Tennessee wins first set of our evening match 25-20
- Thread starter DocRon
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Purdue won a very tight second set 25-23 with the lead going back and forth and the Boilers behind by as much as 4 pts. This set saw the first appearance of the year for setter Grace Balensiefer, grad transfer from NIU, who came in early in the set, with Purdue trailing, to replace Renner. The substitution seemed to rally the team. Hitting .306 for the set and was offensively lead by Koch and Hudson with 8 kills and Raven had 5 kills and 2 blocks. Balensiefer, despite her stature (generously 5'10"), also had 2 blacks.
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Purdue much more easily wins third set 25-18. They led at 8-7 and for the rest of the set with UT coming no closer than 5 pts at 22-17.
Tennessee is hitting at 0.256 for the match with numbers steadily declining since the first set. To win they feel they must hit over 0.250 but their % has been steadily sinking.
Renner did come back in for some of this set but Balensiefer is statistically playing very well. Maddie Chinn is also playing great with 7 kills and only 1 error.
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Tennessee is hitting at 0.256 for the match with numbers steadily declining since the first set. To win they feel they must hit over 0.250 but their % has been steadily sinking.
Renner did come back in for some of this set but Balensiefer is statistically playing very well. Maddie Chinn is also playing great with 7 kills and only 1 error.
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After losing the first set (their first set loss of the year), Purdue comes roaring back to win sets 2, 3 and 4 for the match win. In the last set, after being tied 5-5 Purdue speed ahead and never looked back keeping a steady 4-6 pt lead. Maddie Koch had a career high 12 kills and Chinn and Colvin tied career highs Hudson continues to be shockingly good as a frosh.
Hudson 17 kills
Koch 12 kills
Chinn 10 kills
Colvin 11 kills
Clayton 7 Kills
Also, Maddie Schermerhorn tied her career high digs with 18.
Coach Shondell said when he put Balensiefer in UT tried to take advantage of her lack of height but the Boilers were ready for that and it actually worked to Purdue'a advantage since their best front-line players concentrated on her and left our other hitters unblocked. And he said she can take care of herself and was giving the hitters beautiful sets.
We will see what the #13 Boilermakers are ranked this next week but Purdue fans have to be pleased with this showing.
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Hudson 17 kills
Koch 12 kills
Chinn 10 kills
Colvin 11 kills
Clayton 7 Kills
Also, Maddie Schermerhorn tied her career high digs with 18.
Coach Shondell said when he put Balensiefer in UT tried to take advantage of her lack of height but the Boilers were ready for that and it actually worked to Purdue'a advantage since their best front-line players concentrated on her and left our other hitters unblocked. And he said she can take care of herself and was giving the hitters beautiful sets.
We will see what the #13 Boilermakers are ranked this next week but Purdue fans have to be pleased with this showing.
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Anyone think Balensiefer really resembles Annie Drews?
Hudson was the star but Balensiefer was the catalyst to the comeback.
Glad Shondell put Renner back in … confidence will be everything for this team.
Balensiefer is not the athlete Drews was. Drews is 6’3-6’4ish with insane hops. Balensiefer is maybe 5’10. But glad to hear she’s playing well. We need her to contribute as the season progresses.
I know they are physically extremely different athletes…I am only talking about facial features.
Agree with you about Renner. And yes, Balensiefer facially resembles Annie but I wish she was 6'4" like Annie is.
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The ladies beat three good teams, possibly 3 NCAA tourney teams, really nice weekend. Eva Hudson looks to be one helluve player!
One last thought, Emma Ellis didn’t play much, anyone know if she’s injured or just passed early on in the rotation?
Surprised as well esp since she went to the media days with Colvin. You don’t usually have a bench player go to media days.
She did not look injured in any clips I saw and the Kyle Shondell, the radio announcer, did not mention anything like that - at least that I heard. Competition for the front line this year will be very difficult.
She played in 2 of the 3 sets in their second match against Loyola Chicago but not in the other two games. So maybe there is an injury.. But in the video taken after they won she was dancing around and smiling. (see below)
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Yea, Hudson played unbelievable it seems, the Iowa transfer looks solid, add in Koch, Chinn, Colvin minutes up front are tough right now.
I like to listen to Dig City podcast. Dave is always great to listen to. He mentioned Ellis was having some down practices and he expected her to put it back together. Chin was playing with a shoulder she had been concerned about but an MRI cleared her so she is playing lights out. Eva is a flat out stud so Ellis has her work cut out for her. Coach really was impressed with Koch‘s summer and she had a great tournament. I think he said 6 of our players are touching 10’2 or better. The outside hitter we are getting next year Cicone(not sure I’m spelling that right) between her and Eva….I can’t wait to see that!!!! I saw Chloe play U19 for the USA- she is little but that girl can flat out play. We are setting up for one hell of a volleyball run !
In case anyone missed it, freshman Eva Hudson was named MVP of the Tennessee Classic Tournament and she along with Madeline Koch and libero Maddie Schermerhorn were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Also Purdue rose in ranking from #13 to #11. And In addition, Hudson was named B1G Player AND Freshman of the Week. What a way to start your career. (I wonder if that has ever happened before to a freshman in her first week of play?)
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Also Purdue rose in ranking from #13 to #11. And In addition, Hudson was named B1G Player AND Freshman of the Week. What a way to start your career. (I wonder if that has ever happened before to a freshman in her first week of play?)
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You rock Doc! Thanks for all the reporting and updates.
I was concerned that this team would struggle a bit after losing almost the entire starting lineup to graduation. Also Trammel to PSU. They have really improved since I saw their Spring game vs Kentucky at Providence HS in Clarksville (April). As for Ellis, I think you’re spot on that she has very tough competition on the front line and appears, for the moment, to be behind that stud freshman (Hudson?) - she’s making as big a splash as Raven Colvin did last year. Good times ahead I hope! It’s only 3 games in but impressive so far.
Can you give date and location for the Louisville match? That one I can definitely drive to.
Friday Sep 9 at 7PM at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.
Lucky you, Michael!
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eh, living in Kentucky I can rarely make Purdue games, I was on a plane coming back from visiting my mom last year when the bball team was at Bowling Green. Got no plans for two weekends from now though.....
Re: Rankings. I'm pleasantly surprised. After losing Cleveland, Newton, Bush, Otec, Johnson, and Trammel(transfer) I can't believe the team rebounded so nicely. Great to see!
Also Marissa Hornung. As you said, Lots of talent, power and experience moved on at the end of this past school year. That # of simultaneous departures would have seriously set many programs way back, but this team is the absolute embodiment of “next man (woman) up”. They just reloaded and kept moving.
Credit Coach Shondell and his staff with great recruiting, coaching, and team management - I’m in awe honestly.
Shondell on one of his podcasts said last years reserves were nearly on par with the starters, said it was really close.
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