Pac-12 | “A severe beat down”: Washington clobbers #7 Purdue

LSU Tiger Classic, Houston

#11 Washington 3, #7 Purdue 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-9)

LSU 3, Rice 0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-21)

Next up: #11 Washington vs. LSU | 5PM (Pacific) tonight (August 31)

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After the final point of an eye-popping match in a bandbox gymnasium, Purdue’s radio play-by-play announcer said it all:

“Washington just administered a severe beatdown on the Boilermakers”

Purdue came into the match ranked #7, returning several veterans from a team that finished 27-5 last season. For the Washington Huskies, it looked to be their toughest nonconference opponent in several seasons.

Rice's Fox Gym
-UW Volleyball

But after trailing 15-17 in the first set, the Huskies finished that frame on a 10-4 run, and never looked back. They started the second set on another 10-4 run, en route to a 25-17 score. UW committed just one hitting error in that set, connecting on 15 kills out of 22 attempts for an amazing .636 average.

And in the third set—after yet another 10-4 start—the Huskies absolutely decimated the Boilermakers, 25-9. That’s a score you simply never see when two Top 15 teams collide.

“They are a higher level team than what we expected,” said Purdue coach Dave Shondell.

“We passed well, we served well,” said Washington coach Jim McLaughlin. “Our energy level was good.”

Washington sophomore outside hitter Krista Vansant had 14 kills and 6 errors on 25 attempts, for a .320 average. Senior Kylin Muñoz and sophomore Kaleigh Nelson had 7 and 6 kills, respectively … and neither had a single hitting error. In fact, only two Huskies (Vansant and Gabbi Parker) had hitting errors the entire match.

“We invested a lot of time this week in competing at a higher level,” said McLaughlin. “I think it paid off.”

In the third set blowout, Purdue’s big hitters could not get past Washington’s block, especially from Kelcey Dunaway, Amanda Gil and Muñoz.

“We had a good blocking lineup,” McLaughlin said. “Our serves were tough, which limited Purdue’s options. That allowed our blockers to make their reads.”

Washington has now won 35 consecutive nonconference matches, dating to 2008, and has lost just two nonconference matches since 2002.