FanPost

Volleyball Recap -- Weeks of 11-4 and 11-11-19


Well, I thought my first attempt at a volleyball analysis went reasonably well, so here we go again. Overall Purdue’s season has been pretty "status quo". For the most part, they’ve won when they’ve been expected to win and vice versa. During the past couple of weeks, Purdue fell short of an opportunity to impress the committee, but they took care of business against opponents lower in the standings.

11/8/2019: FINAL--#15 Purdue 3, Rutgers 0

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Rutgers

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Purdue’s win streak over Rutgers reaches eleven as the Boilermakers swept past the Scarlet Knights. The ladies asserted control early with two dominating sets and never looked back. The team defense was solid that night with fifty-five digs and ten blocks, and Rutgers helped out with twenty-one attack errors. Nobody really had an awe-inspiring night, but Grace Cleveland had a versatile night with ten kills, four service aces, one solo and four assisted blocks, and a couple of digs for good measure. Offensively, Caitlin Newton led the way with eleven kills, while Jena Otec and Marissa Hornung picked up eighteen and fourteen digs respectively and Shavona Cuttino had six assisted blocks defensively.

11/9/2019: FINAL--#8 Penn State 3, #15 Purdue 1

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#8 Penn State

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Purdue upset the Nittany Lions last year on the road for their first win in State College since 1982, but they couldn’t go back to back. The Boilermakers hit under .200, let their opponent hit over .300, and were outdone in aces and blocks, none of which is conducive to a win anywhere, let alone on the road against a top ten team. Also, Penn State had a habit of gaining a lead early, and Purdue often struggled to play from behind. Individual leaders included Blake Mohler with thirteen kills and four assisted blocks, Hayley Bush with thirty-seven assists, and Marissa Hornung with a strong twenty-seven digs.

11/15/2019: FINAL--#16 Purdue 3, Ohio State 1

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Only a week removed from stunning Big Ten-leading Wisconsin for their first conference loss of the season, the Buckeyes entered West Lafayette looking for another upset as they push for an NCAA berth. After coming just short in a grueling first set, the Boilermakers pulled away in the middle of the second set and took care of business from there. Grace Cleveland was all over the stat sheet in this one, with seventeen kills, three aces, six assisted blocks, and three digs. As well, Blake Mohler added nineteen kills with a .607 hitting percentage and four blocks, one of which was alone, and Hayley Bush added the double-double of fifty-two assists and fourteen digs.

11/16/2019: FINAL--#16 Purdue 3, Maryland 0

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Purdue continued their final homestand of the season by smothering Maryland in the confines of Holloway Gymnasium to guarantee they can do no worse than .500 in league play. If they win at least one of their last four matches, they can notch their third straight winning season in Big Ten play and ninth in the last ten seasons. Purdue utterly dominated the visitors in this match, winning in every statistic except blocks. Caitlyn Newton was the kill leader with fifteen, but the Boilermakers spread out the kills in this one, as Grace Cleveland, Blake Mohler, and Maddy Chinn all had at least six. Even Jael Johnson got in on the fun with four kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Other notable stats include Jena Otec’s four service aces and Marissa Hornung’s nineteen digs.

THE ROAD AHEAD

There are two weeks left in the Big Ten season, then it’s just a matter of waiting for NCAA bids to be distributed. As it stands right now, Purdue is ranked #17 in the coaches poll and tied at #21 with Western Kentucky in the RPI, so they are just outside of the threshold to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. They have two wins over top-10 RPI opponents, and their worst loss is probably Illinois at home, which is hardly a killer. I’d guess most of the issue is with the strength of schedule. As of this point, the big matches coming up are a home-and-home against #23 Michigan. Rutgers at home is as close to a given win as you can get in Big Ten play, and Michigan State, while potentially tricky on the road, should still be winnable. However, the Boilermakers haven’t beaten the Wolverines in volleyball since 2016, so this could be easier said than done. For Purdue to play their first two NCAA matches in Holloway, they need to win out and maybe hope that teams like Nebraska and Louisville keep playing well so that those wins look better. Hopefully there is enough gas left in the tank to finish on a strong note.

Ranked Big Ten teams: #5 Wisconsin, #6 Nebraska, #7 Minnesota, #8 Penn State, #17 Purdue, #23 Michigan, #25 Illinois

Ranked Nonconference opponents: #14 Kentucky

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