No. 17 Purdue Takes Down No. 15 Kansas to End Stacey Clark Classic on High note

McAleer was one of many heroes in Friday night's win over the Jayhawks. She finished the match with 30 digs, becoming just the 12th Boilermaker to reach that number in program history.

The sophomore from Overland Park, Kan., had things going early, getting several digs that helped Purdue win multiple long rallies in the opening set.

"Those are big momentum moments. McAleer was all-world tonight," Shondell said. "She's getting better all the time. She's one of those tough, tough kids that you just love to have on your team."

The Boilermakers also got a lot of production out of outside hitter Kenna Wollard, who finished the match with 20 kills, 15 digs, two blocks, and two aces. She got into a rhythm early, especially in Purdue's 25-16 win in the first set, posting six kills.

Although the Boilers dropped the second set 25-19, Wollard had tallied 11 kills.

"I had to really go out there and swing, find what was open, and find how I could score. Towards the end of the match, they were figuring out how to defend me, so I really had to start using other shots," Wollard said. "But my teammates were really helping me with all of that. We got help from everybody, everybody was scoring at the end of the match."

Wollard didn't do it all herself. Purdue got 11 kills from Lindsey Miller and Akasha Anderson, and 10 from Grace Heaney. Dior Charles led the way with six blocks, with Heaney adding four, and Taylor Anderson and Akasha both adding three.

Friday's match wasn't perfect, but it was a crucial victory for a team still developing its chemistry. After a 3-1 loss to Georgia Tech on Wednesday to start the Stacey Clark Classic, the Boilermakers bounced back with back-to-back five-set wins over Bowling Green and No. 15 Kansas.

Not a bad weekend for a team that has only played five matches together.

Boilers respond after tough start

The Stacey Clark Classic didn't start well for Purdue. The Boilermakers were defeated in four sets by No. 23 Georgia Tech, dropping their first match of the season.

But Purdue refused to let that match define them for the remainder of the week. They followed that performance up with wins over Bowling Green (3-2) and No. 15 Kansas (3-2) on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Shondell said the team refocused after the match against the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday.

"We watched enough of them to know that we could play with them, and if we did enough things well, we could beat them," Shondell said. "We went into it believing this was a match we could win. Against Georgia Tech, I think that we felt that way, but we didn't come in with the same mindset."

Obviously, Purdue would have liked to go 3-0 this week, but the players learned a lot from suffering their first loss of the season.

"That was our first loss together with this new team," McAleer said. "I think people forget that losing is a great learning opportunity. So, for us to come back and get two really gritty five-set wins, it's a huge deal for us."

"We learned that we don't like to lose," Wollard said. "These last two matches, we gave it our all, put it all out there, and came out with wins."