Match Previews: Indiana and Purdue (Hoosier Favorite?) — with Stat Joust

untitled26Indiana-150x150Penn State vs. Indiana

Date
(Time)
Opp.Site
Media
10-16-15
(7:00 p.m. ET)
Rec Hall
Univ. Park,
PA
No TV

menulogo
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Penn State fans are nervous — to an extent, for good reason, given the uncertain status of 6-2 Sr. OH Megan Courtney, who was helped off the court at the end of the 5th set in the 3-2 loss to Northwestern last Saturday.

But we Penn State fans really are a very spoiled bunch.  After all, the Nittany Lions are ranked #5 in the latest AVCA poll, and are 15-2 overall (4-2 in the B1G).  The team is averaging 3.09 blocks/set — fourth in NCAA D1 and first in the B1G.  It has held its opponents to a .139 attack % — seventh nationally and first in the B1G. Penn State’s .291 team attack % ranks seventh in NCAA D1 and second in the B1G.  So even though the team has plenty of room to improve, and even if Courtney misses some action, Penn State presents serious challenges for its opponents.

The concern probably stems more from the way Penn State has lost, rather than the fact that they have lost.  Like losing to Nebraska in five, after taking the first two sets (which followed a five-set win over Minnesota — which also dropped the first two sets to Penn State.)  And appearing to lack focus, or the ability to communicate at critical times in the match.

Megan Courtney
Megan Courtney
Haleigh Washington
Haleigh Washington

But that’s in the past. and we are hopeful the Nittany Lions will come out with renewed energy and purpose against Indiana and Purdue.  No word yet on the status of Megan Courtney, who is now one of only eight Penn State Women’s Volleyball players to reach both the 1,000 career digs mark (1,038) and the 1,000 career kills mark (Deja McClendon accomplished the feat in 2013.)  No word on who will fill her place if she’s unable to go.  We’ll know soon enough.

In addition to Courtney, key players for the Nittany Lions have included 6-3 So. MB Haleigh Washington’s ( .454 attack % — 3rd in NCAA D1 and tops in the B1G; 1.53 blocks/set — 11th in D1 and second in the B1G),  and 6-4 RS Sr. MB/RS (we don’t know where she’ll play this weekend) Aiyana Whitney (3.09 kills/set — reaching  double digits in eight of her last nine matches.)

Here’s Whitney talking about the state of the team and this weekend’s matches:

About Indiana

The Hoosiers are 12-6 overall for the season (2-4 in the B1G).  They have been led by Sr. OH Amelia Anderson, who ranks 6th in the B1G with 3.70 kills/set.  Indiana’s 100 service aces ranks 2nd in the B1G (five players have at least 10 service aces, led by Jr. OH Taylor Lebo with 19.  The two teams last met on Oct. 18, 2014, when Penn State swept Indiana (25-11, 25-19, 25-15) in Bloomington, led by Megan Courtney (9 kills, .500 attack %), Nia Grant and Haleigh Washington. The Hoosiers have dropped eight consecutive matches to Penn State.

About Purdue

Purdue is a dangerous team with multiple options on offense.  6-4 Sr. OH Annie Drews leads the team with 4.32 kills/set, followed by 6-1 RS Jr. MB Faye Adelaja (2.39 — and a team-best .452 attack %), 6-0 Sr. OH Sam Epenesa (2.21), 6-4 So. MB Danielle Cuttino (2.12) and 6-0 So. OH Azariah Stahl (2.10).  Purdue’s .294 team attack % leads the B1G.  The back row has been anchored by 5-8 Sr. libero Amanda Neill (3.91 digs/set, with 16 aces). 6-1 So. setter Ashley Evans has contributed 2.68 digs/set.

Penn State leads the series 51-6, having won the last eight contests.

 

Stat Joust: Penn State, Indiana, and Purdue

(All Opponents)

Hitting Percentage S K E TA Pct.
Purdue 57 824 267 1896 .294
Penn State 58 777 231 1874 .291
Nebraska 60 855 282 2158 .266
Wisconsin 61 854 307 2151 .254
Minnesota 63 852 294 2194 .254
Iowa 67 919 341 2308 .250
Michigan State 65 931 355 2317 .249
Ohio State 69 983 372 2470 .247
Illinois 60 842 315 2140 .246
Michigan 67 909 343 2440 .232
Northwestern 57 780 311 2055 .228
Indiana 70 926 433 2364 .209
Maryland 75 925 412 2507 .205
Rutgers 66 782 377 2299 .176

 

Opp. Hitting Pct. S K E TA Pct.
Penn State 58 656 379 1989 .139
Purdue 57 633 349 1953 .145
Ohio State 69 751 395 2387 .149
Minnesota 63 739 390 2220 .157
Wisconsin 61 725 363 2173 .167
Nebraska 60 707 335 2165 .172
Illinois 60 727 347 2127 .179
Michigan State 65 759 359 2218 .180
Northwestern 57 677 309 1980 .186
Michigan 67 862 400 2458 .188
Indiana 70 762 325 2134 .205
Iowa 67 842 347 2293 .216
Maryland 75 950 377 2380 .241
Rutgers 66 928 282 2302 .281

 

Blocks S BS BA Total Avg./S
Penn State 58 46 266 179.0 3.09
Minnesota 63 34 297 182.5 2.90
Wisconsin 61 17 297 165.5 2.71
Illinois 60 31 245 153.5 2.56
Ohio State 69 51 248 175.0 2.54
Nebraska 60 26 252 152.0 2.53
Michigan State 65 29 266 162.0 2.49
Purdue 57 38 204 140.0 2.46
Maryland 75 45 239 164.5 2.19
Northwestern 57 39 165 121.5 2.13
Michigan 67 34 208 138.0 2.06
Iowa 67 30 192 126.0 1.88
Indiana 70 28 205 130.5 1.86
Rutgers 66 18 208 122.0 1.85

 

Blocks by Opponents S BS BA Total Avg./S
Penn State 58 10 161 90.5 1.56
Purdue 57 9 161 89.5 1.57
Nebraska 60 27 149 101.5 1.69
Minnesota 63 43 166 126.0 2.00
Michigan State 65 34 197 132.5 2.04
Ohio State 69 31 232 147.0 2.13
Michigan 67 37 215 144.5 2.16
Rutgers 66 30 230 145.0 2.20
Maryland 75 35 268 169.0 2.25
Northwestern 57 20 217 128.5 2.25
Wisconsin 61 31 214 138.0 2.26
Indiana 70 19 288 163.0 2.33
Illinois 60 30 220 140.0 2.33
Iowa 67 30 271 165.5 2.47

 

Service Aces S No. Avg./S
Maryland 75 116 1.55
Indiana 70 104 1.49
Purdue 57 77 1.35
Minnesota 63 76 1.21
Iowa 67 80 1.19
Northwestern 57 66 1.16
Penn State 58 66 1.14
Ohio State 69 72 1.04
Michigan State 65 67 1.03
Rutgers 66 67 1.02
Nebraska 60 54 0.90
Wisconsin 61 50 0.82
Illinois 60 45 0.75
Michigan 67 46 0.69

 

Service Aces by Opponents S No. Avg./S
Illinois 60 32 0.53
Nebraska 60 43 0.72
Minnesota 63 46 0.73
Wisconsin 61 48 0.79
Indiana 70 57 0.81
Maryland 75 63 0.84
Penn State 58 49 0.84
Michigan 67 58 0.87
Ohio State 69 60 0.87
Michigan State 65 61 0.94
Iowa 67 64 0.96
Northwestern 57 57 1.00
Purdue 57 68 1.19
Rutgers 66 89 1.35

 

Hitting Percentage S K E TA Pct.
Haleigh Washington, Penn State 58 155 28 280 0.454
Faye Adelaja, Purdue 46 110 21 197 0.452
Maddie Slater, Northwestern 57 127 28 250 0.396
Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin 61 151 30 309 0.392
Taylor Sandbothe, Ohio State 69 207 42 430 0.384
Danielle Cuttino, Purdue 57 121 32 233 0.382
Abby Cole, Michigan 64 190 39 396 0.381
Jazzmine McDonald, Indiana 41 78 20 154 0.377
Mikaela Gunderson, Iowa 67 144 30 322 0.354
Katie Stadick, Illinois 58 169 45 357 0.347
Paige Tapp, Minnesota 63 162 41 349 0.347
Aiyana Whitney, Penn State 58 179 51 392 0.327
Gabrielle Hazen, Northwestern 42 86 29 183 0.311
Allyssah Fitterer, Michigan State 61 156 48 349 0.309
Eden Frazier, Rutgers 54 101 23 253 0.308

(Must have at least 3.33 attacks per set)

 

Service Aces S No. Avg./S
Abbie Kraus, Northwestern 57 21 0.37
Brooke Peters, Purdue 56 20 0.36
Abby Bentz, Maryland 71 22 0.31
Taylor Lebo, Indiana 65 20 0.31
Holly Toliver, Michigan State 45 14 0.31
Daly Santana, Minnesota 63 18 0.29
Megan Tallman, Indiana 58 17 0.29
Bryanna Weiskircher, Penn State 58 17 0.29
Makayla Lundin, Indiana 21 6 0.29
Haleigh Washington, Penn State 58 16 0.28
Amanda Neill, Purdue 57 16 0.28
Amy Dion, Maryland 75 20 0.27
Annika Albrecht, Nebraska 60 16 0.27
Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin 61 16 0.26
Kelsey Wicinski, Maryland 75 19 0.25
Dalianliz Rosado, Minnesota 63 16 0.25
Rachel Minarick, Michigan State 64 16 0.25

 

Blocks S BS BA Total Avg./S
Amber Rolfzen, Nebraska 46 6 65 71 1.54
Haleigh Washington, Penn State 58 14 75 89 1.53
Paige Tapp, Minnesota 63 12 79 91 1.44
Tionna Williams, Wisconsin 57 5 71 76 1.33
Danielle Cuttino, Purdue 57 14 60 74 1.30
Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin 61 6 67 73 1.20
Gabrielle Hazen, Northwestern 42 8 42 50 1.19
Taylor Sandbothe, Ohio State 69 18 63 81 1.17
Katie Stadick, Illinois 58 6 61 67 1.16
Megan Tompkins, Michigan State 51 5 54 59 1.16
Heidi Thelen, Penn State 43 6 44 50 1.16
Ali Bastianelli, Illinois 58 8 58 66 1.14
Abby Cole, Michigan 64 17 55 72 1.13
Molly Lohman, Minnesota 56 7 56 63 1.13
Alyssa Garvelink, Michigan State 65 11 59 70 1.08

 

ATTENDANCE  Home  Avg.  Away  Avg.  Neutral  Avg.  Total attend  Avg.
Illinois 5-16158 3231 6-13496 2249 6-13021 2170 17-42675 2510
Indiana 6-5970 995 7-8837 1262 5-665 133 18-15472 859
Iowa 10-11368 1136 5-21967 4393 4-294 73 19-33629 1769
Maryland 10-10657 1065 5-6588 1317 6-281 46 21-17526 834
Michigan 10-12441 1244 6-18983 3163 2-0 0 18-31424 1745
Michigan State 7-17067 2438 7-16706 2386 4-567 141 18-34340 1907
Minnesota 4-13143 3285 8-17097 2137 5-2282 456 17-32522 1913
Nebraska 9-73539 8171 6-26884 4480 1-0 0 16-100423 6276
Northwestern 4-3334 833 7-10610 1515 6-213 35 17-14157 832
Ohio State 7-10354 1479 5-6328 1265 6-543 90 18-17225 956
Penn State 9-37072 4119 4-8870 2217 4-2787 696 17-48729 2866
Purdue 9-23610 2623 5-7845 1569 3-619 206 17-32074 1886
Rutgers 7-986 140 6-4970 828 6-718 119 19-6674 351
Wisconsin 8-35381 4422 6-10862 1810 3-3797 1265 17-50040 2943