Purdue Fall Sports Update
It is a busy time for Purdue athletics. Tonight men’s basketball kicks off its season with an exhibition against Truman State. Several fall sports have been in action already, so let’s take a look at how some of the lesser known sports are doing.
Cross Country
Cross Country is getting ready for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional next Friday, November 11 in nearby Terre Haute at Indiana State. Both the men and women recently competed in the Big Ten Championships last weekend, where the men finished 5th and the women finished 11th. This was a two spot improvement over last year for the men, but a two spot drop for the women.
It was the fifth time in six years that the men finished in the top 5, led by Nathan Walker. Walker finished 19th overall in an 8k time of 24:37.4. Alex Frey was just outside the top 25 individually in 26th in a time of 24:53.4. Indiana took the Governor’s Cup point by finishing third.
On the women’s side sophomore Emma Squires was Purdue’s top finisher in the 6k race. She was 51st individually in a time of 21:23.1. Indiana’s seventh place finish as a team gave the Hoosiers another Governor’s Cup point.
Women’s Soccer
The season started with great promise, as the Boilers upset #15 USC in the season opener 3-0 at home. Unfortunately, that was the high point. Purdue would only manage a 2-1 win over Miami (OH) and a 2-1 win at Kansas State, finishing 3-11-3 overall and a winless 0-7-3 in Big Ten play. They missed the Big Ten Tournament, which takes the top 8 teams.
Needless to say, it was a rough year after Purdue had returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 behind Second Team All-American and Big Ten Forward of the Year Sarah Griffith. Her graduation led to a very large hole on offense. Williams had a Purdue single-season record 16 goals last season as the Boilers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and lost on penalty kicks to Notre Dame. This year the team only scored 19 goals in 17 games, led by sophomore Gracie Dunaway with six. Freshman Kayla Budish had a soild debut with four goals.
In terms of the Governor’s Cup it was a split point, as Purdue and Indiana tied 2-2 on October 16th in Bloomington.
Volleyball
It has been an up and down season thus far for women’s volleyball, but there is promise for another NCAA Tournament run. Purdue is currently ranked 14th nationally with a 16-6 record, and they were as high as fifth just a few weeks ago. They are in the middle of the always tough Big Ten at 7-5. The year started strong at 6-0 after winning the Tennessee Classic in Knoxville and Reamer Club Xtra Special at home. The first major test of the year resulted in a 3-0 loss at Louisville in the Louisville Invitational, and the Cardinals are currently ranked fifth.
Purdue won the Stacy Clark Classic at home with ease, sweeping Northern Kentucky and Ball State. They then started big play with an excellent 3-0 win over Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are currently ranked ninth, making them Purdue’s best win. That was a springboard into a 5-0 Big Ten start with additional wins over Iowa, Illinois, Rutgers, and Iowa again. Purdue was then up a set on defending national champion Wisconsin (whom Purdue did beat twice last season) before falling 3-1.
That loss cascaded into a bit of a skid. Purdue struggled to a 3-2 win at Indiana, but then dropped four straight to Maryland, #5 Nebraska, the rematch with Minnesota in Minneapolis, then at Northwestern. They then dropped the first set in the home Monon Spike match with Indiana this past Sunday before roaring back to win the next three sets 25-15, 25-10, 25-13. It marks the 15th straight season Purdue has won the Monon Spike, and the season sweep gives Purdue a point in The Governor’s Cup. Indiana currently leads that competition 2.5-1.5.
There are still eight matches left in the regular season, and since it is Big Ten volleyball, none of them are easy. Purdue travels to the Michigan schools this weekend for a pair of matches, then they are home next week against #6 Ohio State and #15 Penn State. Finishing with a home match against Michigan, then three straight road games at Nebraska, Maryland, and Penn State is a tough finish. As long as Purdue stays in the top 16, however, they stand a great chance of hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
It is safe to say expectations are always high with the program. Purdue has made the Elite 8 in the last two NCAA Tournaments. This season the Boilers are led up front by Eva Hudson, who has 371 kills on the year. Raven Colvin, daughter of football great Roosevelt Colvin and older sister of incoming basketball commit Myles Colvin, has been excellent with 176 kills. Hudson is only a freshman and Colvin is a sophomore, so Purdue is set for many years up front.
Men’s Golf
Men’s golf recently completed the fall portion of its season and is ranked a solid 28th nationally according to Golfstat. This is after a run of strong finishes including 3rd out of 15 at the Purdue fall invitational and 4th out of 15 at the Isleworth Collegiate invitational at UCF. Junior Herman Sekne won his fifth Big Ten male Golfer of the Week Award on October 12th after finishing second individually in the Purdue Fall invitational.
Women’s Golf
It has been a rougher start for Women’s golf, as it participated in four fall events and failed to finish higher than 10th in any of them. Momo Sugiyama has been the top performer along with Danielle du Toit. Each of them has six rounds of par or better on the season.