OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 7 seeded Purdue Boilermakers (16-7, 14-6, Big Ten) closed the book on its historic season after falling 3-0 to No. 2 seeded Kentucky in the NCAA Regional Finals (23-25, 20-25, 16-25).
Purdue, which had not lost a three-setter since its opening weekend at No. 1 Wisconsin in January, finished the season with its fourth overall Regional Final appearance and first since 2013.
The match saw 19 tied scores, including 14 in the second set. The Boilermakers stayed neck-and-neck with the Wildcats in the first and second set, however a 10-1 run by Kentucky to open the third set proved too large a deficit to recover from.
Senior Caitlyn Newton was one dig shy of a double-double after leading the team with 10 kills and chipping in nine digs.
Meanwhile, freshman Taylor Trammell led the way with a career-high-tying two solo stuffs, alongside three kills and another two block assists. With the effort, Trammell closes out the spring 2021 season with 1.63 blocks per set, the most by a Boilermaker in program history.
Marissa Hornung led the back row with 11 digs, meanwhile senior libero Jena Otec recorded nine. With the performance tonight, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year closes out her senior season with 4.56 digs per set, No. 3 all-time in program history (most since Kelli Miller, 4.63 in 2007).
Setter Hayley Bush rounded out the match with 23 assists, five digs and a trio of kills.
The record-setting season included a program-best four first-team All-Big Ten, nods, four AVCA All-Region selections and the first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolade in program history.
Purdue, which had not lost a three-setter since its opening weekend at No. 1 Wisconsin in January, finished the season with its fourth overall Regional Final appearance and first since 2013.
The match saw 19 tied scores, including 14 in the second set. The Boilermakers stayed neck-and-neck with the Wildcats in the first and second set, however a 10-1 run by Kentucky to open the third set proved too large a deficit to recover from.
Senior Caitlyn Newton was one dig shy of a double-double after leading the team with 10 kills and chipping in nine digs.
Meanwhile, freshman Taylor Trammell led the way with a career-high-tying two solo stuffs, alongside three kills and another two block assists. With the effort, Trammell closes out the spring 2021 season with 1.63 blocks per set, the most by a Boilermaker in program history.
Marissa Hornung led the back row with 11 digs, meanwhile senior libero Jena Otec recorded nine. With the performance tonight, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year closes out her senior season with 4.56 digs per set, No. 3 all-time in program history (most since Kelli Miller, 4.63 in 2007).
Setter Hayley Bush rounded out the match with 23 assists, five digs and a trio of kills.
The record-setting season included a program-best four first-team All-Big Ten, nods, four AVCA All-Region selections and the first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolade in program history.