Purdue Volleyball: Boilers sweep the weekend defeating Minnesota and Michigan State

We had a busy slate this weekend with all the Purdue sports going on and that included two matchups for the Purdue volleyball team. Friday started off against a gritty Minnesota team on the road; the match was at the same time the men’s basketball team was playing so I had my TV and IPad set up giving half attention to each.

Purdue lost the first set 17-25 but bounced back and won the next three 25-22, 25-18, and 25-17 completing the series sweep over the Gophers. Minnesota who is usually a national powerhouse has been having a down year marking the first time Coach Shondell has ever completed a series sweep over them.

Ali Hornung and Maddie Schermerhorn were a defensive force all night reading between the blocks and racked up 41 digs between the two. Raven Colvin who has had some inconsistency with setter Taylor Anderson this season had a season-high 14 kills and a .591 hitting percentage. It’s unclear if Anderson is still getting acclimated to setting in the Big Ten or if she misreads just how high Colvin can jump but it’s good to see these two finally finding their niche at the net.

Hudson posted another double-double and led the team with 17 kills and 14 digs.

Sunday afternoon the Boilers returned home to take on Michigan State. Purdue secured their 17th victory on the season after beating the Spartans in 4 sets; 23-25, 30-28, 25-23, and 25-18.

Purdue relies on their defense and Sunday was no different when they posted a season-high-tying 16 blocks.

It was all Michigan State the first set as they had an 8-0 run near the end to put Purdue down early. Purdue came from behind in set 2 before going on a 9-1 run including 5 Hudson kills to take the lead. The Boilers blocked MSU’s front row three times in a row with help from Lourdes Myer’s career night 9 blocks to win the set.

Transfer Lorrin Poulter saw time setting this match getting 34 assists, 8 digs and 2 blocks. Freshman Chicoine had a standout afternoon racking up 18 kills, 9 digs, 4 aces and 3 blocks.

Purdue has a huge match Friday night against #2 Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s front row was too much for the Boilers in their first match so Purdue will need to bring all of their defensive efforts on Friday. The game will be aired on BTN at 7pm.