Purdue Volleyball: Signing Day and Iowa, MSU Preview

Four new Boilers signed their National Letters of Intent today; Jena Otec, Hayley Bush, Juliana Reisinger, and Caitlyn Newton.

Jena Otec is a 5’10 senior OH at St. Pius X in Festus, Missouri. Otec led St. Pius X to a Class 2 State Championship. This season Otec had 491 kills, hit .400, 43 blocks, 343 digs, and 42 aces. Otec is an Under Armour All-American Honorable Mention.

The 5’10 S/OH, Hayley Bush, is from Union, Kentucky. During her senior campaign Bush had 338 kills, 27 blocks, 300 digs, 67 aces, and 538 assists for Ryle High School. Bush was named to the Under Armour All-American Third team. Bush finished her career with 1071 kills, 1927 assists, and 948 digs. Her older sister Ashley is a setter at Northwestern.

Julianna Reisinger is a 5’7 DS. Her Santa Margarita team is still alive in the California state playoffs. This season Reisinger has posted 308 digs. Reisinger is also a Third-Team All-American selection.

Caitlyn Newton, 6’1, OH, just finished her senior season for Terre Haute South. This season she had 555 kills, hit .282, 67 blocks, 301 digs, and 51 aces. Newton will join the team for the spring semester in January. Previously Newton was selected to USA Volleyball’s A-1 Youth National group.

After only having 13 on the roster this season, Purdue will have 16 next season, providing some much needed depth. However, they will still be lean at the middle position with the graduation of Faye Adelaja and may look to fill that need.

Purdue travels to East Lansing Wednesday night to face Michigan State at 7:00 ET. On Saturday they host Iowa at 7:00 ET for Senior Night. Purdue (15-10, 5-9) lost to both of these teams the last time they played. The Boilers played really well against Wisconsin last weekend and will need to bring that same level of play this week.

One very encouraging thing from the Wisconsin match was how well we passed the ball. The Badgers have been the second best serving team in conference playing averaging 1.67 aces per set; we were only aced twice in five sets. We also had more digs than the Badgers, 75-69, who are a stout passing team. We will have to pass just as well Wednesday night. In the first matchup with Michigan State we got aced 13 times, nine by one player. Another key will be just keeping the ball in play. Purdue is third in the Big Ten, only getting blocked 1.97 times a set, but commit on average 3.5 true hitting errors, hitting the ball out of bounds or into the net.

Key Players

class, position, # name , stats, (statistical rank nationally, in the conference)

Postions: M- middle blocker, OH- outside hitter, Opp- opposite hitter, DS- defensive specialist, L- libero, S- setter

Stats: K/S- kills/set, B/S- blocks/set, D/S- digs/set. .000- hitting percentage, A/S- assists/set SA/S- service aces/set

So. DS 3 Brooke Peters- 2.33 D/S

Jr. S 5 Ashley Evans- 10.76 A/S (35, 5), 2.16 D/S, 0.26 SA/S

Fr. L 7 Natalie Haben- 3.19 D/S (11)

Jr. OH 10 Azariah Stahl- 2.62 K/S, 2.33 D/S

Sr. M 13 Faye Adelaja- 2.34 K/S, .387 (24, 3), 0.81 B/S

So. Opp 16 Sherridan Atkinson- 0.61 B/S

Rs Fr. M 17 Blake Mohler- .274, 1.02 B/S

Jr. OH 20 Danielle Cuttino- 4.05 K/S (47, 3), .273, 0.61 B/S

Michigan State Preview

A win on the road over Michigan State (21-5, 10-4) could boost Purdue’s tournament resume. Sparty is a tough team who has knocked off Minnesota. Michigan State will have a distinct advantage in the serving game as they are very aggressive, producing 2.0 aces a set in conference play. Purdue, conversely, averages only .88 aces a set. Aces and service errors will likely balance out but it will still be tough for Purdue to run their offense on the first ball unless they pass well.

Key Players

Jr. OH 2 Autumn Bailey- 3.25 K/S (10), 2.51 D/S, 0.33 SA/S (8)

Sr. MB/Opp 6 Allyssah Fitterer- 2.10 K/S, .405 (15, 2) .67 B/S

Jr. L 10 Abby Monson- 3.10 D/S (12)

Sr. OH 11 Chloe Reinig- 2.78 K/S, .86 B/S

Jr. S 12 Rachel Minarick- 10.20 A/S (9), 0.37 SA/S (3)

Jr. OH/Opp 13 Brooke Kranda*- 2.12 K/S, .62 B/S, 0.63 SA/S (3,1)

Jr. MB 17 Alyssa Garvelink- 2.44 K/S, .377 (32, 6), 1.31 B/S (36, 5)

Jr. OH 18 Holly Toliver- 2.05 D/S, 0.37 SA/S (2)

* Kranda is from Westfield, IN

Iowa Preview

Iowa (18-8, 8-6) is enjoying unprecedented success this season. They are a balanced, scrappy team. One area Purdue has an advantage though is blocking. Iowa is last in the conference team and opponent blocking; they can’t block their opponent and they hit into the block.

Key Players

Sr. MB/OH 4 Ashley Mariani- 2.01 K/S, .335 (15), 0.67 B/S

Rs Fr. OH/Opp 5 Meghan Buzzerio- 2.36 K/S

So. Opp 8 Reghan Coyle- 2.18 K/S, .336 (14), 0.74 B/S

Jr. L 9 Annika Olsen- 4.16 D/S (4)

Sr. S 10 Loxley Keala- 11.31 A/S (15, 3), 2.18 D/S

Sr. OH 18 Lauren Brobst- 2.89 K/S, .253

Jr. MB 29 Jess Janota- 2.44 K/S, .338 (12), 0.78 B/S

Big Ten Standings

It looks like Nebraska will take home the conference title. The Huskers still have Penn State and Minnesota on their schedule, but even if they were to drop both of those matches they would have at least a share of the title. Minnesota will have the most to say about how things shake out as they host Nebraska and Wisconsin during the last week of the regular season.

Purdue has a small chance of still finishing .500 in conference play. It would require a lot of big wins on the road; at Michigan State, at Penn State, and at Ohio State. Any of these wins on the road would improve our resume. We should be able to beat IU and Maryland on the road. Of course we have to take of business at home Saturday night and beat Iowa.

AVCA Rankings

Top 5

1. Nebraska
2. Minnesota
3. Wisconsin
4. Kansas
5. Texas

Big Ten teams:

10. Penn State

15. Michigan State

17. Michigan

Receiving votes- Purdue, Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois

RPI Standings

Top 5

1. Wisconsin
2. Texas
3. Nebraska
4. Minnesota
5. San Diego

Big Ten Teams in top 40:

11. Michigan

15. Michigan State

19. Purdue

22. Penn State

30. Ohio State