Taylor Anderson Climbs Purdue's Assist Leaderboard as Boilers Get 4th Straight Sweep

Purdue setter Taylor Anderson now ranks seventh on the program's all-time assist list, climbing the ladder as the Boilermakers swept Albany on Thursday night.

Taylor Anderson sets a volleyball. | Purdue Athletics (PurdueSports.com)

Purdue senior setter Taylor Anderson climbed a little higher in the program's record book with another stellar performance on Thursday evening. The veteran recorded 31 assists in the 11th-ranked Boilermakers' 3-0 sweep of Albany, and she now sits at No. 7 on the list.

Anderson passed Mary Fischl and Ashley Evans to get to seventh on the list. She has a long way to go before getting to No. 6, as Darcy Orin totaled 4,523 assists during her four-year career in West Lafayette.

The Boilermakers' all-time assist leader is Renata Dargen, who piled up 5,871 serves while at Purdue from 2002 through 2005.

Purdue didn't have much trouble with Albany, but did get off to a bumpy start in the opening set. The Boilermakers were able to smooth some of that out and cruised to a three-set victory, improving to 6-2 on the season.

Opposite Heaney Grace Heaney ended the match as Purdue's leader in kills, totaling 11 kills on 18 swings with no errors. She also had a team-high three service aces and four blocks.

Kate Hansen had seven kills and four blocks, Addy Tindall and Mimi Mambu each had six kills and Sydni Vice added four. Purdue's back row was also stellar, as Ryan McAleer recorded 11 digs, and freshmen Elle Schara and MaryKate Scheumann each had 10.

The Boilermakers are back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, taking on UCF. It will be Purdue's second match of the Stacey Clark Classic.

Grace Heaney continues to impress

Purdue Boilermakers opposite Grace Heaney (14) celebrates. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Purdue has recorded sweeps in four straight matches, and the play of Heaney has been a huge reason why.

Heaney hit a sizzling .611 in Thursday night's win over Albany. In last weekend's win over Houston, she totaled 10 kills on 24 attempts with only one error, hitting .375 for the match. In last week's match against IU Indy, she hit a perfect 1.00, getting five kills on five attacks.

"We had great passing tonight, we've been really working on that in practice," Heaney said after the match. "Our offensive execution is what we've been striving towards last weekend and into this week."

Heaney suffered a lower-leg injury in Purdue's season-opening match against Creighton, only playing in the first two sets. Although she's played in every match since, she wasn't quite at 100% in the following matches against Texas A&M, Georgia and TCU.

The preseason National Player of the Year looks like she's back to full strength now, and is giving Purdue a great punch both at the net and from the back row.

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