There is still hope in West Lafayette

We are all complaining about the game Rice today, I am too. Heck we had to listen to the Rice radio announcers since we couldn’t find any stream of the game online (though they did have some classic lines). And I know many of us are looking to IU and ND losing as our bright spot for the day. I say enough of that! As much as I love to see IU, ND and O$U lose, we don’t need to get our main source of joy this fall from their losses. We just have to look across John R. Wooden Drive to the IAF and our Boilermaker Volleyball team. Our Lady Boilers completed the weekend sweep of Jacksonville State, Western Carolina, and Ball State in the Active Ankle Challenge (the Active Knee Challenge had to be cancelled, and that’s my horrible joke of the day, thank you very much). And our Boilers showed why they are the #13 team in the nation with their 9-0 record.

Vs. Jacksonville State: W 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-16)

In all honesty, this felt like a mundane 3-0 win. For most of the game, Purdue had control and a win seemed to easily attainable. However, 2 things stood out at this game. 1) Ariel Turner was wearing #35 instead of #8. She wore normal her number the next day, but why she was wearing #35 is still a mystery*. If anyone knows, please feel free to leave a comment below or email me. I’ll update it on here when I find out. 2) Blair Bashen started the game as the libero, carrying over from the last 2 sets against Denver. However, Coach Shondell had Carly Cramer return as libero after halftime in the 3rd set as Bashen was having troubles controlling her digs at times, costing Purdue precious points and potential kills. Other than that, it was a typical 3-0 sweep for Purdue. Turner continued her domination from the Denver Invitational (and basically her whole career) with 15 kills, while Tiffany Fisher had 8 and Catherine Rebarchak had 7.

*Rumor now is that she had blood on her jersey before the match and had to wear #35

Vs. Western Carolina: W 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-16)

My friend asked before the match if Western Carolina was any good. I told them no (even though I didn’t do any scouting reports) as we were playing them at a 10am match and they were a relatively short team. To make my points correct, Coach Shondell treated this more as an exhibition playing mostly our younger players and bench players (also to rest up our main starters for the big game against Ball State that night). Turner and T. Fisher didn’t even play in the morning game, but instead we got to see a showcase of what to expect from Purdue Volleyball in future years, giving our freshmen and sophomores valuable playing time. What was great was to see Anna Drewry not only play, but also start in the morning match. For those who are still new to Purdue Volleyball, Drewry was one of our main starters as an outsider hitter last year until she tore her ACL against Louisville in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. She played in the last 2 games in the Denver Invitational, making great contributions. She continued her performance this morning with 6 kills out of 17 total attacks with only 1 error. I would not say she has completely healed as she has not returned to the typical starting rotation, but she certainly has made progress that the team and fans have been impressed with. Outside of Drewry, we saw great contributions from Rebarchak with 11 kills and freshman Valerie Nichol with 15 kills. Even though we graduate 3 talented seniors at the end of the season (Ehlers, Bashen, and T. Fisher), Shondell has built a great team that is destined for many more wins this year and in the future.

Vs. Ball State: W 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-9)

This was the battle of the Shondells, as Dave Shondell’s brother, Steve, is the head coach of the Ball State squad. This was the first time the two have faced each other in a collegiate match-up, and in did create a buzz as we set a new IAF record with over 2800 in attendance tonight (2830 to be exact from what I have heard). I said last week that this weekend would be the same as last weekend’s Denver Invitational, 2 sweeps and a tough 3rd game that we would still win, but not without a fight. I predicted that Purdue would win 3-1 as BSU had a good squad and would bring their A-game to the match. So I wasn’t surprised when BSU won the first set and played tough in the next 2 matches. Purdue seemed a bit flustered at first, but they regrouped and took control. They even showed their true talent, winning the 4th and final match 25-9. I know that’s the first time we have held a team below single digits in a set this year, but I honestly can’t remember if we even did that last year (if we did, please do tell). Turner continued her domination with 16 kills, along with 10 for Rebarchak and 9 for Katie Griffin. I have considered Rachel Davis to be a Hart 2.0 (kind of like with basketball last year with E’twaun and Terone). She really has shown what she has learned from Hart last year and has easily transitioned in the setter position, and has even has gotten the surprise setter attack down pat. Her amazing performance earned her the MVP title for the Active Ankle Challenge; and to think she is only a redshirt sophomore.

Purdue finishes its non-conference schedule next week in Champaign for the Big Ten/Big East Challenge against Louisville and Cincinnati. Louisville will be looking for revenge after pestering us last year in the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney but falling short of a victory. Cincinnati started the season 0-3, but has since bounced back to win its last 7 (they actually play tonight in the Rainbow Classic against Hawai’i, but that doesn’t begin until 7pm Hawai’i time). I am expecting a difficult time against these 2 teams and putting us on upset alert against Louisville, but I think we can pull off the wins. I don’t think it will be the typical 3-0 sweeps, but we should win these games in 4-5 sets.

I really enjoy Purdue Volleyball, and I appreciate it even more with the downward performance of our football team. I hope you also can come to some of the Purdue Volleyball games this season and enjoy not only the Block Party Student Section, but also our very talented squad. I know many of you can only make it to Purdue for football games this fall, but the volleyball team does play at home twice this season the same day of a football game. On October 22nd when we host Illinois for Homecoming at Ross-Ade, Purdue Volleyball will host a very talented Minnesota squad, a team Purdue has not beaten in awhile, so we I know our Lady Boilers will be looking for that win. Then the day Purdue plays Ohio State, Volleyball will host its last home game for the season and face newcomer and talented Nebraska for Senior Night. The Boiler Box has been considered one of the toughest places to play in Big Ten Volleyball, and it’s the amazing Purdue students and fans that make it tough. I encourage everyone to come out to these 2 games, along with making the trip to Purdue to see the other exciting Big Ten matchups. Tickets are very inexpensive and usually you can walk up to the ticket office and buy one before the match (but I do suggest pre-ordering them). The Big Ten is very talented this year in volleyball, and the Volleyball team needs all the support it can get this season to win the Big Ten this year and make it to the Final Four. The question is will you come out to support our Lady Boilers?

LET’S-GO-PUR-DUE-VOLLEYBALL! **SMACK**