23-10 (12-8 B1G)
10th season under Dave Shondell the Boilermakers have had at least 20 wins and 10 conference wins.
Purdue finished fifth in the Big Ten and ranked as the 18th best team in the nation despite owning wins over #8 Michigan State, #10 Minnesota, #12 Wisconsin, #16 Creighton and #17 Illinois.
10th year under Dave Shondell the Boilermakers finished fifth or better in the nation's toughest volleyball conference and the third time in program history Purdue was ranked all 16 weeks of the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll.
The Boilermakers' match in the second round of the NCAA Tournament marked the 12th season in Shondell's 15 years leading the program that Purdue made it to the Round of 32 or better.
Shondell is now 21-12 (.636) in the NCAA Tournament.
For the first time in program history, Purdue defeated four top-10 teams during the regular season.
Purdue 3, No. 9 Creighton 1
- Ashley Evans set the offense to an all-time best hitting percentage in a four-set match in Purdue's victory over No. 9 Creighton. The Boilermakers hit .411 with 66 kills to register the second best hitting percentage recorded in program history in a four-set contest.
Purdue 3, No. 10 Michigan State 1
The next ranked team to challenge Purdue faced the same fate as the Boilermakers showed out on senior night to take down No. 10 Michigan State in four sets. The win marked the third victory in as many tries against ranked opponents to finish the 2017 regular season.
Altogether, Purdue was 4-6 against ranked opponents in 2017 with No. 13 Utah being its only ranked opponent that was ranked outside the top 10. Purdue now has 56 ranked wins under Shondell and of those wins, 41 have been upsets. Of those 56 victories, 33 came in West Lafayette, Ind., and the Boilermakers were the lesser ranked team in 25 of those contests.
Indiana's Volleyball Team
With back-to-back sweeps of Indiana, Purdue has now won 11-straight matches over the Hoosiers and is now 28-3 against its in-state rival under Shondell.
The second of the two victories came on Indiana's home court, claiming the Boilermakers the Monon Spike for the 10th consecutive season. Purdue now leads the Monon Spike series 32-12 all-time.
Record Broken
Ashley Evans set the Boilermakers to the most efficient hitting percentage ever recorded in program history. Purdue ranked among the top three offenses in the country the majority of the season and finished with a .301 hitting percentage on the year, surpassing its previous all-time best mark of .285 set in 1982.
Big Ten Best
Cuttino finished the year as the Big Ten's statistical champion in kills (300) and kills per set (4.17) against conference opponents. Freshman Jena Otec finished her rookie season leading the Big Ten in service aces (27) and services aces per set (.38) in conference action.
AWARDS
- Two All-Big Ten selections
- Four AVCA All-Northeast Region selections
- Three AVCA All-America Selections
- Four Academic All-Big Ten honorees
- One CoSIDA Academic All-District selection
- One CoSIDA Academic All-American
- Never in Purdue's decorated history have the Boilermakers had three student-athletes earn All-America honors in the same season.
- Of Purdue's 17 All-Americans in program history, 12 have been coached by Dave Shondell.
DANIELLE CUTTINO
Cuttino earned a total of four All-America awards in her final season as a Boilermaker, giving her seven in her career. The seven All-America honors are the most awarded to any student-athlete in Purdue volleyball history.
She became the fourth First Team All-American in program history. She also earned her third AVCA All-Northeast Region honor of her career and her second unanimous All-Big Ten selection of her career. She was named espnW National Player of the Week following Purdue's victories over Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Indianapolis, Ind., native ranks eighth in program history in career hitting percentage (.308), 10th in total blocks (411), eighth in block assists (339), and 10th in block solos (72) after splitting her career between middle blocker and outside hitter.
Cuttino became one of 26 Boilermakers to earn 1,000 kills in their career and one of six Boilermakers to register 1,000 kills and 400 blocks. She surpassed current Team USA standout and Purdue alumna Annie Drews all-time on the career kills list with 1,389 total kills.
ASHLEY EVANS
Evans also goes down as one of the all-time most decorated student-athletes in program history as she earned three All-America honorable mention awards and earned the third Academic All-America honor of her career.
She graduates as the only three-time Academic All-American in the history of Purdue athletics. Penn State's Simone Lee also earned her third All-America honor. Together they are the first two three-time volleyball Academic All-Americans in Big Ten history and the first three-time volleyball honorees across all conferences since 2007. Just 21 Division I volleyball student-athletes and 47 Big Ten student-athletes have ever been named three-time Academic All-Americans.
Evans also earned AVCA All-Northeast Region, CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-Big Ten nods. She's just the third three-time Academic All-District selection and third four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree in program history. She was also a two-time Big Ten Setter of the Week in her senior season.
In just three years of setting the Boilermakers, Evans earned 4,124 career assists to position her sixth all-time in Purdue history.
She's one of seven Boilermakers with 4,000 assists, one of 18 Boilermakers with 1,000 digs and the only Boilermaker in program history to own 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs in her career.
SHERRIDAN ATKINSON
Atkinson's breakthrough junior campaign did not go unnoticed as she was named an AVCA Third Team All-American and an All-America Honorable Mention by PrepVolleyball and VolleyballMag. She also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, AVCA All-Northeast Region recognition and was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection.
Following her efforts against Minnesota and Wisconsin she was named the Big Ten Player of the Week, VolleyMob National Player of the Week and Division I Volleyball HERO of the WEEK.
AZARIAH STAHL
Stahl earned her first AVCA All-Northeast Region award following her senior season.
BLAKE MOHLER
Mohler earned her first Academic All-Big Ten award and will return as a redshirt junior.
OLIVIA VAN ZELST
Van Zelst earned her first Academic All-Big Ten award and will return as a redshirt sophomore.
CARISSA DAMLER
Damler earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award following her senior season.