Heading into 2026, both the NYU men’s and women’s track and field teams are aiming to build upon last season’s 42nd and 62nd place finishes, respectively, at the NCAA Division III championships last year. Additionally, NYU hopes to beat the total of nine runners the teams sent to the championships in Ohio last season. 

After competing in its first meet of the season at the Dec. 5th FastTrack Season Opener on Staten Island and sending four runners from the women’s team to the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 6, the Violets officially began its season on a positive note. 

According to head coach Tyler Deck Shipley, this served as an opportunity for competitors to “see where they’re at” and give runners from cross country season a proper transition indoors, as the athletes integrate into both teams and compete year-round.

“That’s the beauty of our sport,” Shipley said. “In no other sport are we together throughout the entire academic year. A huge reason why we’ve been successful is the commitment that they’ve had to the team and to each other all year round, and letting this be a really stabilizing factor in people’s lives while they’re at NYU.”

With the first meet, the team is able to gauge where they were in comparison to last year and avenge some shortcomings.

“Last year we ran into some injuries, and so some of the best people didn’t quite get there,” Shipley said. “If all goes according to plan, we can be a big step up this year.”

The team’s runners have been open about their goal to stack the field at the NCAA’s. After strong seasons last year, junior distance runner Julian Aske and senior distance runner Janie Cooper emerged as two contenders to qualify for the championships at the end of the season. In the field events, senior thrower Emma Grunin finished 14th in shot put at the UAA Indoor Championships in 2025, and senior thrower Daniel Lee placed ninth in the weighted throws, setting both up for a potential nationals bid this season.

Team culture has been a focal point for the Violets. Not just the men’s and women’s respective cultures, but the overall team culture has “always been top of mind,” according to Shipley, especially with competitors traveling to many different events on any given competition day.

“Most of us are from areas other than New York,” senior thrower Kai Aravena said. “We don’t have family coming, so having your team there to cheer you on helps a lot.”

Leaders of the team like Aravena have highlighted the need for consistency in the team’s performances and emphasized the intensity in early practices so far.

“People have been putting in work at practice,” Aravena said. “They seemed like they were excited and ready to compete, which in previous seasons it wasn’t as such.

As both the men’s and women’s teams break for the winter recess, the teams will return on Jan. 16 for the NYC Gotham Cup on Staten Island. Looking forward, each team has weekly events after the season starts, heading into the UAA Indoor Championships on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1, followed by the NCAA Indoor Championships on Mar. 13 and 14. The teams will round out the season at the UAA Outdoor Championships on Apr. 25 and 26  and NCAA Outdoor Championships on May 21, 22 and 23.

“I always say that track and field is an individual sport disguised as a team sport, because you can’t really affect how another person on your team is doing,” Aravena said. “Having a few individual performances that do stand out would absolutely be ideal, because it shows that people have been putting in the work and we were still there to support them.”

Contact Naseem Rahman at [email protected].

The AVCA is pleased to announce the 2025 All-America teams for Two-Year College women’s volleyball, as chosen by the Two-Year College Volleyball All-America Selection Committee.

Forty-five players from 38 schools made the three, 15-member All-America teams for this season. The players chosen represent all sections of Two-Year College women’s volleyball: NJCAA Division I, II, and III, the 3C2A, and the NWAC.

Five schools have two 2025 All-Americans apiece: Bellevue College, Dallas College Eastfield, Feather River College, Miami Dade College, Treasure Valley Community College, and Weatherford College.

2025 AVCA Two-Year College Award Winners
Coach of the Year: Mary Frahm, Heartland Community College
Assistant Coach of the Year: Nolan McDaniel, Cleveland State Community College
Player of the Year: Chloe Albiez, Feather River College
Libero of the Year: Mana Kaneko, Odessa College

The Libero of the Year award is new for 2025. The inaugural recipient, Mana Kaneko, played in 37 matches and had 644 digs, for a 4.57 digs-per-set average. She anchored the Odessa defense, which was a major reason the team was 31-6 and placed sixth at the NJCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.

• Eleventh-ranked and No. 10 seed Creighton Volleyball  (28-5) seeks its first trip to the Final Four when it takes on second-ranked and No. 2 seed Kentucky (28-2) on Saturday at 4 p.m. Central inside Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.

• The match will be broadcast on ESPN2, with Kevin Barnett, Missy Whittemore and Dawn Davenport on the call. Live stats for the general public can be found at https://www.ncaa.com/game/6500715 and for the media via http://creighton.statbroadcast.com.

• Creighton is 5-3 all-time against Kentucky, including a 1-1 mark inside Historic Memorial Coliseum. That win came in Lexington in 2021, a 3-0 sweep over the then-No. 3  Wildcats that remains tied for the highest-ranked team that Creighton has ever beaten.

    All eight previous meetings came as part of a four-team tournament involving Creighton, Kentucky, Northern Iowa and USC from 2014-22 (they didn’t play in the “2020 COVID-19 season”). The teams took turns hosting over a four-year span, then renewed the agreement for four more years.

     Brian Rosen has never coached against Kentucky, while Craig Skinner is 3-5 against Creighton. 

• All five of Creighton’s wins against Kentucky have come since 2015.

    Only two teams in the country have beaten the Wildcats five times or more in the past 11 seasons, Nebraska (6) and Creighton (5). Next up with four victories are Pittsburgh, Purdue, Louisville and SEC rivals Florida and Texas A&M.

• Kiara Reinhardt is the lone member remaining from Creighton’s 2021 team that swept Kentucky, though Reinhardt missed the season with an injury. Associate head coach Angie Oxley Behrens, as well as tech coordinator Kaleb Scharman, were both on staff then.

    From the most recent meeting in 2022, Kiara Reinhardt (4 kills, 2 blocks), Ava Martin (2 kills, 2 digs) and Sky McCune (6 digs, 2 assists) remain on the CU side.

• Creighton and Kentucky have more in common than you’d think.

– Elise Goetzinger played four seasons at Kentucky (2020-23) before transferring to Creighton for her final season last fall and becoming an All-American for the Bluejays.

– Kentucky head coach is a former assistant coach at Kentucky. One of the players he coached with the Huskers is Angie Oxley Behrens, who is in her 23rd year as a Creighton assistant coach.

– The highest-ranked team that Creighton has ever beaten is No. 3 Kentucky (3-0 in 2021 in Lexington) and No. 3 Washington (3-1 in 2017 in Seattle).

– Creighton has won 12 straight BIG EAST regular-season titles, while Kentucky has won nine consecutive SEC regular-season titles. Those are the longest two active steaks in the nation.

• Creighton has played a pair of Kentucky’s standouts in recent seasons, with great success.

    Defensive specialist Molly Berezowitz spent the previous two seasons at Creighton’s BIG EAST rival, Marquette. In 17 sets over five meetings, Berezowitz accumulated 18 digs and two aces while being aced four times. Creighton won four of the five meetings.

    Outside hitter Eva Hudson also played Creighton each of the previous two seasons when she played for Purdue. In seven sets, Hudson had 29 kills and 11 attack errors in 89 swings to hit 202. She also had 16 digs, one ace and one block. Creighton won six of the seven sets.

    Lizzie Carr was also on those Purdue teams. She didn’t play in last year’s 3-1 Creighton win, but did have two blocks and hit -.500 (0-1-2) in CU’s 2023 sweep over the Boilermakers.

• Speaking of Eva Hudson, she was teammates with Creighton star Ava Martin this summer on USA Volleyball’s Women’s U23 roster at the Pan American Cup. The team won the gold medal, with Martin serving match point in the gold medal match.

• With a win on Saturday against Kentucky, Creighton would…

– Earn the program’s first trip to the Final Four.

– Stretch its season-high win streak to 24, its second-longest win streak in program history and take over as the nation’s second-longest active streak after snapping Kentucky’s 25-match win streak,  (through Dec. 11).

– Improve to 21-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 1-2 mark in the Regional Final.

– Improve to 6-3 all-time against Kentucky, and 2-1 in Lexington.

– Improve to 6-2 all-time inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.

– Win 29 or more matches for the seventh time, all since 2012.

– Creighton would eliminate its fourth conference tournament champ in as many matches. CU knocked out Northern Colorado (Big Sky) in the First Round, Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley) in the Second Round, Arizona State (Big 12) on Thursday and is trying to topple Kentucky (Southeastern)on Saturday.

– Creighton would improve to 1-13 all-time against teams ranked first (0-7) or second (1-6).

– Creighton would tie a school-record with its fourth Top 25 win of the fall, matching what it did in 2018, 2019 and 2024.

– Creighton would improve to 3-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament road matches with its first such win since a 3-2 victory at No. 4 Kansas in the Second Round.

– Brian Rosen can become the first person in Creighton Athletics history (all sports) to win his/her first four NCAA Tournament games as a head coach.

• Creighton’s student-athletes are approaching all sorts of milestones heading into Saturday…

– Nora Wurtz owns 58 aces, one shy of Molly Moran (59 in 2000) to set the CU single-season record. 

– Ava Martin (587.0) is 8.5 points behind Jaali Winters’ (595.5 in 2015) single-season record for most points in a single-season.

– Ava Martin (69) is 10 kills shy of Jaali Winters (79 in 2015) record for most kills in a single NCAA Tournament.

– Ava Martin owns 521 kills, 25 short of Jaali Winters (546 in 2015) for the CU single-season record.

– Ava Martin (1,630) is 34 kills behind Norah Sis (1,664) for second-most in CU career history.

• Creighton is making its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past 16 years after earning a 14th straight bid to the Big Dance. The Bluejays made their NCAA debut in 2010 and have been in every tournament since then with the exception of 2011.

    The Bluejays are 20-14 in those 15 appearances, going 12-3 in First Round play, 5-7 in the Second Round, 3-2 in the Regional Semifinals and 0-2 in the Regional Finals. The Bluejays are 9-4 at home, 9-4 in neutral-site matches and 2-6 in true road matches. 

    Brian Rosen is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time as Creighton head coach, going 3-0 in the postseason with the Jays so far.

• Creighton is 14-5 so far this fall against NCAA Tournament teams.

    In 19 matches this fall against NCAA Tournament teams, Ava Martin has averaged 4.67 kills per set and hit .320, Kiara Reinhardt averages 2.52 kills and 1.01 blocks per set while hitting .445, Annalea Maeder averaged 11.16 assists per set and Saige Damrow averaged 3.09 digs per set.

    The Jays hit .272 and averaged 14.10 kills, 1.55 aces, 14.6829 digs and 2.29 blocks per set.

• Narrow it down to CU’s matches vs. Sweet 16 teams (Kansas twice, Texas, Louisville, Nebraska and Arizona St.) and the stats are more impressive. Kiara Reinhardt owns 2.79 kills per set on .500 hitting, Ava Martin owns 3.96 kills per set and Eloise Brandewie averages 1.29 blocks per set.

– The Volleyball program has joined the Men’s Soccer program (in 2002-03, 2011-12 and 2014-15) as the only programs in the history of Creighton Athletics history to make back-to-back Elite Eights.

– Brian Rosen has joined former Men’s Soccer coach Elmar Bolowich as the second head coach in the history of Creighton Athletics to take his first team to an Elite Eight, and also joined Bolowich as the second head coach in the history of Creighton Athletics to win his first three NCAA Tournament games/matches.

• Through matches of Thursday night, it’s no secret why Creighton Volleyball was still alive.

    In NCAA Tournament play only, the Bluejays lead all teams with 448 attack attempts, 197 digs, 189 kills, 182 assists and 33.5 blocks.

    Individually, Ava Martin is tops in kills (69) and total attempts (161), Annalea Maeder is first in assists (156), Sydney Breissinger owns a nation-leading 59 digs and Eloise Brandewie and Kiara Reinhardt are tied for second in blocks (16).

• Creighton also has three women who rank in the top 10 nationally for the entire season (through Thursday), and none of them are named Ava Martin (who does rank between 11-25 in four other categories).

    Kiara Reinhardt moved from 10th to third nationally in hitting percentage (.448).

    Nora Wurtz is fifth with 0.59 aces per set and ninth with 58 aces.

    Annalea Maeder is eighth with 10.78 assists per set.

• Creighton is seeking its first Final Four trip in Volleyball, as it lost its only previous Regional Finals match in 2016 at Texas (3-0) and in 2024 at Penn State (3-2).

    Creighton has previously been among the final four teams playing in baseball once (1991) and men’s soccer six times (1996, 2000, 2002, 2011, 2012, 2022).

• Creighton is the nation’s only school to reach the Elite Eight in women’s volleyball (2024), women’s basketball (2021), men’s basketball (2022) and men’s soccer (2022) since the start of the 2021-22 academic year.

• Of the 12 teams that remained in this year’s NCAA Tournament through matches of Thursday night, seven of them were in last year’s Elite Eight. The only exception was the 2024 national champion, Penn State.

• With a win on Saturday, Creighton will be the first school without football to reach the Volleyball Final Four since Santa Clara in 2005.

    No team without football has reached the NCAA Volleyball Final since Long Beach State in 2001. The last team without football to win the volleyball title was Long Beach State in 1998.

    Just as it was in 2023 and 2024, Creighton is the last team remaining in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament that does not sponsor a football program.

• Creighton is the only Volleyball program in BIG EAST history to ever reach the Elite Eight, and has now done it three times (2016, 2024 and 2025).

• Creighton enters Sunday with a nine-match win streak in true road matches, tied for the longest road win streak in team history. The only teams with longer active streaks as of Dec. 11 are Nebraska (13), San Diego (11), Stanford (11), Kentucky (10) and Ball State (10).

   Kentucky enters Saturday with a 21-match home win streak, the nation’s third-longest active streak through Dec. 11 behind Nebraska (62) and Pittsburgh (50). 

• Creighton improved to 33-94 all-time against ranked teams with Thursday’s 3-1 win vs. No. 8 Arizona State, including a 3-5 record this year. This is the fourth straight season of three or more Top 25 victories for the Bluejays.

    Creighton also improved to 12-43 all-time against Top 10 teams with Thursday’s triumph.

• Creighton owns 10 Top 10 wins in program history, all  of which have taken place in the last 11 seasons. Nine of the those Top 10 wins have taken place away from home, including wins over No. 6 Purdue and No. 10 Kansas on back-to-back days last September in Lawrence, Kan.

    Creighton owns four Top-five wins in program history, and all of those were away from home.

• It’s been a busy stretch for Creighton, both on and off the court, in the past week. A couple members of the team finished final exams before departing Omaha on Tuesday, many more took a final on Wednesday, and a few will take exams on Friday.

    Creighton had 16 women earn a GPA of 3.50 or better at least one semester in 2024-25 and has picked up a Team Academic Award from the AVCA each of the last 10 seasons.

    

• Creighton’s coaching staff is full of individuals who have been to the Final Four, and two have won national championships.

    Associate head coach Angie Oxley Behrens was an undefeated national champion in 2000, and also reached the Final Four in 1998 as a student-athlete at Nebraska.

    Assistant coach Adam Kessenich reached the Final Four in 2019 as a volunteer assistant with the University of Minnesota.

    Assistant coach Izzy Ashburn played in four Final Fours at Wisconsin, She won a national title in 2021 with the Badgers, was a runner-up in 2019, and also made the national semifinals in 2020 and 2023. 

• The University of Nebraska enters the Sweet 16 on Friday night with an unblemished 32-0 record, having dropped just seven sets all season long.

    Kentucky won the first two sets against Nebraska on Aug. 31, while Creighton won sets two and four on Sept. 16.

    The rest of the country won three sets against the Cornhuskers.

• Creighton had all sorts of achievements on Thursday vs. No. 8 Arizona State.

– Ava Martin’s 23 kills give her 176 in the NCAA Tournament during her career, one more than Jaali Winters (175) for the CU career record.

– Ava Martin’s 23 kills were the most by a Creighton player in any four-set NCAA Tournament match.

– Annalea Maeder’s 56 assists were the most by a Creighton player in any four-set NCAA Tournament match.

– Annalea Maeder surpassed 4,000 career assists. She’s at 4,002 entering Saturday.

– Setter Annalea Maeder had her third straight double-double, tying outside hitter Jaali Winters (in 2016) for the CU record for NCAA Tournament double-doubles in one year. Maeder owns 15 double-doubles this fall and 37 in her career.

– Creighton seniors Ava Martin (23-4-49), Kiara Reinhardt (15-1-19) and Annalea Maeder (2-0-4) combined for 40 kills in 72 swings with just five errors, good for a .486 hitting percentage.

– Creighton hit .600 in the third set vs. Arizona State, its best hitting percentage in an NCAA Tournament set in program history.

– Creighton hit .370 on Thursday, its highest hitting percentage in a four-set match in an NCAA Tournament contest in program history.

– Jaya Johnson closed out Creighton’s third set win with her seventh ace of the season, and first since Oct. 17 vs. St. John’s. Johnson had served just 16 times total over CU’s previous 11 matches before serving six times on Thursday vs. Arizona State. 

• Jaya Johnson has had 10 or more kills in each of Creighton’s last four matches, including 12 kills vs. Arizona State on Thursday.

    Johnson now owns 52 kills in her past five NCAA Tournament matches, hitting .298 in that time. 

    Johnson remains the only player in the BIG EAST averaging at least 0.80 digs and 0.80 blocks per set this season.

• Sydney Breissinger had her 11th straight match with 10 or more digs on Thursday vs. Arizona State as she tied her career-high with 20.  Breissinger owns 20 (Northern Colorado), 19 (Northern Iowa) and 20 (Arizona State) digs in three NCAA Tourney contests this fall. Those 59 digs put her  tied for second-most in CU history for a single NCAA Tournament, 20 shy of Brittany Witt’s 79 in 2016 and are the most in the country in the 2025 NCAA Tournament through Thursday.

    Creighton is now 33-2 all-time in matches when Breissinger plays libero at any point in a match (12-1 in 2023, 21-2 this year), winning 105-of-118 sets.

• Kiara Reinhardt had 15 kills in 19 swings on Thursday vs. Arizona State, hitting .737 and delivering the kill on match point.

    Reinhardt is now hitting .544 in this year’s NCAA Tournament (35-4-57), upping her season hitting percentage to .448 which ranks third nationally through matches of Dec. 11.

    Reinhardt has hit .500 or better in 16-of-33 matches this season.

• Creighton won the first set of Thursday’s match vs. Arizona State by a 26-24 count.

    Each of Creighton’s last 26 matches (and 31-of-33 overall this year) have been won by the team to win the first set.

    Creighton is 15-4 in NCAA Tournament play when winning the first set all-time.

• Creighton played the nation’s toughest non-conference schedule this fall, resulting in a 7-5 start that had some worried. Each of the last three times that Creighton Volleyball has lost at least five of its first 12 matches, the Bluejays have rebounded quite nicely.

    Creighton’s 2015 team finished non-conference play with a 5-7 record, then won 22 of its next 23 matches to qualify for the program’s first Sweet 16.

    In 2016 Creighton ended non-conference play with a 6-6 mark, then won 23 straight matches to reach the program’s first Elite Eight.

    This year’s team started 5-5 and has won 23 matches in a row to reach the Elite Eight once again.

• There’s nothing mid-major about the Creighton Volleyball program.

    Since 2012, Creighton ranks fourth nationally with 372 victories. Entering Friday’s NCAA Tournament action, the only teams with more wins in those 14 seasons were Western Kentucky (400), Kentucky (393 and  Penn State (375). Just behind CU is Stanford (368) and Texas (368).

    In that time, Creighton has made five Sweet 16’s and three Elite Eights while leading the country with both 13 regular-season conference titles and 12 league tournament titles, 

• Creighton has had five players in program history earn All-Regional status in the NCAA Tournament, but Ava Martin has a chance to become the first two-time honoree.

    CU’s previous All-Regional players include Jaali Winters (2016), Marysa Wilkinson (2016), Kendra Wait (2023), Norah Sis (2024) and Ava Martin (2024).

• Creighton has three women on the 2025 roster from the Kansas City area, who are looking for a return home for next week’s Final Four.

    Both Jaya Johnson and Ava TeStrake are from the suburb of Olathe, while Ava Martin is from Overland Park. Martin attended the 2017 Final Four the last time it was hosted in Kansas City.

    Kansas City is just under three hours from Omaha if you go South on I-29.

Release Courtesy John Jay Athletic Communications

Danbury, Conn. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has announced its 2025 Division III women’s volleyball All-ECAC Teams and major award winners.

2025 CUNYAC women’s volleyball Player of the Year, Jadyn Orava, was one of 14 players to be named to the All-ECAC Team as the Gilbert, AZ native earned First Team honors. Orava was the lone member from the conference to be recognized.

Kean University had two award winners: Ashley Torok won Rookie of the Year, and head coach Don Perkins won Coach of the Year. Gwen Eustace of Salisbury University was named Offensive Player of the Year, while Bella Demers from William Paterson was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year.

Orava had a stellar season for the Bloodhounds, who clinched the program’s second straight CUNYAC title and first-ever outright regular season championship with a perfect 7-0 conference record. The sophomore outside hitter registered 496 kills, 14 assists, 58 aces, 245 digs, three solo blocks, 19 assisted blocks, and racked up 566.5 total points.

She became the Bloodhounds’ third straight Player of the Year recipient, joining former Bloodhound Josanne Lewis, who earned the honors in 2023 and 2024. Orava collected a league-high eight Player of the Week selections while garnering national attention, earning two AVCA National Division III Player of the Week awards.

Orava was named Most Valuable Player of the CUNYAC championship match after leading the Bloodhounds with a double-double, registering 25 kills and 21 digs while adding two aces.

She finished second in all of Division III in kills per set (5.06) and points per set (5.78) while ranking eighth overall in total kills, tenth in attacks per set (11.79), and tenth in total points (566.5).

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PITTSBURGH, PA. (SMU) – SMU Volleyball fell to Purdue (27-6) in the NCAA Championship Regional Semifinal 3-1 with set scores of 25-16, 19-25, 22-25, 27-29. The Mustangs end the season 27-6, tied for the most wins in program history.   

Malaya Jones led SMU with her ninth double-double of the season, totaling 23 kills and 12 digs, hitting .333 Thursday night. Favor Anyanwu tied her career-high with 12 kills, swinging at a .476 clip. Kennedi Rogers joined the two in double-figures with 11 kills and four digs, hitting .324.  

Averi Carlson dished out 55 assists and added eight digs against the Boilermakers. Defensively, Jordyn Schilling dug 19 balls for the Mustangs and was joined in double-figures by Jones (12) and Christa Wilburn, who added 11 in the loss.   

SMU hit .295 as a team while Purdue hit .282 in the match. The Boilermakers out-blocked the Mustangs 12-7 and had a 6-2 advantage in service aces.   

MATCH NOTES         

• Jones reached the double-digit kill mark for the 27th time this season and for the 10th straight match. It marked Jones’ 10th match with 20 or more kills. Her 23 kills are the most by a Mustang in an NCAA Tournament match. 
• Anyanwu. She finished with 526 kills this season, the second most all-time in a single season in program history. 
• Rogers recorded double-digit kills for the seventh time this season.        
• It marked Schilling’s 23rd time in double-figures this season and for the sixth straight match.     
• Averi Carlson finished her senior season with 1,396 assists, the third most by a Mustang in the rally scoring era.   
• With three blocks against the Boilermakers, Anyanwu finished the season with 178 on the year, the second most all-time in a single season.     

 

HOW IT HAPPENED:        

SMU got off to a dominant start, going up 9-1 in the first set. Purdue put two short runs together later in the set, but SMU held firm to win the frame 25-16. The Mustangs swung at an efficient .414 clip in the first set and held Purdue to a .067 hitting percentage. The SMU offense was lights out, registering a 15-9 kill advantage.   

Purdue evened the match in the second set with a 25-19 win. SMU answered several Boilermaker runs with multiple stretches of its own, closing their deficit to one three different times midway through the set, the latest being at the 19-18 mark. However, after a timeout by Purdue, the Boilermakers closed the second frame, scoring on six of the final seven points to win the frame.    

Back and forth for a majority of the frame, Purdue took a 2-1 set score lead with a strong finish down the stretch. The Boilermakers controlled the red zone with a 5-2 run after a 20-20 score late in the third to win the frame 25-22. There were seven ties and three lead changes in the third.    

Up one (15-14) on a kill from Anyanwu, Purdue strung together four straight to go up 18-15, forcing SMU to take a timeout. Down 21-17, the Mustangs rallied for six of the next seven to jump ahead by one, 23-22. After a timeout, SMU fought off four consecutive match points but ultimately came up short, falling 29-27 in the fourth set.    

SMU LEADERS:          

SMU Kills Leader: Malaya Jones (23)    

SMU Assists Leader: Averi Carlson (55)   

SMU Digs Leader: Jordyn Schilling (19)    

SMU Blocks Leader: Favor Anyanwu/Madison Scheer (3)    

SMU Ace Leader: Malaya Jones/Maggie Croft (1)    

SMU Points Leader: Malaya Jones (25.5)  

 

For the sixth time in program histor, and fifth under Dave Shondell, Purdue Volleyball is moving on to the Elite Eight. After a slow start in tonight’s Sweet 16 match with 2 seed SMU the Boilers fought back to take three straight sets for a 3-1 win. It is the second time this year Purdue got a 3-1 win over the Mustangs.

The first set was mostly a disaster as SMU came roaring out of the gate to the tune of a 17-4 advantage in the first set. Purdue fought back, but still droped set 1 25-16. Set 2 was much better as it was Purdue’s turn to start out strong. Consecutive aces spurred on a 6-1 start. That allowed Purdue to lead the set throughout, culminating in a 25-19 win.

Set 3 was much more back and forth, with both teams going through lengthy rallies. SMU got out to a 5-1 advantage, but Purdue was able to eventually tie it at 11-11 with kills from Grace Heaney, Akasha Anderson, and Taylor Anderson. The set stayed tense and was eventually tied at 20-20 before Purdue edged ahead to win 25-22.

The battle in set 4 was fierce, as SMU had several huge saves to stay alive. In the end, they fought of four match points before Purdue was finally able to close it 29-27.

This is the first time Purdue has reached the Elite Eight since 2021, where it also lost to Pittsburgh on its home floor. Pitt eliminated Minnesota 3-0 in the first semifinal Thursday night. They enter the match at 29-4 with losses only to Nebraska, Stanford, Miami, and Florida. They have yet to drop a set in the NCAA Tournament.