Purdue Immediately Shifts Focus to Indiana After Falling to No. 1 Nebraska
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — When Dave Shondell walked into the locker room after Purdue suffered its first sweep of the season, he didn't even mention the name "Nebraska." Instead, his message was all opponent the Boilermakers' next opponent: Indiana.
12th-ranked Purdue suffered a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Nebraska on Sunday at Holloway Gymnasium, the first time the Boilers have been swept this year. But Shondell didn't want his team to dwell on the match it just played minutes before. Instead, he wanted complete and total focus on the Hoosiers.
"I didn't talk at all about this match. I walked in, and the first thing I talked about was Indiana. That was the message," Shondell said. "I told them Indiana runs the fastest offense in the country, and they're playing at a really high level. If we don't go down there and we're not ready to play, we will get beaten.
Purdue got off to a strong start in the first set against the Huskers, even owning a 21-20 lead and a chance to steal the first game. Then, Nebraska showed why it was the No. 1 team in the country.
The Huskers scrapped through a gritty first set and won 25-23, then took control of the match. Nebraska posted 25-16 and 25-15 wins in the next two sets. Harper Murray led the team with 16 kills and a .640 hitting percentage. Andi Jackson was stellar with 12 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. Bergen Reilly finished the match with a double-double of 44 assists and 10 digs.
Senior Akasha Anderson said Purdue did some positive things throughout the match, but that Nebraska showed why it's the best team in the country — and that's a big reason why the Boilers didn't talk about the loss after the match ended.
"We didn't even talk about Nebraska, didn't talk about the match, we only talked about this next game," Anderson said. "Nebraska obviously played really well, but they're supposed to beat us. They're No. 1 in the country, and they played like they're No. 1 in the country. The cleanest team that there is in the NCAA."
Shondell agreed that there were things that could have been discussed about Sunday's match, both positive and negative. Sometimes, though, the best medicine is to crumble up the stat sheet, toss it into a wastebasket, and move forward.
That was Purdue's philosophy.
"I wanted them to turn their attention to Indiana. I wanted them to forget about this, even though there were some good and bad things we could have talked about," Shondell said. "My mindset was, this is just one you have to go through. We didn't embarrass ourselves; we competed pretty well."
Purdue's match against Indiana on Thursday is on another big stage. The Boilermakers will take on the Hoosiers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis — a chance for a big crowd to watch two of the top teams in the Big Ten.
Indiana enters the contest 14-2 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play. Purdue is 13-3 with a 4-2 mark in conference matches. It's a huge match for conference standings and potential NCAA Tournament seeding at the end of the year.
That's why Purdue is laser-focused on leaving Indianapolis with a win over its biggest rival.
"We literally only talked about the game Thursday," Anderson said, "because we know that's a game we need to win."
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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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