Purdue Sports Update: Sept. 19

Men’s Hoops conference schedule finally announced

The most complicated Big Ten basketball schedule ever assembled is complete, as the full slate of conference games incorporating USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon was released by the conference Thursday.

Purdue, vying for its third Big Ten regular season title in as many years, will make its first league-season trip west in mid-January, for a double-header against Washington and Oregon Jan. 15 and 18, respectively. USC and UCLA will visit Mackey Arena in February.

Other notables from the Big Ten schedule …

• As was already known, Purdue’s three — yes, only three now — double-play opponents are Indiana (as always), Michigan and Rutgers.

Its single-play home opponents are Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin. Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon, Penn State and Washington are the Boilermakers’ road-only Big Ten games.

• Indiana games: Jan. 31 in Mackey Arena, then Feb. 23 in Bloomington. For no apparent reason, the game at IU has more often come first in recent years.

• Purdue’s December games: Dec. 5 at Penn State and Dec. 8 vs. Maryland, a week before Purdue plays Texas A&M in Indy then Auburn in Birmingham a few days later.

• The final five games of what Purdue will hope is a championship run include trips to Indiana, Michigan State and Illinois. Tough draw down the stretch.

The full Big Ten schedule …

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
Dec. 5	Penn State	Away
Dec. 8	Maryland	Home
Jan. 2	Minnesota	Away
Jan. 5	Northwestern	Home
Jan. 9	Rutgers	Away
Jan. 12	Nebraska	Home
Jan. 15	Washington	Away
Jan. 18	Oregon	Away
Jan. 21	Ohio State	Home
Jan. 24	Michigan	Home
Jan. 31	Indiana	Home
Feb. 4	Iowa	Away
Feb. 7	USC	Home
Feb. 11	Michigan	Away
Feb. 15	Wisconsin	Home
Feb. 18	Michigan State	Away
Feb. 23	Indiana	Away
Feb. 28	UCLA	Home
March 4	Rutgers	Home
March 7	Illinois	Away

Soccer Hosts SoCal Squads for First Home Weekend of Big Ten Play

Soccer kicks off the home portion of its Big Ten Conference schedule with games against the Southern California contingent of the league’s new West Coast members, hosting No. 25 USC and UCLA at Folk Field for weekend No. 2 of the conference season.

Thursday’s 8 p.m. ET game vs. USC will be televised live by the Big Ten Network and feature a special $2 beers promotion. Fans are invited to bring their dogs to Folk Field for Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET game vs. UCLA. Pups at the Pitch is a featured promotion for every Sunday home game.

The Boilermakers, Bruins and Trojans all opened Big Ten play with road wins last week. Purdue won at Northwestern 2-0 to end a five-game winless drought (0-3-2) in Evanston that dated back to 2016. Lauren Omholt (7th minute) scored early and Kayla Budish scored late (86th minute) as the Boilers opened Big Ten play with a shutout win for the first time since 2017. Goalkeeper Emily Edwards has made 10 saves while conceding just one goal over the last two games and is a big reason why Purdue has posted four shutouts in its first eight games for the first time since 2019 (five) and 10th time in program history.

Under first-year head coach Richard Moodie, the Boilermakers’ 5-2-1 mark represents their best eight-game start since the 2021 NCAA Tournament team opened 5-1-2. The program had gone just 6-24-5 since the start of the 2022 campaign. Purdue already has had seven different goal scorers this season.

In their first-ever Big Ten games, the league’s new SoCal squads bested their Pacific Northwest counterparts – USC winning 1-0 at Washington and UCLA rallying with two goals in the final 11 minutes for a 2-1 victory at Oregon. Both the Bruins (2013, 2022) and Trojans (2007, 2016) have won national titles in the last decade and a pair of national championships this century.

Purdue is actually set to play USC for the third year in a row and fifth time since 2010, splitting a non-conference home-and-home series the last two years. The Boilermakers opened the 2022 campaign with a memorable win vs. a nationally ranked USC team. With the Big Ten Network also televising the game, Purdue set an attendance record at Folk Field (3,296, later eclipsed in the 2023 season opener) on a night in which Gracie Dunaway scored twice. The senior now has 13 career goals, including the game-winner in the season opener this year.

UCLA joins Washington State, UIC and Alabama as the first-time opponents on the Boilermakers’ schedule this season. The Bruins were picked as the Big Ten favorite in the league’s preseason coaches poll. They play at Indiana on Thursday.

USC has yet to play a home game and is holding its Big Ten home dates at Dignity Health Sports Park – the home of the LA Galaxy – while construction of the new Rawlinson Stadium (soccer and lacrosse) on campus is ongoing this fall.

The first RPI rankings of the season were released this week and the Big Ten is well represented with 11 of the top 52 teams. Purdue checks in at No. 52. USC is No. 8 and tied for first nationally with its five true road wins. UCLA is No. 26 in the initial RPI.

Top-10 Showdown in Kansas

Coming off a victory vs. then-No. 10 Kentucky, the No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers will continue its stretch of top-10 matchups at the Jayhawk Classic this weekend.

The Boilermakers will face No. 10 Kansas on Saturday, before turning around and playing No. 9 Creighton less than 24 hours later. Then, Purdue will close out the tournament against Tulsa, another team with a top-25 win on its resume, on Saturday. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and available for listening on WSHY 104.3 FM or online HERE.

PURDUE: QUICK HITS

• Purdue is No. 2 in the nation in blocks per set (3.52) and No. 10 in hitting % (.296).
• Purdue has dropped just three of the last 27 sets. Purdue, Penn State and Syracuse are the only three teams in DI to have lost just three sets this year.
• The Boilermakers are one of 16 teams to remain undefeated in Division I.
• The Boilermakers adjustments during a match has led to improved play, seen in increased hitting % and/or blocks from first to second sets.
• Kenna Wollard’s .313 hitting %. The sophomore has hit .300 or above in all but one match.
• Raven Colvin leads the nation in blocks and is averaging a .455 hitting %. The senior has hit .700 twice already and recorded 16 kills vs. Cal (9/5) and two 10-block matches.
• Freshman DS Ryan McAleer is a regular in the back row and has recorded a perfect reception % in six of eight matches.
• Eva Hudson is averaging 4.37 kills per set and 4.93 points per set this season.
• Chloe Chicoine owns a team-leading four double-doubles this season.

SCOUTING #10 KANSAS

• The #10 Jayhawks come into this match 7-0, with one game played against a ranked opponent: a 3-1 win vs #24 Marquette.   
• Kansas recently moved up to #10 in the AVCA rankings after being placed at #11 the week prior. 
• Freshman middle blocker Zoey Burgess led the way in the win over Marquette, with eight kills on 11 attempts in her first career-start. Burgess was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week after her Week One performance. 
• The Jayhawks are led by the Senior trio of setter Camryn Turner, outside hitter Ayah Elnady, and opposite London Davis who were all recognized on the All-Big 12 Preseason Team. 
• Kansas is coached by five-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, Ray Bechard in his 27th season with the program. 

SCOUTING #9 CREIGHTON

• After three weeks of play, #9 Creighton has a record of 7-2 with a notable win over #20 USC, and two tough five-set losses against #5 Nebraska and #4 Louisville. 
• The Bluejays spot in the AVCA rankings began at #12 but has since moved up to #9. 
• Libero Maddy Bilinovic was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week after recording 69 digs across the four-match week. 
• In addition to her transition defense, Bilinovic was successful in serve receive, only allowing one ace on 65 receptions. 
• Earlier in the season, Seniors Norah Sis and Kendra Wait earned their own Big East recognitions, with Sis being named Big East Offensive Player of the Week and Wait as the Big East Setter of the Week. 
• The Bluejays are coached by three-time National Coach of the Year, Kirsten Bernthal Booth in her 22nd season as Head Coach. 

SCOUTING TULSA

• Tulsa has started the season 8-2 with a highlighted win over #22 Arkansas in a five-set thriller. They will face #10 Kansas the evening prior to the Saturday match against Purdue. 
• The win against Arkansas was just the program’s second win over a nationally ranked opponent. 
• Junior setter Brayden Hipp was honored as the American Athletic Conference Setter of the Week, announced by the league on Monday.  
• Hipp averaged 5.50 assists and 2.86 digs per set in the three-match week at the Tulsa Volleyball Invitational. 
• Most of Hipp’s assists are put away by middle blocker Rachel Brown and outside hitter Tatum Tornatta, both tallying 81 kills on the season. 
• The Hurricanes are coached by Lauren Ramatowski in her second year leading the team. She was previously an assistant coach at Kansas State and Arkansas. 

Purdue Men Add Nov. 8 Dual at Louisville to Schedule

Men’s Swimming & Diving has added another dual meet to its schedule, making plans to cross the Ohio River as part of a Friday, Nov. 8 road trip to the University of Louisville.

The Boilermakers will visit the Ralph Wright Natatorium for their second dual meet of the season. The men’s dual is slated to begin at 3 p.m. ET. The Purdue women compete at Rutgers that same day.

Purdue head coach Alex Jerden worked to add an additional opponent for his team after learning that the Jan. 10 triple dual at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center was impacted by Notre Dame suspending its men’s swimming program for the 2024-25 season. Purdue’s first home meet of the spring semester is still a go and continues to feature co-ed representation from Kentucky as well as the Boilermakers. The Notre Dame women and ND’s men’s divers are also slated to compete that day.

The Friday, Jan. 10 meet has been moved up to an 11 a.m. ET start after originally being announced for noon.

Louisville has been a regular attendee at November’s three-day Purdue Invitational over the last 15 years, with the U of L men winning the midseason showcase in 2009, 2012 and 2019. And the city of Louisville has been a fairly regular destination for the Boilermakers in June for the annual Ohio Valley Championships, held outdoors at the Lakeside Swim Club. But Purdue has not made any trips to the Ralph Wright Natatorium. However, Louisville did host the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships this past March, so the Boilermaker Divers do have experience at the facility.

Purdue Swimming & Diving opens its season Friday, Oct. 4 with co-ed representation at the University of Michigan’s Be Better Invitational in Holland, Mich. The home opener is the following Saturday (Oct. 12) as teams from around the state visit the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic for the annual Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate. The Boilermakers are hosting the Purdue Invitational for the fourth straight season – the weekend of Nov. 21-23 this year.

Colvin Selected Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week

Senior Raven Colvin of the volleyball squad was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following the team’s 3-0 win vs. Houston and 3-1 victory vs. No. 10 Kentucky in Dallas, Texas over the weekend.

With the honor, a Boilermaker has been recognized in all three weeks of the conference honors. Purdue is the only program to be represented in every weekly award this season.

The middle blocker recorded 11 blocks over the two wins and helped to hold opponents to a .152 average hitting %. Meanwhile, Colvin hit a .571 clip in each of Purdue’s matches with just one attack error in each of the team’s wins. She closed out the weekend averaging 3.36 points per set.

Colvin leads the nation in blocks per set this season (2.04) in addition to ranking No. 17 in hitting % (.455%). Following her efforts over the weekend, she was also named to the SMU Doubletree All-Tournament Team, which also featured teammates Chloe Chicoine and Eva Hudson (MVP).

It is Colvin’s eighth career weekly award nod, including her fifth Defensive Player of the Week.

Meanwhile, the American Volleyball Coaches Poll was released for Week 3, slotting Purdue at No. 6 in the nation, up one spot from last week.

The Boilermakers close out the non-conference slate this weekend in Lawrence, Kansas for multiple top-10 showdowns at the Jayhawk Classic. First, No. 6 Purdue will take on host No. 10 Kansas on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Less than 24 hours later, Purdue will turnaround and play No. 9 Creighton on Friday at 5 p.m. ET. The tournament will conclude on Saturday vs. Tulsa at 1:30 p.m. ET.