If you love Women’s Volleyball as much as I have come to…

[DocRon]

You will probably enjoy the 33 min video of Coach Dave Shondell discussing the upcoming Final Four (and receiving a lot of compliments for his coaching and our Purdue team) at Volleyball Mag. Dave is just so admirable and I enjoyed the comments of all the analysts.
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[purduedavie]

You will probably enjoy the 33 min video of Coach Dave Shondell discussing the upcoming Final Four (and receiving a lot of compliments for his coaching and our Purdue team) at Volleyball Mag. Dave is just so admirable and I enjoyed the comments of all the analysts.
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Great man he is, I so hope he makes that Final 4 someday. I was hoping this year but in all honestly they ended where they should have, too 8 team just a notch below the others. I realize they beat Wisky twice but they’re in my book a notch above the Boilers.

 

[DocRon]

Great man he is, I so hope he makes that Final 4 someday. I was hoping this year but in all honestly they ended where they should have, too 8 team just a notch below the others. I realize they beat Wisky twice but they’re in my book a notch above the Boilers.

I think the team peaked on that weekend when they beat both Minnesota and Wisconsin on the road. Since then they don't seem to be quite as good. "Tired" is what Shondell said... and slower. The classic case of a team that peaked too soon. Sigh.
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[purduedavie]

I think the team peaked on that weekend when they beat both Minnesota and Wisconsin on the road. Since then they don't seem to be quite as good. "Tired" is what Shondell said... and slower. The classic case of a team that peaked too soon. Sigh.
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Maybe, if you listen to Dave’s podcasts I was always under the impression that Purdue was 1 step below the elite 2 or 3, probably ended right where he thought. Of course in 1 match one never knows and Purdue had a team that could do it, however, I deep down didn’t see it, BYU was a miracle lol

 

[TC4THREE]

I am a novice concerning the game of volleyball. My take going into the tournament was that I didn't want to play Louisville. Anyone else, I gave us a reasonable shot against if we played well. Obviously, Pittsburgh appeared to be a little bit better than us when we played them. BYU was a match that could've gone either way. I'd say if we played them 10 times there's a good chance we'd split or one side would win 6-4.

Like others have said, looks like we were right around 5th-8th in the country. We played every team in the Final Four and went 2-4 against them. Knocking on that door. If you keep getting there, you'll catch a break and get there eventually. Same as my theory for college basketball. Make getting to the 2nd weekend an annual event, and you'll break through to the Final Four in time. Some years you'll get a bad matchup or run into a hot team at the wrong time but if you keep giving yourself opportunities, you'll have a year where the matchups favor you and/or the breaks go your way. I think of the 2019 NCAA men's bball tournament as a great example. It's easy to imagine Virginia not making that last play and us going to the Final Four that season. It's also easy to see how we were one judgment call (Carsen Edwards getting fouled at the end of regulation) away from losing the Tennessee game. When you get to that level, the margins between winning and losing can be paper thin and there are some things you can't control.

 

[purduedavie]

Looking like Hayley Bush’s career at Purdue has ended, she was eligible to play 1 more season if she wanted to, after 5 years can’t say I don’t blame her for moving on. Jael said a goodbye but it wasn’t one that totally closed the book on her returning. We’ll see what happens, would love for a Sr or two to return for the extra year. I realize this impacts those that have patiently waited however they can take advantage as well.

 

[DocRon]

Looking like Hayley Bush’s career at Purdue has ended, she was eligible to play 1 more season if she wanted to, after 5 years can’t say I don’t blame her for moving on. Jael said a goodbye but it wasn’t one that totally closed the book on her returning. We’ll see what happens, would love for a Sr or two to return for the extra year. I realize this impacts those that have patiently waited however they can take advantage as well.

I am hoping that now that Jael‘s boyfriend, Aidan O’Connell has committed to an extra COVID year, that she will do the same. One can hope.
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[purduedavie]

I am hoping that now that Jael‘s boyfriend, Aidan O’Connell has committed to an extra COVID year, that she will do the same. One can hope.
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Wondering if Coach being a straight up guy he is wants the Sr’s to move on so those that have waited patiently can get their time? Jael returning would probably affect Trammel’s pt, who knows. Purdue even if all leave will be solid up front, it’s the back line that has huge holes to fill, Bush would be huge if she could be convinced to stay another year, looks like she is done at Purdue though.

 

[DocRon]

Wondering if Coach being a straight up guy he is wants the Sr’s to move on so those that have waited patiently can get their time? Jael returning would probably affect Trammel’s pt, who knows. Purdue even if all leave will be solid up front, it’s the back line that has huge holes to fill, Bush would be huge if she could be convinced to stay another year, looks like she is done at Purdue though.

Coach Shondell has said multiple times that you do not really get good at blocking (which has been so critical for this team) until you have played 3 or 4 years. I suspect he would very gladly take Johnson back. The same with Grace Cleveland... in the video I posted above he said "Is there any better outside hitter in the country than Grace Cleveland?" and the others on the panel agreed.

As for Bush, I have to believe after her twitter announcement, that she is not coming back. She red-shirted one year so she has already been at Purdue 5 years. So it is probably time to move on. I am sure we will miss her but I have been impressed with Megan Renner (Red-shirt sophomore, 6'1") when Dave has put her in games where Bush was a little off. He speaks highly of her. And her added height over Bush will be an plus as sometimes Bush was taken advantage of due to her 5'10" height - although she can sure jump.

If some of the lower classmen who have been waiting leave, it is kind of unavoidable. I am sure many other teams are facing that same dilemma.
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[purduedavie]

Coach Shondell has said multiple times that you do not really get good at blocking (which has been so critical for this team) until you have played 3 or 4 years. I suspect he would very gladly take Johnson back. The same with Grace Cleveland... in the video I posted above he said "Is there any better outside hitter in the country than Grace Cleveland?" and the others on the panel agreed.

As for Bush, I have to believe after her twitter announcement, that she is not coming back. She red-shirted one year so she has already been at Purdue 5 years. So it is probably time to move on. I am sure we will miss her but I have been impressed with Megan Renner (Red-shirt sophomore, 6'1") when Dave has put her in games where Bush was a little off. He speaks highly of her. And her added height over Bush will be an plus as sometimes Bush was taken advantage of due to her 5'10" height - although she can sure jump.

If some of the lower classmen who have been waiting leave, it is kind of unavoidable. I am sure many other teams are facing that same dilemma.
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Good post, would love for the both of them to return, I posted that I heard that 2 wanted to come back, one thing is for sure Shondell is very tight lipped about it, he has said things that make it seeem like all are moving on, guess we’ll find out soon enough. Also, Trammel if Johnson returns, Chin/Koch if Cleveland return likely will have the same option to return the extra year, do they want to do 5 years, I know I would lol, heck I’d do 6 if given the chance, grad school free sound great!

 

[DocRon]

Maybe, if you listen to Dave’s podcasts I was always under the impression that Purdue was 1 step below the elite 2 or 3, probably ended right where he thought. Of course in 1 match one never knows and Purdue had a team that could do it, however, I deep down didn’t see it, BYU was a miracle lol

I agree with most of your post. BUT, we beat Wisconsin TWICE here and on their home court. They are in the Final Four and we are not.
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[purduedavie]

Looks like Purdue picked up a McCutcheon girl via transfer from NIU, setter Grace Balensiefer (5th year). She had a great career for the Huskies, probably Hayley’s replacement.

 

[purduedavie]

Looks like Emily Brown a two year Libero starter at Missouri has transferred to Purdue, another McCutcheon girl, looks to possibly be Otec’s replacement.