Dec. 12, 2025, 10:43 a.m. ET
- Purdue volleyball defeated SMU to advance to the NCAA match’s Elite Eight for the third time in 5 seasons.
- Redshirt sophomore Bianka Lulić made a major impression with three essential blocks after being substituted into the match.
- Exterior hitter Kenna Wollard led the workforce with 23 kills, 10 digs, and 5 blocks.
As Purdue volleyball marched by the primary two rounds of the NCAA match, Bianka Lulić watched from the sideline.
Needing extra dimension on the internet to decelerate SMU’s fast-paced offensive assault, Boilermaker coach Dave Shondell inserted the redshirt sophomore center blocker throughout a pivotal second of Thursday’s Candy 16 match.
It was a training transfer that possibly saved Purdue’s season.
Lulić instantly recorded three blocks throughout a five-point stretch of the third set, giving the Boilermakers management. They rode that momentum to a 16-25, 25-19, 25-22, 29-27 victory over the No. 2-seed Mustangs to succeed in the Elite Eight for the third time previously 5 seasons.
“There is no workforce I like greater than this workforce,” Lulić mentioned. “The considered us ending (our season) tonight, if I used to be referred to as up, I did not have time to be nervous. I simply needed to do my greatest for my teammates and my coaches.”
Lulić completed with 5 blocks and a kill on her solely swing, tying the fourth set at 14.
After spending two years at Miami, Lulić was one in every of three center blockers to switch to Purdue this season, together with junior Dior Charles and fifth-year senior Lindsey Miller, who earned the nod for enjoying time over Lulić attributable to expertise.
“She’s been on the surface wanting in the previous few matches, which is tough when you’re a egocentric particular person,” Shondell mentioned of Lulić. “However when you’re the alternative of that, which she is, she’s prepared when it is her time.”
A Purdue workforce that misplaced primarily all of its offense exterior of 1 participant from a Candy 16 run a season in the past was picked to complete seventh within the Large Ten throughout the preseason. Now the Boilermakers are among the many remaining eight groups remaining.
“Dave Shondell is coach of the 12 months nationally in my guide,” SMU coach Sam Erger, whose 27-6 report this season included two four-set losses to the Boilermakers, mentioned.
Purdue (27-6) will face top-seeded Pitt (29-4) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the identical program that eradicated Purdue in its most up-to-date Elite Eight look at Fitzgerald Area Home, the identical website as Saturday’s match.
Whereas Lulić was the spark that acquired the Boilermakers excessive, Purdue additionally offset SMU’s assault with an impressed defensive effort from its high offensive participant.
Along with her match excessive 23 kills on .457 hitting, exterior hitter Kenna Wollard offered 10 digs and tied a career-high with 5 blocks. And her offense helped Purdue overcome a primary set rut the place it fell behind 18-5.
“I didn’t need the season to be over and I knew this was a workforce that we might beat … ” Wollard mentioned. “I actually needed to go on the market and play my greatest and play like I understand how to.”
Wollard and setter Taylor Anderson accounted for all of Purdue’s returning offense this season. Anderson offered 49 assists, three kills, three blocks and 5 digs Thursday. Libero Ryan McAleer pulled up 23 digs to go together with two aces and 6 assists. Grace Heaney, who missed final season after having surgical procedure to restore a torn labrum, added 11 kills, seven digs and 5 blocks.
Then, holding a match level benefit for the fifth time, senior switch Akasha Anderson smashed kills 15 and 16 on the night time to punch Purdue’s ticket to the subsequent spherical, a seemingly unfathomable achievement after final season’s departures.
“It is simply practically miraculous what these guys have achieved this season, how they’ve come collectively as a workforce” Shondell mentioned. “Not simply how a lot they love one another. We speak about that on a regular basis. How they’ve simply performed with goal.
“However then you have to exit and beat individuals. And that is not straightforward. You take a look at the listing of high 20 groups we have crushed this season and it has been very, very spectacular.”
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