Sept. 1, 2010

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker volleyball team will play its first matches in the state of Pennsylvania that aren't against Big Ten foe Penn State this weekend, when it faces off with NCAA Tournament competitors Lipscomb and Tulane, as well as the host Pittsburgh Panthers at the Blue and Gold Tournament, Friday and Saturday.

All three of the Boilermakers' matches will air live on WSHY 1410 AM in Lafayette and purduesports.com. Live statistics of the matches also will be available on purduesports.com via the GameTracker feature.

The Book on the Boilermakers
At First Glance: The Boilermakers hit the road for the first time in 2010 when they face off with Lipscomb, Pittsburgh and Tulane at the Blue & Gold Tournament in Pittsburgh. The Purdue squad features 10 returning players, including six starters, as well as three redshirt freshmen and two newcomers. Head coach Dave Shondell is in his eighth season with the team.

Last Time Out: Purdue posted a 2-1 mark at its own Mortar Board Premier last weekend, sweeping Western Kentucky and Central Michigan, before dropping a five-set heartbreaker to No. 24 Northern Iowa in the tournament title match.

Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Ariel Turner paced the Boilermaker offense on opening weekend, averaging 3.82 kills per set, to go with her 1.64 digs and 0.82 blocks per set. Middle hitter Tiffany Fisher added 3.09 kills and 0.82 blocks per set, while hitting .354 on the weekend. Middle hitter Anna Drewry (2.18) and outside hitter Katie Griffin (2.09) also added more than two kills per set. Griffin posted a team-best .477 hitting effort, while Drewry racked up a team-high 0.91 blocks per stanza.

Defensively, Blair Bashen led the way with 3.91 digs per set, while also serving up five aces. Defensive specialist Emily Ehlers (2.36) and Carly Cramer (2.09) followed. Setter Jaclyn Hart added 1.40 digs per set, while also dishing out 10.00 assists per stanza. The Boilermakers outhit opponents .294 to .169 including a .474 effort against Central Michigan on Saturday, the team's most efficient effort since 2004 and the ninth-best in program history.

Series Information
Lipscomb: This is the first meeting between the Boilermakers and the Lady Bison.

Pittsburgh (Purdue leads the series 8-0): The Boilermakers have taken all eight previous meetings in the series with the Panthers which began on Nov. 3, 1978. The teams have played in three different states - Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee - and have met three times in West Lafayette. Friday's contest will mark the first between the teams since a Boilermaker sweep on Sept. 12, 1992, at the Miami-Days Inn Classic in Oxford, Ohio.

Tulane (Purdue leads the series 2-0): The Boilermakers have won both previous meetings with the Greeve Wave. Purdue took a 2-1 decision in the series opener on Oct. 12, 1979 at the Houston Invitational. The Boilermakers also won the most recent contest via 2-0 sweep at the same event on Oct. 11, 1980.

Learning About Lipscomb
At First Glance: The Lipscomb Lady Bison return nine letterwinners, including six starters from the 2009 squad, which went 28-4 in 2009, including a 20-0 conference mark, the Atlantic Sun Tournament title and the program's second NCAA Tournament appearance. The squad also adds five newcomers to the mix. Head coach Brandon Rosenthal is in his eighth year with the team.

Last Time Out: The Lady Bison went 2-1 at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Neb., last weekend, falling to Kansas 3-1 in the opener, but rebounding with four-set wins over Creighton and San Francisco.

Statistically Speaking: Middle blocker Alex Kelly paces the Lady Bison in all phases of the game, contributing 5.25 kills per set, while hitting at a team-best .368 clip and pulling up 4.83 digs per set. Three other players average more than two kills per set. Outside hitter Meghan Hinemeyer (2.58), outside hitter Kaycee Green (2.50) and middle blocker Katie Rose (2.33) make up the group.

Defensively, Kelly leads the way with 4.83 digs per set, but four other Lady Bison players help out with more than two digs per set. Setter Jake Pease has pulled up 3.08 digs per set, while dishing out 12.08 assists per stanza. Hinemeyer (2.58), Rose (2.33) and defensive specialist Stephanie Rex (2.25) round out the group. Outside/middle hitter Kelsey Neumann paces the team at the net with 1.50 blocks per set, while Rose adds 0.92 stuffs per stanza.

Prepping For The Panthers
At First Glance: The Pittsburgh Panthers faced off with Kent State on the road on Tuesday, before returnign home to host to the Blue and Gold Tournament. The team is looking to build on a 20-11 mark, including a second place finish in Big East play. The Panthers return 13 letterwinners from the 2009 squad, including four starters, while adding seven newcomers. Pittsburgh is coached by Toby Rens, who is in his 11th year with the team.

Last Time Out: Pitt posted an 0-3 mark last weekend, falling to No. 21 Dayton 3-0 on the road on Friday, and dropping a pair of 3-0 decisions to Western Michigan and Ohio State at the Sports Imports Classic in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday. The squad dropped a four-set contest with Kent State on Tuesday.

Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Amy Town leads a trio of Panther players with more than two kills per set. Town has posted 3.23 kills and 2.38 digs per set, while also serving up four aces. Middle blocker Lauren Hartman (2.33) and middle blocker Imani Harper (2.08) follow. Harper is hitting at a team-best .319 clip and has recorded a team-best seven blocks.

Defensively, libero Margaret Acton paces the team with 3.50 digs per set. Town (2.38) and defensive specialist Brittany Fallis (2.20) also chip in more than two digs per set. At the net, outside hitter Michelle Walker leads the way with 0.78 stuffs per set.

Talking About Tulane
At First Glance: The Tulane Green Wave is looking to replicate its 18-10 mark and NCAA Tournament appearance from 2009, but returns just three letterwinners, including two starters, from that squad. Nine newcomers, including three transfers, will help the squad toward its goals.

Last Time Out: The Green Wave are 0-3 on the season after falling in sweeps to No. 4 Stanford, New Mexico and Pepperdine at the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic in Albuquerque, N.M. last weekend.

Statistically Speaking: Outside hitter Izabela Grot leads a group of threeTulane hitters averaging more than 2.00 kills per set. Grot has tallied 3.33 kills per set on a .333 hitting effort. Outside hitter Milica Jovic (2.89) and middle blocker Cori Marton (2.00) follow. Martone has served up a team-high three aces.

Defensively, libero Nikki Osuna has pulled up a team-best 2.56 digs per set, while setter Mel Mandelbaum has managed 2.11 digs per set in addition to 5.56 assists per set. Outside hitter Amaris Genemaras (1.89) and middle blocker Lindsey Shepard (1.78) also have contributed defensively.

Comparing the Teams

Stat.    Purdue    Lipscomb   Pitt     Tulane
Hit. %   .294      .190       .125     .122
Kills    14.00     14.42      10.38    11.00
Assists  12.27     13.58      10.00    10.33
Aces     0.73      1.25       0.69     0.67
Blocks   2.32      2.42       1.23     1.11
Digs     12.36     18.08      13.23    12.44

What a Difference a Win Makes...
If the Boilermakers top Lipscomb on Friday ...

• They will move to 3-1 on the season.

• They will own a 1-0 advantage in the series with the Lady Bison.

• They will improve to 242-142 all-time when playing in the month of September and 168-78 all-time in non-conference neutral site contests.

• They will move to 8-3 all-time when playing on Sept. 3.

An Efficient Effort
The Boilermaker offense finished off the Central Michigan Chippewas in just one hour and 10 minutes, thanks in large part to a stellar offensive performance. Purdue hit at a .474 clip in the match, making just nine errors in 78 swings. The effort was the program's best since 2004 and the ninth-best performance in Purdue volleyball history.

All eight of the Boilermakers with a hitting attempt in the match registered at least a .400 hitting effort, led by sophomore middle blocker Anna Drewry's .667 effort (7-1-9). Sophomore Ariel Turner paced the team with 17 kills, while hitting .419. Purdue also out-blocked CMU 9-4 in the match and served up five aces, while allowing just one. The Boilermaker effort is even more impressive due to the fact that the team used two setters, senior Jaclyn Hart and redshirt freshman Rachel Davis, in the match.

A Challenging Slate
The Boilermakers have a loaded schedule in 2010, with 17 of their 31 matches against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams. Purdue also is slated to face five teams ranked in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll: No. 1 Penn State, No. 6 Illinois, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 12 Michigan and No. 24 Northern Iowa. Four Boilermaker foes received votes outside the Top 25: Ohio State, Cincinnati, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

During the Dave Shondell era, Purdue has beaten 19 Top 25 teams, including three Top 10 opponents. The Boilermakers posted wins over No. 10 Wisconsin and No. 9 Minnesota in 2005 and a victory over No. 9 Colorado State in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Purdue owns a 56-182 all-time record in matches against the Top 25.

All-Tournament Honors
Sophomore outside hitter Ariel Turner and junior middle blocker Tiffany Fisher were named to the Mortar Board Premier all-tournament team for their efforts, Aug. 27-28. Turner managed 3.82 kills per set, including double-digit kill efforts in all three matches and a team-leading 17 against Central Michigan. In addition to a team-best 42 kills, Turner also added 18 digs and nine blocks. For her part, Fisher managed 34 kills (3.09 per set), while hitting .354 and racking up nine blocks. Fisher posted a team-leading 17 kills against No. 24 Northern Iowa in the tournament finale.

2009 In A Nutshell
Purdue finished the 2009 season tied for seventh place in the Big Ten with a 14-17 overall mark and a 6-14 record in conference play. The Boilermakers played 11 matches against Top 25 foes and defeated a pair of ranked opponents, downing No. 21 Kansas State and No. 16 Michigan State. Purdue was ranked 19th in the preseason poll and fell to 24th the following week, before spending five weeks among the vote getters outside of the poll.

Middle blocker Tiffany Fisher earned honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades, while outside hitter Ariel Turner received all-freshman team honors. Outside hitter Carrie Gurnell surpassed the 1,000-kill milestone. Middle blocker Kristen Arthurs, a speech/language and hearing sciences major, was hoored for her work in the classroom with Academic All-District V and Academic All-Big Ten honors for the second straight year.

Turner and middle blocker Anna Drewry garnered a combined five Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, matching the most rookie honors from any one conference school in 2009. Turner, a Highlands Ranch, Colo., native, became the first Purdue rookie to earn the newly-minted honor on Sept. 21. She then added a second accolades on Oct. 19. Drewry garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors three times in 2009, earning the accolade three straight weeks: Nov. 9, Nov. 16 and Nov. 23.

Four Boilermakers averaged two or more kills per set in 2009 and each led the offense at least once in the team's 31 contests. Gurnell paced the team 17 times, while posting double-digit kill tallies in 24 matches.Turner led the offense seven times and has tallied 10 or more kills in 19 matches. Fisher led the team three times, while posting 13 double-digit efforts. Arthurs posted a team-best kill tally three times, while reaching double-digits on 12 occasions. Drewry led the offense against Michigan State on Nov. 14, and posted four double-digit efforts.

Perfect 10
Middle blocker Kristen Arthurs joined elite company as she tied the Purdue, Big Ten and NCAA records with a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage vs. Ball State on Aug. 28, 2009. The junior tallied 10 kills on 10 swings in the match, making her one of just four conference players and one of just 23 players in NCAA Division I history to achieve the distinction of a 1.000 hitting mark.

Purdue now boasts two of the 23 players, as Debbie McDonald went 13-for-13 at North Carolina State on Sept. 25, 1987. Stanford is the only other school with two players on the record list.

Triple Play
Junior setter Jaclyn Hart became the 14th Boilermaker in program history and first since 2005 to post a triple-double when she tallied 12 kills, 41 assists and 10 digs against UCF on Sept. 5, 2009. The last Boilermaker to achieve the feat was setter Renata Dargan, who tallied 13 kills, 61 assists and 13 digs against No. 8 Wisconsin on Sept. 30, 2005.

After three seasons directing the Purdue offense, Hart is already among those in the career record books, ranking sixth in assists with 3,583.

Looking To The Future
Purdue University has been selected as one four NCAA Volleyball Regional host sites for the 2012 season, the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball committee announced June 25.

The Boilermaker program, which has made three Sweet 16 appearances in the last five years, will play host to its first NCAA Regional event since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1998. The Boilermakers have played host to NCAA First and Second Round events six times in program history, most recently in 2006 and 2008, and also played host to the NCAA Regional Semi finals and Finals in 1982 and 1983, when the championship field featured 28 teams.

Purdue was selected along with the University of California, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Texas at Austin as the four Regional sites.

The Boilermakers will host the event in Mackey Arena, which is undergoing a $99.5 million renovation set to be completed in November 2011. In order to host a regional event, the arena must have a minimum seating capacity of 4,000. (Holloway Gymnasium in the IAF boasts a capacity of 2,288.)

The winners from the four regional sites will advance to the NCAA Semifinals and Finals at the UofL Athletics Downtown Arena in Louisville, Ky., Dec. 13 to 15, 2012.

Tracking The Boilermakers
Follow Purdue volleyball on the web with streaming video, live audio and live statistics on purduesports.com. Live statistics are available via the GameTracker feature, while free audio broadcasts are available by clicking the listen links on the schedule page. Streaming video is available for a monthly fee via the Purdue All-Access Pass.

Be a part of Purdue volleyball online via the social networking services Facebook and Twitter. Join the Official Purdue Volleyball group on Facebook, or follow Boilermaker coach Dave Shondell's tweets at twitter.com/PurdueVB.

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