WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Following a 2-0 weekend which saw a sweep vs. No. 8 Minnesota and a 3-1 win at Iowa, three Boilermakers were named to each of the four Big Ten weekly honors.
Eva Hudson was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, Ali Hornung selected Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Grace Balensiefer as Big Ten Setter of the Week. It is the first Big Ten accolade for both Hornung and Balensiefer, and marks the fourth Freshman of the Week honor and second Player of the Week nod for Hudson in the first five weeks of play.
Hudson continues to lead the league, averaging 5.71 kills per set and 6.43 points per set over the opening weekend of Big Ten play. Against No. 8 Minnesota, the Fort Wayne, Indiana native tied a career-high 21 kills – the most by either team—along with seven digs. Then, at Iowa, Hudson added another 19 kills, including eight kills and two errors on 14 swings (.429 attack %) to help seal the Purdue victory. No other conference player recorded more points in a three or four set match last week.
Hornung, a sophomore, registered a Big Ten-leading 5.00 digs per set after starting as a defensive specialist vs. No. 8 Minnesota and libero at Iowa. The New Albany, Indiana product tied a career-high 15 digs against the Gophers, the most by either team, then went on to set a career-best with her 21 digs in the Hawkeyes home turf with her first career start as libero. With her performances, the sophomore has now gone five consecutive matches with no reception error.
In her first career start at Purdue, Balensiefer guided the team to a top-10 victory with 41 assists vs. No. 8 Minnesota. The fifth-year transfer from Northern Illinois recorded one kill in the match, which set up Purdue for its fifth and final match point (won: 32-30). The setter went on to start the match at Iowa, tallying 37 assists and adding four digs in the win. Overall, Balensiefer averaged a conference-leading 11.14 assists per set and helped to guide the team to 16.00 kills per set last week, another Big Ten-leading mark.
Purdue is off to an 11-1, 2-0 Big Ten start to the season, the best since 2011 and the eighth time under head coach
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