No. 15 Purdue (8-1) comes home to begin a five-game homestand this weekend when it hosts Miami (Ohio) (7-4) and Loyola (Chicago) (1-8) in the Stacey Clark Classic Sept. 15-17. The Boilermakers own the nation’s top hitting percentage (.354) heading into their final non-conference tournament.
Miami (Ohio) presents the toughest challenge of the weekend as the RedHawks are predicted to win the Mid-American Conference. The RedHawks have endured a tough non-conference slate with wins over Xavier and South Carolina and its four losses coming against Western Kentucky, Wichita State, Marquette and Dayton. Purdue opens the tournament with Miami (Ohio) on Friday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. ET prior to closing out its non-conference schedule with Loyola (Chicago) on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 1 p.m.
Purdue walked away as the runner-up of a Kansas Invite that featured three ranked opponents, two of which were ranked in the top 10. The Boilermakers began the weekend with a 3-1 victory over No. 9 Creighton prior to falling to No. 7 Kansas in four sets. However, the Bluejays bounced back Saturday with a sweep of the Jayhawks to win the tournament. Purdue finished its weekend with its sixth sweep of the season against Belmont. Friday’s test of two top-10 programs on the same day was just the third time in program history that the Boilermakers had to face two ranked opponents on the same day. Purdue had never taken on two top-ten opponents on the same day prior to Friday. Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl were each named to the all-tournament team.
Notes
- Purdue improved two spots to No. 15 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll with it’s 2-1 weekend featuring a 3-1 win over No. 9 Creighton in the Kansas Invite.
- Purdue has improved 10 spots since the AVCA’s preseason poll was released.
- Purdue’s 3-1 win over No. 9 Creighton is its first win over a ranked opponent in 2017 and its first since it defeated No. 13 Michigan on Oct. 28, 2016.
- Purdue leads all D-I volleyball programs with its .354 hitting percentage. All of its hitters have hitting percentages north of except Azariah Stahl who is hitting an impressive .278.
- Ashley Evans currently ranks 21st in the country and fifth in the Big Ten averaging 11.48 assists per set.
- Teams have struggled to defend Purdue’s offense as opponents are only averaging 9.74 digs per set against the Boilermakers. That number is good for the best in the Big Ten.
- Purdue’s 447 kills this season is good for the third most in the conference and its 14.42 kills per set average is sixth in the conference.
- Danielle Cuttino is currently second in the Big Ten with 124 kills and fourth with a 4.00 kills per set average.
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