Purdue Volleyball To The Sweet 16 And Beyond!

The fall sports season for Purdue was not the epic disaster that the football team made it out to be. One need only look across the street to the IAF and the women's volleyball team for success. These ladies had a successful 21-10 regular season in the brutal Big Ten Conference. How brutal is it? Six of the 11 current members made the sweet 16 this season, with Nebraska also making it as a seventh going into next season. Five of these seven teams were also a top 16 national seed, with Indiana and Ohio State being the exceptions.

Purdue advanced to the Sweet 16 with victories over Kentucky and Louisville by a 3-1 count each time. Their reward is a trip to Austin, Texas this weekend and a date with #1 Seed Florida. The Gators are 29-1, but staved off three match points last week against Florida State to make it to the Sweet 16.

Florida's lone loss came at the hands of 3-time defending National champ Penn State, whom Purdue defeated on October 8^th. That means Purdue definitely has a chance to advance to its first Elite 8 since 1982. Should they advance they will face either Texas or Illinois. The Boilers split the season with the Fighting Illini, winning the final match of the regular season.

It will be a tough journey for Purdue. Sophomore Anna Drewry, one of the main players on the roster, will miss the rest of the season with, you guessed it, a torn ACL. Katie Griffin will replace her as a middle hitter, and she had a successful match in the second round against Louisville.

Florida's solid preview and stats can already be found here. This will be a difficult match for the Boilers, but not impossible. Florida has been to the Sweet 16 in 19 of the last 20 years. They are 3-2 against Purdue all-time, with the last match coming in 1995.

The interactive bracket, including live scoring, can be found here.