Purdue volleyball to host first 2 rounds of NCAA tournament, plays Fairfield Thursday

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue volleyball coach Dave Shondell promised fans during a rocky start that if they stayed patient, they'd be rewarded.

Shondell's inclinations proved true.

The Boilermakers finished the 2023 regular season with a bang, finishing third in the Big Ten after sweeping Michigan and Michigan State on consecutive days.

Now Purdue gets the luxury of hosting the first and second round of the NCAA tournament based on its 21-8 record and its RPI ranking.

The Boilermakers play Fairfield (22-6) at 7 p.m. Thursday following a first-round match between Marquette (20-10) and Eastern Illinois (28-4) at 4:30 p.m. The winners will play at 7 p.m. Friday.

"I think it's a great draw for us," senior libero Maddie Schermerhorn said. "It is always pretty reassuring knowing you'll have your home court for the background just supporting you and on your back the whole time."

Purdue is the third seed in the Wisconsin quarter, a 16-team bracket that features three Big Ten teams, including the Badgers and Penn State.

Purdue enters the NCAA tournament on a seven-match winning streak, including a victory over then No. 3 Wisconsin.

"Every loss we've had, we've always learned something from it," sophomore outside hitter Eva Hudson said. "It's really cool seeing this team starting to click now and really understanding our roles."

Purdue did it with a youthful roster led by Hudson, who on Saturday became the fastest Boilermaker to reach 1,000 career kills, and freshman outside hitter Chloe Chicoine, who like Hudson could reach that mark by the end of her sophomore season.

Purdue relied on freshman setter Taylor Anderson, a mixture of young right side hitters and a rising star in the middle in Lourdes Myers, plus the experience of Schermerhorn and junior middle blocker Raven Colvin.

More: How Raven Colvin became the unquestioned leader for Purdue volleyball

"It's surpassed expectations. I think it would be fair for me to say from my own personal expectations," Shondell said. "You have a team that is that young and you're filling basically five out of seven spots with new faces. We didn't know who our setter was going to be and we started three freshmen every night. For this group to advance to this point has been a lot of fun."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue volleyball hosts Fairfield in NCAA tournament Thursday