Purdue Volleyball: Coach Dave Shondell Presented With Golden Hammer

Purdue volleyball coach Dave Shondell was presented with a golden hammer during the team's volleyball match against Indiana at Mackey Arena on Saturday.

Purdue head coach Dave Shondell huddles up with players in a timeout during | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

After becoming the program's all-time winningest coach, Purdue volleyball coach Dave Shondell received a tremendous honor from athletic director Mike Bobinski.

Saturday night, prior to the Mackey Arena match against rival Indiana, Bobinski presented Shondell with a golden hammer. The unique item honors the coach who has piled up 472 career wins (and counting) while leading the Boilermakers.

Purdue got another big win on Saturday, defeating Indiana 3-0 to win the Monon Spike Match. The Boilermakers improved to 15-4 on the season and 6-2 in Big Ten play.

What better way to honor the winningest head coach in Purdue Volleyball history than a gold hammer? 🚂

Congratulations Coach @DaveShondell! pic.twitter.com/z8VevB9sgg

— Purdue Volleyball (@PurdueVB) October 19, 2024

Purdue also made Big Ten history with its Mackey Arena match on Saturday. The crowd of 14,876 fans was the all-time record for a match between two conference teams. The record was previously set at 10,927 during a 2004 match between Illinois and Minnesota.

It was a tremendous night all around for Purdue volleyball.

"It was a dream come true," Shondell said when asked about playing in front of a record-breaking crowd. "I think any Purdue volleyball fan or anybody associated with our program to have a vision of what this could be like. We've played here before, but we hadn't sold the place out. And I felt like, with everything going on in the sport of volleyball, this is the time."

"It was a dream come true for any @PurdueVB fan." 🥹

Dave Shondell joined @emilyehman following a historic Boilermaker win.#B1GVolleyball pic.twitter.com/MRala2qpSS

— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) October 20, 2024

Saturday marked the first of two matches Purdue will play at Mackey Arena this season. The Boilermakers will also host Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 26. First serve is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and the match will air on NBC.

That game is also a sellout.

Related stories on Purdue volleyball

BOILERMAKERS MAKE BIG TEN HISTORY: Purdue made Big Ten volleyball history on Saturday, breaking the conference's attendance record. The Boilers swept Indiana 3-0 at Mackey Arena. CLICK HERE