3 Thoughts From No. 14 Purdue's Loss to No. 18 TCU
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A big TCU block caused problems in Holloway Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon, resulting in a three-set sweep over No. 14 Purdue for the 18th-ranked Horned Frogs. With the loss, the Boilermakers dropped to 2-2.
Purdue hit just .172 for the match and had just six blocks, falling 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 to TCU. Outside hitter Mimi Mambu led the team with 13 kills on 33 attacks. Addy Tindall and Dior Charles both had eight kills and Kate Hansen finished the night with seven.
It was a tough finish to a positive week, as the Boilermakers went 2-0 in the Big Ten-SEC Challenge, defeating No. 12 Texas A&M on the first night and Georgia on the second evening. Now, Purdue turns its attention to IU Indy before heading to the Bahamas.
Here are a few takeaways from Sunday's match at Holloway Gymnasium.
TCU's block bothered Purdue early
The Horned Frogs entered Sunday's match averaging more than three blocks per set. They ended with only eight for the match, but a few timely blocks early in the first set seemed to take Purdue out of its rhythm.
Purdue hit the ball with plenty of power, but it didn't bother TCU the same way it hindered Texas A&M and Georgia. The Boilermakers were able to find some success going to middle blocker Kate Hansen on the slide, which allowed Purdue to go an a handful of runs throughout the match.
TCU didn't have the most productive night blocking from a statistical perspective, but the play of Becca Kelley, Kinsley Young and De'Andrea McMillan caused problems for Purdue's hitters.
Too many runs
In the last two years, Purdue has traditionally been the team that has made late runs to pull out hard-fought sets. That wasn't the situation on Sunday. The Boilermakers were the first to 15 points in each of the three sets, but the Horned Frogs made the adjustments necessary to win each.
The second set was a particular killer for the Boilers, leading 15-12 at the media timeout. Purdue later pulled ahead 18-13 and appeared to be heading towards a second-set victory. TCU went on a 12-1 scoring run to claim the set and take a 2-0 advantage.
Serve-receive still needs some work
Purdue only had two receiving errors for the match, but TCU's serving style took Dave Shondell's team out of a rhythm to start several points. Too often, it felt like the Boilers were scrambling to stay in system, resulting in some poor decision-making.
This is one area that is never really perfected, no matter how skilled the team. Purdue had some issues with serve-receive in the first match against No. 10 Creighton, as well. It's going to be an area where the Boilers have to continue to grow throughout the season.
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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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