With a the 2017 volleyball season beginning this week, VolleyMob is continuing to take a look at some of the collegiate recruiting classes you may have missed and those who stand to make an impact on teams in and out of the final AVCA Top 25.
Purdue came in at 29th in the final AVCA Coaches Poll based on receiving votes:
- Stanford
- Texas
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Wisconsin
- UCLA
- Washington
- BYU
- Creighton
- Penn State
- North Carolina
- Kansas
- Florida State
- Michigan
- Florida
- Missouri
- Hawai’i
- Ohio State
- Michigan State
- Arizona
- Oregon
- San Diego
- Kentucky
- Washington State
- Utah
- Western Kentucky
- Boise State
- Kansas State
- Purdue
The Purdue Boilermakers did what is seemingly always does in 2016 – make the NCAA Tournament and win at least one match. They posted a 19-14 overall record that featured wins over Stanford and Kansas in the non-conference but also coincided with an up-and-down 8-12 Big Ten portion of the schedule. All-in-all, Purdue advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, as they have now made it at least that far in 10 of the past 12 years. As they look to hit that plateau and even expand on it in 2017, they welcome four freshmen and a transfer to their experienced roster.
Of the four freshmen, three earned high school All-American status in Hayley Bush, Julianna Reisinger and Jena Otec. Bush is the lone setter of the bunch and earned Under Armour Third-Team All-American status along with Reisinger, a 5’6″ defensive specialist/libero. Unlike Bush, Reisinger isn’t the only player at her position in the incoming class, as Otec comes in as a 5’10” defensive specialist/libero who was named Under Armour All-America Honorable Mention.
Rounding out the quartet of incoming freshmen for Purdue is Caitlyn Newton, a 6’1″ outside hitter. Although she wasn’t listed to the Under Armour All-American team, she did receive honors from PrepVolleyball as the number 59 recruit in her class.
The lone transfer is Erin Williams, a 5’11” middle blocker from Loyola Marymount. She started 25 of her team’s 30 matches last season, averaging 1.63 kills and 0.73 blocks per set. Her sophomore season came one year removed from when she played sparingly on a Sweet 16 team as a freshman.
Williams should help replace Faye Adelaja, a 2016 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention and 2015 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention recipient at the middle blocker position. In total though, Purdue returns 11 letterwinners, including five starters and the libero in 2017. Leading the bunch is Danielle Cuttino, a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten team after she was AVCA All-America Honorable Mention in 2015.
With the newcomers joining a host of returning talent, we have Purdue ranked 25th in our most extensive and final NCAA Division I Women’s Preseason Top 25.
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