandson  • 100 Breast (M) – Whittaker, Lee, Bartmess  • 200 Medley Relay (M)

Caitlin Hurley and Reagan Mattice teamed up for a 1-2 finish in the 5 x 100 free, taking four of the five legs of the race. Hurley won the first three and Mattice finished top two in all five, including winning the final leg with an event-best 100 split of 54.37.

Ana Rojas and Brinly Hardy finished 1-2 in the 50 free underwater with fins. It was also among the five events in which the Boilermakers had three of the top five finishers.

Along with winning the 100 butterfly as the first individual event of the day, Brady Samuels was a finalist and the runner-up in the 25 shootout, winning legs two and three of the event (which featured a variety of strokes). He also took third in the 100 individual medley.

Just as Hurley and Mattice did for the women, Patrick Broderick and Matheo Mateos both won legs in the men’s 5 x 100 free. Broderick was victorious in the fourth leg and finished no worse than second in any of the five, emerging as the co-winner of the event with a cumulative time of 4:05.41. Mateos won the final heat in 48.99 as the only swimmer in the event to break 49 seconds on a 100 leg.

Freshman Kaia Podlin won all five of her legs in heat 1 of the 25 shootout. Her classmates Adele Sands (200 free), Will Jost (50 free) and Blake Rowe (100 back) posted runner-up finishes in traditional events in their collegiate debuts.

Keira Kask finished top five in three different individual events – 100 fly, 100 IM and 50 free underwater with fins. Hannah Hill (50 free) and Raymond Whittaker (100 breast) also accounted for runner-up showings in traditional individual events.

The Boilermakers open their home schedule Saturday, Oct. 12 by hosting the annual Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate. The in-state showcase is set for its traditional noon start time.

Purdue Competes at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational

The Purdue cross country team continued its season on Friday morning at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, taking on some of the highest-ranked program nationally and regionally.

The Boilermakers finished 10th on the men’s side, led by junior Nathan Walker. Purdue’s women placed 21st with a top performance from graduate student Payne Turney.

MEN’S 8,000m Blue Division – 10th, 270 points
The Purdue men sent three racers across the line in the top 53 scoring spots to leave the meet against highly ranked opposition with a 10th-place finish with 270 points.

The Boilermakers squared off with No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 29 Cal Baptist, No. 30 Michigan State, RV Texas Tech, in addition to No. 5 (DII) Grand Valley State and No. 6 (DII) Adams State.

Nathan Walker was Purdue’s top racer for the third time this season was Nathan Walker, who came across in 22nd place in a time of 23:09.4, a personal best by 39 seconds.

Douglas Buckeridge finished in 37th with a personal-best time of 23:23.6, good by 20 seconds on his previous top mark. Caleb Williams knocked 26 seconds of his personal best to finish in 54th (53 pts) with a clip of 23:37.0.

Kiefer Bell tallied a 72nd-place finish (70 pts) while Nerius White dropped 23 seconds from his personal best to close out the scoring in 93rd place (88 pts).

Two more Boilermakers posted career times. Geno Christofanelli recorded a personal best by 20 seconds, while Brady Yoder dropped his personal mark by 14 seconds.

WOMEN’S 5,000m Blue Division – 21st, 481 points
For the third consecutive race, Payne Turney paced the Boilermakers. The graduate student placed 63rd in the race and 59th in the scoring with a time of 17:08.6, shaving five seconds off her career best 5,000m time. Turney climbed 55 spots after the mile and 20 over the final 2,000m.

The Boilermaker women finished in 21st place in the large meet, squaring off with five teams in the USTFCCCA Division I rankings – No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 5 BYU, No. 25 Michigan State, RV Boise State, as well as No. 1 (DII) Adams State and No. 2 (DII) Grand Valley State.

Caroline Jordan was the second Boilermaker finishing in 82nd (76 pts) in a time of 17:20.9. Emma Squires (118th, 110 pts, 17:44.8), Sarah Maggio (121st, 113 pts, 17:46.0) and Paige Hazelrigg (133rd, 123 pts, 17:52.5) rounded out the scoring for the Boilermakers.

In addition to Turney’s career top mark, five Boilermakers posted personal bests. Maggio posted her career-best time, knocking off 41 seconds from her previous time. Hazelrigg dropped 13 seconds from her previous best time. Meredith Bloss bested her PR by 36 seconds. Ally Wigand saw her career best time drop by 35 seconds, and Lauren Pegher topped her career best by 19 seconds.

Wilson Sisters Win in Singles at Hoosier Classic

The women’s tennis team opened the Hoosier Classic with a pair of singles and doubles victories.

The Boilermakers swept both doubles contests.

Sister duo Ashlie Wilson and Kathryn Wilson cruised to a 6-2 win over Rebecca Frant and Clemence Thouard from Memphis. Rookie pairing Sophie Schwartz and Ellie Morrow knocked off Maria Dzemeshkevich and Reagan Welch from Northern Illinois 7-5.

In singles, Morrow and Calissa Dellabarca rallied from a set down to win their opening matches. Morrow defeated Magda Swierczynska from Indiana 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, while Dellabarca bested Elena Malykh from Ball State, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Purdue saw its sister duo pick up singles wins on Saturday at the Hoosier Classic.

Ashlie Wilson knocked off Kseniia Saenko from EMU over three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, while her freshman sister Kathryn Wilson defeated Daniela Shved 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

The Boilermakers close out the Hoosier Classic.