Volleyball Central: Purdue

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The grind of the conference slate will take the Indiana Volleyball team (9-8, 2-5 B1G) to new heights on Saturday evening. IU will be part of a Big Ten indoor regular season record crowd as it visits Mackey Arena (14,876) at 7:00 PM on the Big Ten Network.

The match will serve as the Monon Spike Trophy contest. IU, the current holders of the traveling trophy, last won a road spike game in 2002. Overall, IU has lost 14-straight matches in West Lafayette. All-American middle blocker Ashley Benson led the Hoosiers to their last away win in the series in 2009.

IU is looking to break a three-game losing streak in conference play, its longest losing streak in Big Ten contests since 2022. The Hoosiers will end their run of three of four contests on the road on Saturday night. IU's last three losses were all against top-30 RPI teams.

There will be 15 natives of Indiana on display Saturday night. Purdue leads the way with eight prep players from the Hoosier state while IU has an additional seven. Each libero (Ali Hornung – Purdue and Ramsey Gary – Indiana) is from Indiana while all four All-Americans in the game (Purdue – 3, Indiana – 1) are natives of the home state.

Sophomore libero Ramsey Gary has been at an outstanding level since the calendar flipped to conference play in September. She's averaging a league best 4.60 digs per set in IU's seven conference games and has added any additional 24 assists on out of system balls. Purdue's Ali Hornung is third in the league in conference action with 4.24 digs per set.

Junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles is on a run of six-straight contests with at least 10 kills. She's averaging 4.33 kills per set in her last five matches. She needs some help offensively. IU hasn't had another player record 10 kills since Mady Saris' 16 against Ohio State (Oct. 6).

Saturday night's contest will have a first serve of 7:00 PM from West Lafayette. Chris Vosters (PxP) and Emily Ehman (Color) will have the call on Big Ten Network.

Gameday Info
at #10 Purdue (Saturday, October 18th – 7:00 PM)
Live Video: t.ly/7fEB8
Live Stats: t.ly/xe6Rd

Stat Notes
• Junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles has turned into one of the finest pin hitters in the entire conference. She's one of 12 players in the league with at least 3.50 kill per set. She's also tallied 117 digs, 22 blocks and 18 aces this year.

• IU is one of two schools in the league (Michigan) with a setter (Camryn Haworth) averaging more than 10.00 assists per set and a libero (Ramsey Gary) with over 4.00 digs per set. Haworth is also sixth in the conference in total service aces (31) while playing tough competition to start the year.

• Ramsey Gary has quietly had an outstanding sophomore year for the Hoosiers. She is second in the conference at 4.22 digs per set and is first among liberos with a 96.7 reception rate. In conference games only, Gary is averaging a league best 4.60 digs per set.

Notable
National Spotlight
• IU continues its streak of games on national television with a Saturday night volleyball contest at No. 10 Purdue (7:00 PM, BTN). The Hoosiers will play a total of four-straight matches on television, a streak that began with Wednesday's loss at Illinois.

• The Hoosiers are also amidst their toughest stretch of the entire season. Beginning with a match at No. 14 Minnesota last Friday, IU will play five-straight matches against teams in the top-30 in the RPI. It was swept on the road by Minnesota and Illinois and took No. 3 Penn State to the brink at Wilkinson Hall.

Brilliant Home Environment
• The Hoosiers got off to a 7-0 start at Wilkinson Hall in 2024 after a pair wins over Michigan State and Ohio State. The 7-0 start, which ended after a tight loss to No. 3 Penn State, was the best start to a home campaign in program history. Over the past two seasons, IU is 17-4 inside the confines of its home gym. Three of those four losses were to top-5 teams.

This Rivalry is Always Close
• While Purdue has had the clear all-time advantage in the series, the two programs always play close matches. Since head coach Steve Aird took over in 2018, he's taken Purdue to the brink on multiple occasions and is looking to close out more of the matches.

5-Set Matches Against Purdue Under Aird
» Oct. 14, 2022 - L, 2-3 (H); 26-24, 22-25, 25-15, 15-25, 10-15
» Oct. 9, 2019 - L, 2-3 (H); 24-26, 25-16, 18-25, 26-24, 13-15
» Nov. 21, 2018 - L, 2-3 (A); 23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 10-15
» Oct. 3, 2018 - L, 2-3 (H); 22-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 12-15

Series Streaks
» 5: consecutive 4-or-5-set matches between the teams
» 8: of 12 matches under head coach Aird have been more than three sets

The Monon Spike
• Saturday's contest at Mackey Arena will serve as the Monon Spike game for the season. The yearly trophy game rotates between the two hosts site with IU winning the trophy in Bloomington in 2023. IU had gone 16 years between winning the trophy game. It has won the game just four times since the turn of the century.

A Chance to End a Long Streak
• One of IU's longer road losing streaks in the Big Ten, IU has dropped 14-consecutive matches in West Lafayette. The Hoosiers last won there in 2009 when Ashley Benson helped stave off a reverse sweep with a 15-13 win in game five.

1,000 Kills for Saris
• Mady Saris tallied five kills at No. 14 Minnesota on Friday (Oct. 11) night to reach 1,000 kills for her fantastic college career. She became the 20th player in IU history to hit the threshold and is the first since Breana Edwards (2021) to do so.

Haworth Chases 200
• Indiana setter Camryn Haworth has been of the most prolific servers in Big Ten rally-era history over the past four seasons. Haworth (195) will become the third or fourth Big Ten player in rally-era history (since 2001) to record 200 career aces. She will join Micha Hancock (339, Penn State) and Emily Danks (230, Ohio State) and Raina Terry (Illinois) in the club.

Scouting the Opponent
Purdue (14-4, 5-2 B1G)
• The Boilermakers have spent a majority of the season in the top-15. They've already beaten No. 10 Kentucky and No. 16 Minnesota this season. All four of Purdue's losses are against top-10 opposition.

• Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine form one of the best outside hitter duos in the entire country. Hudson averages 4.25 kills per set and is hitting .277 from the left side, one of the best marks in the NCAA for outside hitters. Both players play six rotations and are outstanding defensive players.

• Taylor Anderson has turned into one of the best all-around setters in the country. She averages 10.87 assists per set and is also the best blocking setter in the conference. The Texas native has 65 total blocks on the season and contributes to Purdue's 2.87 team blocks per set.

• Middle blocker Raven Colvin, a four-year starter, is having a brilliant senior campaign. She's the league's best blocker with 112 total stuffs (1.67 per set). She's averaging 2.63 kills per set out of the middle and is hitting .415 on the campaign.

Inside the Series
Purdue
• The Boilermakers have dominated the all-time series, picking up a clear edge after Dave Shondell took over the program in 2003. Purdue leads the all-time series 77-35 but has won 38 of the past 42 contests. IU is just 11-40 all-time against Purdue in West Lafayette.

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Players Mentioned

Candela Alonso-Corcelles

Ramsey Gary

Camryn Haworth

Mady Saris

Indiana University Athletics