WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Head coach Dave Shondell, associate head coach John Shondell and assistant coach Kathy Jewell are the longest tenured complete staff in the Big Ten Conference. The trio has trained some of the finest in Purdue history, including three-time All-American and current supervisor of operations Stephanie (Lynch) Harpenau, and three two-time All-America honorees.
They have taken their teams to the NCAA Tournament 10 times in the last 12 years, ending a 14-year postseason drought in 2004, their second year with the team. And the postseason hasn't just been something to strive for, but has become a program standard, with the team advancing to at least the second round each time, making Purdue one of 11 programs nationally to do so in 10 of the last 12 seasons. Add on seven Sweet 16 appearances and two trips to the Elite Eight and fans and foes alike have seen the Boilermakers become part of the national elite.
In addition to producing great players along the way, the staff has created quite the coaching tree. Eight current collegiate coaches got their start as a player, manager or volunteer assistant at Purdue. Former volunteer assistants include: Kennesaw State head coach Keith Schunzel; University of Charleston men's head coach Ken Murczek; Alabama assistant coach Ryan Freeburg, Ohio assistant coach Todd Garvey and Wisconsin assistant coach Brittany Dildine. Former players include Dildine, Ball State head coach Kelli Miller and Ball State assistant coach Tiffany Fisher. Huntington University head coach Kyle Shondell was a manager for four years.
The staff boasts two protegés in the high school ranks: former player Anne (Mastandrea) Bremner, head coach at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream, Illinois, and former volunteer assistant and manager Travis Fuller, head coach at Greenfield-Central High School in Greenfield, Indiana. Several other former players, managers and volunteer assistants also are still involved in volleyball in the club and youth ranks.
The trio will face Dildine and the No. 3 Badgers on Saturday, but first up on the slate is a BTN televised match with Maryland on Wednesday.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Holloway Gymnasium; West Lafayette, Ind. ~ UW Fieldhouse; Madison, Wis.
Game Notes
Purdue vs. Maryland
Wednesday, Nov. 2 / 6 p.m.
BTN / Lisa Byington, Liz Tortorello-Nelson
/ Live Audio / Live Video
Purdue at No. 3 Wisconsin
Saturday, Nov. 5 / 8 p.m.
Live Stats / Live Audio / Live Video
THE BOOK ON THE BOILERMAKERS
At First Glance: Purdue (14-9, 4-8 B1G) wraps up a three-match homestand against Maryland on Wednesday. The Boilermakers are coming off their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 12 seasons after going 23-10 and finishing fifth in the Big Ten in 2015. The Purdue roster features seven returning players, two redshirts, a transfer and three newcomers. Head coach Dave Shondell is in his 14th season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Boilermakers split weekend home matches, topping No. 13 Michigan in four sets and falling to No. 15 Michigan State in four sets.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Danielle Cuttino paces the Purdue offense with 4.00 kills per set, while hitting at a .275 clip and adding 0.61 blocks per set. Outside hitter Azariah Stahl follows with 2.67 kills per set, 2.41 digs per set, 0.45 blocks per set and 15 aces. Middle blocker Faye Adelaja adds 2.29 kills per set and 0.82 blocks per stanza, while hitting at a team-best .378 clip. Outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson (1.91) and middle blocker Blake Mohler (1.49) also contribute offensively.
Mohler paces the Boilermakers at the net with 1.01 blocks per set. Adelaja follows with 0.82 blocks per set, while Atkinson has put up 0.62 blocks per set. In the back court, libero Natalie Haben leads the way with 3.07 digs per set to go with 20 aces. Stahl (2.41), setter Ashley Evans (2.17), defensive specialist Brooke Peters (2.16) and defensive specialist Carissa Damler (1.84) follow with nearly two digs per set. Evans also adds 10.69 assists per set and a team-best 25 aces. As a team, Purdue is hitting at a .246 clip and has served up 98 aces.
SERIES INFORMATION
Maryland (Purdue leads the series 4-0): The Boilermakers swept the 2014 meetings to kick off the series, winning 3-1 in College Park, and via sweep in West Lafayette. Purdue swept the 2015 contests, winning both in four sets.
Wisconsin (Wisconsin leads the series 43-31): The teams split the fi rst six contests of the series which began on Oct. 11, 1975. Purdue surged ahead in the series with 10 straight wins from 1981 to 1986. The Badgers won 11 of the next 19 and went ahead in the series with 17 straight wins from 1996 to 2004. The Boilermakers stopped the streak, taking two of the next three matches. The Badgers swept the 2006 and 2007 meetings, but Purdue swept the 2008 and 2009 contests, kicking off a streak of eight wins in the next 10 meetings. The Badgers have won the last six meetings dating to the Dec. 14, 2013, Elite Eight match, including a five-set win on Sept. 30 in West Lafayette.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WIN MAKES...
If the Boilermakers top Maryland on Friday:
- They will move to 15-9 overall and 5-8 in the Big Ten.
- They will have beaten the Terrapins for the fifth straight match.
- They will improve to 203-171 all-time when playing in the month of November, including a 7-3 mark when playing on Nov. 2. The Boilermakers last played on Nov. 2 in 2013, topping No. 15 Wisconsin in five sets in West Lafayette.
TALKING ABOUT THE TERRAPINS
At First Glance: The Maryland Terrapins (10-14, 2-10 B1G) face the Boilermakers on Wednesday before beginning a three-match homestand Sunday. The Terrapins return nine letterwinners, including five starters, from the 2015 team which went 15-19 and finished 12th in the Big Ten. Maryland is coached by Steve Aird, who is in his third season with the team.
Last Time Out: The Terrapins split matches with travel partner No. 19 Ohio State last week, edging the Buckeyes in five sets Wednesday and falling in three sets on the road Friday.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Gia Milana paces the Maryland offense with 3.85 kills per set, while also adding 2.33 digs per set and 11 aces to the team totals. Outside hitter Liz Twilley (2.16), opposite Angel Gaskin (1.93), middle blocker Hailey Murray (1.77) and middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor (1.56) follow with nearly two kills per set. MacGregor is hitting at a team-best .307 clip, has put up a team-leading 1.49 blocks per set and served up 19 aces. Gaskin adds 1.05 blocks per set.
In the backcourt, libero Kelsey Wicinski leads the way with 4.33 digs per set to go with a team-best 23 aces. Milana (2.33), defensive specialist Sam Higginbothem (1.72) and setter Taylor Smith (1.63) follow. Smith also adds 8.63 assists per set. As a team, Maryland is hitting at a .179 clip and has served up 107 aces.
WORDS ABOUT WISCONSIN
At First Glance: The No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers (18-3, 10-2 B1G) bring a three-match win streak into their Wednesday match at No. 22 Ohio State. The Badgers return 11 letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2015 team which went 26-7 and finished third in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Wisconsin is coached by Kelly Sheffield, who is in his fourth season with the team.
Last Time Out: Wisconsin won a pair of home matches last weekend, topping No. 10 Penn State in four sets Friday and sweeping Rutgers on Sunday.
Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Molly Haggerty paces the Badger offense with 3.21 kills per set, to go with 2.25 digs per set and 13 aces. Outside hitter Lauryn Gillis (2.96), middle blocker Haleigh Nelson (2.49), middle blocker Tionna Williams (2.22) and outside hitter Romana Kri?ková (2.15) follow. Nelson is hitting at a team-best .381 clip and adds 1.07 blocks per set and 24 aces. Williams is hitting at a .355 clip and has put up a team-leading 1.29 blocks per set.
Defensively, outside hitter Kelli Bates leads the way with 3.86 digs per set. Setter Lauren Carlini (2.76), defensive specialist M.E. Dodge (2.36) and Haggerty (2.25) also add more than two digs per set, while defensive specialist Amber MacDonald chips in 1.92 digs per set. Carlini also has served up a team-best 26 aces, while dishing out 11.47 assist per set and adding 0.84 blocks per set. As a team, Wisconsin is hitting at a .267 clip and has served up 102 aces.
EVANS SET TO JOIN ELITE GROUP
Redshirt junior setter Ashley Evans is set to join an elite group in the near future, Purdue setters with at least 2,000 career assists and 750 digs. To date, Evans has dished out 2,319 assists and pulled up 747 digs. In program history, only five women have accomplished the feat: Renata Dargan (5871 assists, 921 digs); Rachel Davis (3294 assists, 874 digs); Darcy Orin (4523 assists, 853 digs); Jaclyn Hart (4918 assists, 818 digs); Kelly Niedbalski (3056 assists, 811 digs). Taryn Catlin posted 4584 assists and 717 digs, just missing inclusion.
ADELAJA BRINGS BALANCE
Redshirt senior middle blocker Faye Adelaja is one of just 12 players in Purdue lore with more than 700 kills and more than 350 blocks. The Baton Rouge, La., native has tallied 744 kills in her career and put up 358 blocks. Adelaja is just 14 block assists away from a spot in the career top 10 in the category (10th, Tiffany Fisher, 322, 2008-11) and just 38 blocks away from the total blocks Top 10 (Brooke White, 10th, 396 from 1993-96).
Adelaja also is the Boilermakers' most efficient hitter, hitting at a .387 clip in 2016. She has hit at a .300 or better clip in 12 of Purdue's 23 matches and also has put up five or more blocks in seven matches, including each of the last three.
AMONG THE NATION
Individually, middle blocker Faye Adelaja ranks 34th nationally in hitting percentage (.378), while setter Ashley Evans ranks 41st in assists per set (10.69). Outside hitter Danielle Cuttino ranks 49th with 4.00 kills per set.
THE TIES THAT BIND
Maryland setter Taylor Smith hails from Garrett, Indiana.
Wisconsin assistant coach Brittany Dildine was a four-year letterwinner for the Boilermakers from 2003-06, racking up 1243 digs to rank 10th all-time and 142 aces. Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield attended Ball State with Purdue associate head coach John Shondell and the pair has been friends since playing little league baseball together in Muncie.
Purdue defensive specialist Linnea Rohrsen and Wisconsin outside hitter Julia Saunders both attended Nazareth Academy in Chicago. Two Wisconsin players hail from Indiana: outside hitter Lauryn Gillis (New Castle) and Tionna Williams (Fort Wayne).
THE SLATE
In the Oct. 10 listings, the Boilermakers' schedule was ranked as the toughest in the country in terms of strength of schedule, one of the pillars of the RPI system. In the most recent rankings, released Oct. 31, Purdue is listed at No. 3.
Purdue was slated to play 11 matches against teams ranked in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll, and three more against teams that were receiving votes outside of the Top 25. In reality, the Boilermakers have faced 10 ranked teams thus far: No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Kansas, No. 9 Stanford, No. 10 Penn State, No. 13 Michigan, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 22 Illinois and No. 24 Kentucky.
IN THE RPI
The first NCAA rating percentage index report was released on Oct. 3 and the Boilermakers checked in at No. 7. In the Oct. 28 listing, Purdue checked in at No. 17 in RPI. Eleven teams Purdue has already played in 2016 were listed among the initial Top 50: No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Stanford, No. 9 Washington State, No. 12 Michigan, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 24 Coastal Carolina, No. 30 Penn State, No. 35 Notre Dame, No. 39 Kansas, No. 40 Indiana and No. 50 Cal Poly. One more - No. 31 Ohio State - is still ahead on the slate as are four rematches.
RPI rankings are based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. It is comprised of a team's winning percentage (25%), its opponents' winning percentage (50%) and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents (25%). Opponent winning percentage and the winning percentage of opponents' opponents make us the strength of schedule portion of the formula.
TOP 10 WINS
The Boilermakers have posted 13 wins over Top 10 foes in the Dave Shondell era, including 10 since 2010. A five-set win over No. 9 Stanford on Sept. 9 and a four-set win over No. 4 Kansas on Sept. 16 marked the first Top 10 wins since Nov. 21, 2015, vs. No. 3 Minnesota. Purdue topped three Top 10 foes in 2010 (No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Penn State and No. 10 Illinois). The 1983 Boilermakers posted four Top 10 wins (No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Cal Poly, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 10 Texas).