For the third traight season Purdue volleyball is moving on to the Sweet 16. On Thursday night the Boilermakers swept Wright State 25-13, 25-21, 25-19 in Holloway Gym to move on to round 2 tonight. The quick turnaround meant a match with Baylor with a chance to move on to the Sweet 16. This time Purdue got revenge for the 2019 Sweet 16 loss to the Bears to move on with a 3-1 victory.
Kash Anderson had another huge match for Purdue going for 17 kills and hitting .361%. She was one of three Boilers
that finished with double-digit kills in the 25-16, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 victory. Julia Kane also added three service aces.
Kenna Wollard had 18 klls and Lindsey Miller added another 10, while Taylor Anderson continued her flawless setting with 45 assists. She closed the match out defensively with a block, completing the all-around effort. This was a match where Purdue was mostly in control throughout. After getting up 2-0 the third set saw a passing and service errors that allowed the Bears to creep back in it. All told, Purdue had 13 service errors, but responded with 10 aces.
This is the 18th trip to the Sweet 16 in program history, and 13 of them have come under the leadership of Dave Shondell. Purdue will now take its 26-6 record to Pittsburgh for the regional semifinals, and it could have a rematch in round one. The Boilermakers are the region, and they away the winner of Florida (who upset Rice in round one) and 2nd seed SMU. Purdue defeated SMU 3-1 on September 14th this year in Lexington, Kentucky. The other half of the bracket has No. 1 seed Pitt facing Michigan tomorrow and Minnesota facing Iowa State for the other spot.
Purdue split its matches with Minnesota earlier in the year. The Boilermakers have played at Pitt in the tournament before, and it is roughly as close as the program has come to reaching the Final Four. In the 2021 Tournament the two met in the Elite Eight in Pittsburgh and they were tied at a set apiece before the Panthers pulled away late.
