2018 Stacey Clark Classic
- September 9th-10th, 2018
- Holloway Gymnasium, Purdue University, West Laffayette, Indiana
The then 20th-ranked, now 21st-ranked, Purdue Boilermakers defended home court in front of big crowds last weekend, beating Xavier, Lipscomb, and defending ACC co-champions Louisville in the highlight match of the weekend. The 2,415 attendance against Louisville was the team’s 2nd over-capacity sellout of the season.
Purdue would’ve expected this to be a fruitful weekend, given that they had a 15-1 all-time record against the three opponents coming into the weekend, now 18-1 after their wins. The lone loss in those series came in 2012, the last time they played Louisville, where the Cardinals swept them on a neutral court in Cincinnati.
Sherridan Atkinson had a big weekend, scoring 34 kills and 49.5 points in 12 sets (2.83 kills/set, 4.125 points/set), including season-bests of 20 kills versus Xavier and 3 aces versus Louisville.
In the Louisville match, those aces were especially critical, as the Cardinals were far more effective and efficient on offense than was Purdue. Louisville hit .199 efficiency to just .152 for Purdue, with Louisville landing 38% of its shots as compared to just 30% for Purdue. Purdue was consistent, but never great, throughout the match, and took advantage of 3 Louisville down frames, including the 5th where the Cardinals had 5 kills and 6 errors, to eke out a win.
Purdue had 15 total blocks in the match as well, as compared to just 8 for Louisville. 9 of those Boilermaker blocks helped them win the most-contentious 3rd set. Redshirt junior middle Blake Mohler had 9 total blocks in the match – 3 solo and 6 assists. Even with that outburst, her blocks-per-set average went down on the weekend after recording just 5 total in 7 sets against Xavier and Lipscomb.
Friday Roundup
Louisville def. Lipscomb 3-1 (25-20, 25-14, 28-30, 25-23)
- Louisville moves to 5-2, Lipscomb falls to 3-3
- Box Score
- Louisville Recap/Lipscomb Recap
#20 Purdue def. Xavier 3-1 (25-17, 26-28, 25-13, 25-16)
- Purdue moves to 6-0, Xavier falls to 1-5
- Box Score
- Xavier Recap/Purdue Recap
- Attendance: 1,582
Louisville def. Xavier 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-14)
- Louisville moves to 6-2, Xavier falls to 1-6
- Box Score
- Louisville Recap/Xavier Recap
#20 Purdue def Lipscomb 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-12)
- Purdue moves to 7-0, Lipscomb falls to 3-4
- Box Score
- Lipscomb Recap/Purdue Recap
- Attendance: 2,158
Saturday Roundup
#20 Purdue def. Louisville 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 28-26, 13-25, 15-10)
- Purdue moves to 8-0, Louisville falls to 6-3
- Box Score
- Purdue Recap/Louisville Recap
- Attendance: 2,415
Lipscomb def. Xavier 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22)
- Lipscomb moves to 4-4, Xavier falls to 1-7
- Box Score
- Xavier Recap/Lipscomb Recap
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