B1G Match 11: Gophers Visit Purdue (10-26-23)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Purdue enters Thursday's match off a 3-1 win in Happy Valley

www.purdueexponent.org

Win vaults team to third in Big Ten

The Boilers picked up a signature win on Sunday, owed to an afternoon of clean volleyball in Happy Valley.
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The Boilers picked up a signature win on Sunday, owed to an afternoon of clean volleyball in Happy Valley.

In their highest ranked win of the season against No. 11 Penn State (14-5, 6-3 Big Ten), the No. 19 Boilermakers (13-6, 8-1 Big Ten) played their best when it counted, completing the upset 3 sets to 1. The four-set win is Purdue's third win in a row and bumps them up to No. 3 in the Big Ten standings.

After the Nittany Lions won comfortably in the first set, the Boilermakers scored an important victory in the second set, 25-23, to tie the match 1-1.


Penn State flashed signs of being able to pull away throughout the match, but mistakes in the form of 9 attack errors kept Purdue in the game.



“We are starting to believe in each other and care about each other and do all the thing that you need to do to become successful,” Purdue head coach Dave Shondell said post-game. “They were ahead of us most of the night until we caught fire and came back.”


Throughout the rest of the contest, the Boilermakers were able to ride the momentum they gained in the second set to a victory. Penn State's errors contrasted with Purdue’s clean play swung several points in the Boilers’ favor. Nittany Lion mistakes always seemed to keep the Boilermakers within reach and gave them the edge to close out.

The final set of the game was an intense struggle until Purdue was able to gradually pull away, playing to a 21-19 lead going into a Penn State timeout. With a home upset brewing, Penn State hoped to get off their back foot and push the game into a fifth set.

The Nittany Lions fought until Purdue's Eva Hudson hit yet another dagger across the court to shut the door 25-22.
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Good first set. We had our chances--4 set points. Lost a big lead. Achilles heel was M&L in the back row. I thought Grote would win the set on her serve. A lot of kills from G, L, & M.
 


Tough second set. Gave up a large lead again. It will be an uphill battle now. Purdue has confidence and less pressure and could win in straight sets. Hope the Gophers can reach deep and force the match into extra sets.
 

Not much left in the tank for the third set. They are going to have to do much work to finish 5th in the Big Ten.
 


Not able to put two sets away was such a mental let down for this team tonight and we saw that in that third set. I do believe this team is better than their record but afraid there are way too many areas of the Gopher game that need improvement and we don't necessarily have the players to do that.

I think most of you would agree that the Wucherer who played only 3 rotations last season was a much happier and better player than what we have been witnessing so far this season. She gets down and her entire game implodes. I would think a reset for a full rotation would help, but what do I know. Again, I am not the HC only a frustrated Gopher fan.
 

4EverAGopher said:
Not able to put two sets away was such a mental let down for this team tonight and we saw that in that third set. I do believe this team is better than their record but afraid there are way too many areas of the Gopher game that need improvement and we don't necessarily have the players to do that.

I think most of you would agree that the Wucherer who played only 3 rotations last season was a much happier and better player than what we have been witnessing so far this season. She gets down and her entire game implodes. I would think a reset for a full rotation would help, but what do I know. Again, I am not the HC only a frustrated Gopher fan.
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Another missed opportunity for a important ranked win. The inability to close sets is very frustrating. Landfair needs to work on serve receive(52 errors before tonight’s match). Wucherer needs to mix her shots like last year and not blast every shot. Too predictable. Where is the middle attack they keep talking about? I calculated around 10% for the middles. What happened to our block? One block for the entire match, are you kidding me!! No wonder Purdue hit nearly.400. We desperately need blocking up front. Next week’s match will be crucial for the 6-6 gophers and their tournament hopes. I already counted the Wisconsin game as a loss.
 





As has been the case the entire season (though probably not for exactly the same reasons):

the boneheaded, mule stubborn continued decision to play L&W in the backrow is directly responsible for the losses we’ve suffered this year.

Wuch is just as bad, at times worse, than Landfair on serve receive and defense. They’re both bad. Both cost us games and matches. Both let it affect their mental game and their front court game.


I DO detect a noticeable switch to higher sets. And it does seem to make a significant difference. OH, particularly Landfair, finally putting mustard on the ball with their hits.

Lack of middle offense, other than that “half outside set to a middle that is halfway to being an outside” a few times a game. We know Schaff is physically incapable of doing a normal 1/2 set actually located in the middle.
 


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