Dave Shondell and the team return to Mackey Arena.
Coming off a 3-0 victory over conference foe Ohio State, the Purdue volleyball team will remain at home for their next match on Saturday. But this time they will travel across the sidewalk to play their second match of the year in Mackey Arena. Last weekend Purdue played in Mackey Arena against arch-rival IU and walked away with a 3-0 victory and the Monon Spike for their troubles. What else did they do? They set a new attendance record for a regular season Big Ten volleyball match. 14,876 fans attended that match. The same number will attend Saturday’s match against the Badgers as the match sold out over a month ago.
Another milestone for volleyball over the weekend: 14,876 inside Mackey Arena to watch Purdue-Indiana, the most ever for a Big Ten conference match. Really fun being there! pic.twitter.com/RtTpNmA324
— Chris Vosters (@CJVosters) October 21, 2024
The atmosphere in Mackey Arena was electric. Watching it on BTN you could feel the electricity in the air, but the reports from the folks there were even more amazing. The squad and fan support that Coach Shondell and company have built is second only to Purdue men’s basketball, and it’s a lot closer than you’d think. The Purdue volleyball team has been ranked for 118 straight weeks. That will take you all the way back to the 2017 preseason. What a story that is.
Shondell is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and a HUGE supporter of his fellow Purdue coaches. If you go to enough Purdue sporting events you’ll see Coach Shondell cheering on your favorite Boilermakers and living and dying with the results just like the rest of us. His passion is one of the reasons that you’d be hard pressed to find anyone to mutter a bad word about Coach Shondell.
The Purdue volleyball team, led by Eva Hudson, Chloe Chicoine, and Raven Colvin among others, will face off against #8 Wisconsin in Mackey Arena this Saturday. This will be the Purdue’s 6th top 10 matchup this season. In the previous 5 matchups Purdue sits at 1-4. This will give Purdue another opportunity at a marquee win to help them raise their profile for NCAA Tournament time. They want to do all they can to make sure they get a good seed and home games in Holloway Gymnasium.
After losing a thrilling 3-2 matchup at Nebraska, Purdue has gone on a four match conference winning streak to sit at 7-2 in conference play. That 7-2 record is good for fourth place behind Nebraska, Penn State, and the aforementioned Wisconsin Badgers who sit at 7-1. A victory in this one will give Purdue an edge in the standings over the Badgers and another top 10 victory. This will also be the only time these two teams play each other this season which could have an impact on final standings should there be a tie.
Now that you know the stakes, you might be asking how do you watch this game? Well, I’m so glad you asked. Before I give you the details though it’s important to note that Purdue has dubbed this one a Gold Out game. So if you’re going, be prepared!
Date: Saturday, October 26th
Start Time: 3:30 ET
TV: Fox
Radio: 104.3 FM
If you can somehow find tickets to this one I can’t recommend it enough. Purdue volleyball is one of the hottest tickets in town for a reason. They are an exciting, athletic, and entertaining squad that is just fun to root for. If you can’t find a way to watch in person I hope that you can tune the TV to NBC on Saturday to boost the ratings for this one. I would love to see women’s volleyball receive more nationwide exposure like this. Let’s cheer on the Boilermakers as they take on the Badgers this weekend and grab another top 10 victory.