WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – An efficient day, which saw four players hit above .400, led No. 5 Purdue volleyball to sweep Rutgers, 25-22, 25-20, 25-13. The Boilermakers remain undefeated in conference play as they move to 13-1 on the season and 4-0 in the Big Ten, while Rutgers falls to 7-9 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
Purdue's .388 attack % was led by middles Lourdes Myers'.667%, Raven Colvin's .600 and Eva Hudson's .469%. Not only was it Myers' first career start, the redshirt sophomore's .667 attack % came in errorless fashion with six kills on nine swings. Meanwhile, setter Megan Renner recorded three kills with no errors for a .429 attack %.
Setters Grace Balensiefer and Renner split their time on the court, notching 16 and 12 assists apiece.
Meanwhile, the back row was led by libero Ali Hornung with 12 digs, followed by Emily Brown with nine.
Purdue will have a quick turnaround as they host Iowa in a midweek matchup Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
Quick Hits
Purdue's .388 attack % was led by middles Lourdes Myers'.667%, Raven Colvin's .600 and Eva Hudson's .469%. Not only was it Myers' first career start, the redshirt sophomore's .667 attack % came in errorless fashion with six kills on nine swings. Meanwhile, setter Megan Renner recorded three kills with no errors for a .429 attack %.
Setters Grace Balensiefer and Renner split their time on the court, notching 16 and 12 assists apiece.
Meanwhile, the back row was led by libero Ali Hornung with 12 digs, followed by Emily Brown with nine.
Purdue will have a quick turnaround as they host Iowa in a midweek matchup Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
Quick Hits
- The Boilermakers have won the last seven straight matches, the longest active streak among Big Ten teams.
- Only two teams remain undefeated in Big Ten play: Purdue and Nebraska (4-0).
- Purdue (7-0) and Michigan State (10-5) are the only teams to remain undefeated on their home courts this season.
- Purdue leads the league in kills (14.12) and is second in hitting % (.283) and opponent blocks (1.51).
- Purdue's .388 attack % is the highest mark during Big Ten play since exactly one year ago when Purdue swept Rutgers at a .405 pace (10/2/21). It is the second-most efficient match of the season for Purdue (.422 vs. Xavier, 9/10/22).
- Hudson's attack is getting more efficient during Big Ten action and has opened league play with a .375% and 5.53 kills per set over the last four matches compared to her season average of .339% and 5.06 kills per set.
- Colvin's .600 hitting clip is the most efficient of the season and the fifth time of her career the middle has hit .600 or better.
- The Boilermakers came from behind in the first set, down 18-20 before closing out the set on a 7-2 run.
- There were 13 tied scores in the first set, marking the closest set between the two teams in four meetings (13 score ties in set one at Rutgers, 3/19/21).
- Purdue hit .448 in the set, backed by 16 kills and three errors on 29 swings.
- Rutgers took an early 7-11 lead, but a Lourdes Myers kill sparked a 5-1 run to tie the set at 13-13. The teams went point-for-point until Hudson's kill gave Purdue a three-point advantage at 23-19.
- No Boilermaker had more than one error.
- Myers went 3-for-3 in the set while Raven Colvin recorded five kills on seven swings (.571).
- Only two Purdue errors fueled a .556 team hitting % in the set.
- Hudson turned out another six kills
- Emily Brown notched six of her nine digs in the set to lead the team.
- The Boilermakers posted three blocks in the set, the most among the three games, with Lourdes Myers and Madeline Koch each on two of the blocks.