With three weeks left in the regular season Purdue Volleyball is in the running for its first Big Ten championship in 40 years. The Boilermaker program has wont he league twice: in 1982 and 1985. Under Dave Shondell they have also been incredibly competitive in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, the rough and tumble nature of the conference, which often has multiple top 10 teams (if not multiple top 5 teams), means that Purdue can be ranked something like 10th nationally, but it may not even be int he top four
in the conference.
After 16 matches, however, Purdue finds itself at 14-2 in conference play and an impressvie 21-3 overall. That was good enough for a #9 ranking in the latest poll this past week, after a ranked win over #25 Penn State (3-0) and Iowa (3-1) this weekend. Purdue’s only losses on the season were to Georgia Tech (who was ranked at the time and is still receiving votes), Illinois, and #1 Nebraska.
With six matches left Purdue is in real good shape in the conference, and it is likely to be selected as one of the 16 hosts for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament at Holloway Gym.
So can Purdue win the Big Ten? Well, they have a chance, but the Boilers will need some help. Purdue has already faced Nebraska and lost 3-0. In fact, the Cornhuskers are not only undefeated, they have yet to drop a set in Big Ten play and they have dropped just six sets all season. They have not lost a set since they had a five-set rivalry win over #12 Creighton on September 16th.
Nebraska closes the year at UCLA (14-10, 8-6), at #17 USC (18-5, 9-4), home against Iowa (13-13, 4-10), at #18 Indiana (19-5, 10-4), home vs. #25 Penn State (13-10, 7-6), and home for Ohio State (5-17, 2-12). They would have to drop two of those matches while Purdue would have to win out.
Purdue’s final six matches are at home agaisnt last place Maryland (8-16, 1-13), Oregon (14-9, 5-8), at #11 Wisconsin (18-4, 11-2), home for Northwestern (15-11, 5-9), at #22 Minnesota (17-8, 7-7), and home in Mackey Arena agaisnt #18 Indiana.
The Cornhuskers are just a machine right now, but a second place finish would have Purdue in line to not only host the first two rounds of the tournament, they could host the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight as well. The top four seeds overall are allowed to host through to the Final Four, but if any of them go down the respective two seeds could host in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. That is probably the range where Purdue would be seeded.
Kenna Wollard continues her run of incredible play, as she is second in the Big Ten with 426 kills. Taylor Anderson leads the conference with 982 assists. Dior Charles has also been excellent on defense with 97 blocks, which has her in the top 10 in the league in that category.
Last season Purdue was a 4 seed and lost in the Sweet 16 to Louisville at Louisville. The Cardinals then went on to reach the national title match before losing to Penn State.
