Purdue Named #3 Seed in NCAA Volleyball Tournament

Purdue volleyball is red hot heading into the NCAA Tournament. After sweeping Michigan and Michigan State on the road this weekend Purdue has won its last seven matches. It heads into the NCAA Tournament at 21-8 overall and 15-5 against the rugged Big Ten, good for third place behind Wisconsin and Nebraska. The team also boasts big non-conference victories over Kansas, Marquette, SMU, Kentucky, and UCF. A two-match sweep of both Penn State and Minnesota, a win over Wisconsin, and a solid performance against the rest of the Big Ten means that Purdue has secured a top 16 national seed and it will play the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Holloway Gym at home.

Fairfield enters as the champion of the MAAC at 22-6 overall. They are making their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance. They have one common opponent with Purdue and it is Northwestern, who swept them on September 10th. Four of their six losses came in the first seven matches of the season to Northwestern, California, UMBC, and Long Island.

Eastern Illinois is a VERY solid 28-4 as champion of the Ohio Valley Conference. Their lone losses were to Missouri, Lindenwood, SE Missouri State, and SIU-Edwardsville. They grabbed a win over Mizzou in a second match with them and they have an exhibition win over the same Illinois team Purdue split with.

Marquette is 20-10 on the year and lost a thrilling 3-2 match to Purdue on September 1st in Lawrence, Kansas. Purdue was down 2-1 in that match and had to go to extra points in the final two sets to earn the win. Purdue had to fight off four match points in the fourth set to stay alive in that one.

Purdue has never played Fairfield in volleyball. It is 2-1 agaisnt Eastern Illinois, last playing them in 1992. After the earlier win this year Purdue is 4-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles. One of those victories was a 3-1 win in Holloway Gym in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

If Purdue advances as far as the Sweet 16 it will be held at the highest remaining seed of the four in its quadrant, so it could, theoretically, play at home if Wisconsin and Oregon both lose. Purdue does have the aforementioned win over Wisconsin just a few weeks ago, but the Badgers were without 2021 NCAA Tournament MVP Anna Smrek. Purdue is 3-0 all time against Oregon, with a win over them in the second round of the spring 2021 NCAA Tournament that wass delayed from fall 2020. Kansas is the fourth and final seeded team in this quadrant, and Purdue beat them on their home floor 3-2 on August 31st in another match where Purdue came back from down 2-1.

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