Purdue volleyball splits first two conference games of the season

From getting swept to battling through a back-and-forth five-set match, Purdue’s performance fluctuated between conference matchups.

The No. 10 Purdue (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) volleyball team faced two ranked conference opponents this week. The Boilers took on No. 4 Penn State (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at home on Wednesday and traveled to Minneapolis to play No. 16 Minnesota (8-4, 1-1) on Saturday.

Penn State’s hitters had no problem finding their way through Purdue’s blockers on Wednesday night.

Despite being No. 5 in D1 for blocks per set, the Boilers recorded just two blocks through all three sets.

This made the defense susceptible to Penn State’s outside hitting duo.

The Nittany Lions’ graduate outside hitters Jess Mruzik and Camryn Hannah combined for 27 kills on the night.

Serving was an issue for both teams on Wednesday. Purdue notched eight service errors, while Penn State recorded 9.

The Boilers were playing from behind for a majority of each set.

They trailed by as many as 14 points in the first. Purdue never had a chance to close the gap and lost the opening set, 14-25.

The Boilers kept it closer to the Nittany Lions in the following set, staying within at least 9 points.

Despite seven Penn State errors, the Boilers hit just 23.1% and allowed 16 kills, leading to a 21-25 loss in the second.

Purdue committed seven errors in the third and hit at 10.9%. The struggling offense managed to stay within 5 points, but could not close in on the Nittany Lions, losing the third set 20-25.

On Saturday, Purdue was seeking back-to-back wins at Minnesota after defeating the Golden Gophers in four sets last season. This would mark the first consecutive wins at Minnesota for the program since their wins in 1983 and 1985.

Achieving this feat required a fifth set, which was the first game to go to five sets for the Boilers so far this season.

The Boilers flipped the script on their serving performance from the game against the Nittany Lions.

Purdue served 17 team aces against the Golden Gophers, the most aces in a game for Purdue since 1987. This performance ranked as the second most aces in a game in program history.

Senior middle Raven Colvin contributed seven aces of her own, while freshman defensive specialist Ryan McAleer served up six.

McAleer and sophomore defensive specialist Julia Kane each served three consecutive aces. McAleer’s occurred in the third set, while Kane’s were in the fifth set, giving the Boilers a 13-7 lead.

All five sets were decided by 5 points or less.

By the end of the first set, the Boilers had already tallied three blocks, more than they totaled in the game against Penn State.

Attack errors from Penn State and a kill from sophomore outside Eva Hudson gave Purdue the 26-24 win in the first.

The Boilers and Golden Gophers remained evenly matched on both sides of the ball throughout the game, as the teams traded set wins.

Purdue’s serving eventually made up the difference in the fifth set, giving the Boilers a 15-10 win.

Purdue will travel to take on Northwestern on Friday at 8 p.m.