Pair of Purdue Volleyball Stars Added to National Player of the Year Watch List
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Two of Purdue volleyball's biggest stars have received some major national attention. Setter Taylor Anderson and outside hitter Kenna Wollard have been named to the AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List.
Both Anderson and Wollard are in their junior season with the Boilermakers. They were added to the watch list following stellar performances in Purdue's reverse sweep of No. 24 UCLA on Thursday in Los Angeles.
That night, Anderson finished with a double-double, recording 50 assists and 10 digs. Wollard was unstoppable offensively, closing the match with a career-high 33 kills on 65 swings.
Purdue trailed UCLA 0-2 and faced four match points in the third set. The Boilermakers were able to fend off the Bruins to force a fourth set and eventually escaped Pauley Pavilion with a victory.
Through the first 13 matches of the season, Anderson has piled up 552 assists, averaging 10.615 assists per set. She's also recorded 111 digs, 45 kills, and 31 blocks for the Boilermakers.
Wollard has accounted for 452 kills and is logging 4.712 kills per set for Purdue so far this season. She has also tallied 99 digs and 23 blocks.
The AVCA will announce its semifinalists for the National Player of the Year award in mid-November and a group of finalists will be named on Dec. 15. The winner will be named during the Final Four in Kansas City on Dec. 19.
Purdue owns an 11-2 record and sits at 2-1 in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers return to action on Saturday night, playing No. 17 USC in Los Angeles. First serve is set for 9:30 p.m. ET and will air on Big Ten Network.
Shondell shouts out Purdue fans in L.A.
Purdue may have traveled across the country for its matchup against UCLA on Thursday, but there were plenty of fans wearing black and gold inside Pauley Pavilion. After the thrilling five-set win, head coach Dave Shondell gave a shoutout to the Boilermaker fans in attendance.
"One of our coaches told our team that she thought we might have as many Purdue fans as they had UCLA fans," Shondell said in a Facebook post. "Well, that wasn't the case, because UCLA certainly had more than we did. However, ours were louder. As usual, the Purdue fans were louder.
"What a great feeling, to have that kind of contingent in this building, giving us all that we needed."
Will the Boilermakers have a similar fanbase at USC on Saturday night?
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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