Earlier today, Purdue Volleyball had its annual Gold and Black Scrimmage before it began its final preparation for its season opener against #21 Northern Iowa. I was not able to make it to the game, but based off the pictures, there was a decent crowd to see a preview of the #9 Boilermakers. The black squad won 4 of the 5 sets as all 17 players saw action today with the coaches shuffling players between teams just to see which line up worked best. What was great to see was pictures of Carly Cramer seeing some action today, which shows that she has definitely improved from last season where she missed almost the entire season. If you happened to be at the scrimmage, please leave a comment below and let us know how you personally thought it went.

The advantage of these scrimmages is that it gives fans a chance to see and interact with the new freshmen coming to Purdue this fall, like Kate Workman out of Valparaiso.

Kate Workman (Freshman)
Valparaiso, IN (Valparaiso)
Defensive Specialist
5'6"
2012 Projection: Back-up/Possible early action

Not being able to go to the scrimmage today really frustrated me due to the fact that I would have been able to see how these new freshmen are playing and then I can write these previews better. But alas, I must just use the simple resources I have from my interview with Coach Shondell and PurdueSports.com (nothing against either one, but seeing action in person is always the best).

Kate comes from Valparaiso High School where she earned an honorable mention AVCA/Under Armour All-America selection her senior year. During that senior year, she earned 743 digs with 53 aces, helping her earn first team all-conference and team MVP honors, as she helped Valpo win the conference and sectional titles. However, her talent did not just spring forth her senior year; as a junior she posted 531 digs with 77 aces, setting game and season records for digs (which I assume was broken based off her senior stats). This earned her 1st Team All Conference as well as her second Team MVP, as she also earned the honor her freshman year (for those who are counting, that's 3 team MVPs). Basically, Kate was the anchor for Valpo during her time there, earning her the captain position 2 seasons and those 3 MVP awards.

Coach Shondell said in my interview with him that Kate is "quick and feisty, and brings a lot of emotion to the floor." Basically, the way I interpret this is that Kate could possibly be the next Carly Cramer (minus the injuries, *knock on wood*), as Carly also brings that emotion to the floor (See "Carly Face") and seems to not just get the dig, but some how make it a great dig. I'm sure we will see Kate at some point during the season with Carly Cramer still working her way up from injury (though I'm sure she is closer to 100%), but the DS position is something Purdue will have to fill in with more than Cramer, Gosewisch and Miller, so expect to see freshman, like Kate, sub in for the veterans and bring their talent up to the college level.