Gophers Host Purdue in Top-15 Primetime Matchup

MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-6, 6-3 Big Ten) will return to Minneapolis this weekend for a primetime battle Saturday night vs. No. 12 Purdue (15-4, 6-3 Big Ten). BTN will provide television coverage for the match, which begins at 8 p.m. CT. Connor Onion (play-by-play) and Grace Loberg (analyst) will be on the call.

PURDUE BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 9 Minnesota vs. No. 12 Purdue | 8 p.m. CT | BTN
Saturday, Oct. 22
Maturi Pavilion
Iowa City, Iowa
Broadcasters:Connor Onion (Play-By-Play) and Grace Loberg (Analyst)

NUMBERS TO KNOW:
266 -- Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon holds a 266-71 (.788) collegiate coaching record and has led Minnesota to two Big Ten Championships, three Final Fours, nine trips to the Sweet 16 and five to the Elite Eight. He joins Mike Hebert (1996-2011; 381-136 (.737)) and Stephanie Schleuder (1982-1994; 263-173 (.603)) as the third coach in Minnesota history to win 260 matches. Hebert also led the 'U' to three Final Fours.
11 -- Of Minnesota's first 18 matches are versus ranked opponents. The Gophers are 5-5 so far in those contests.
9 -- Melani Shaffmaster now ranks 9th all-time in Minnesota history with 2,526 career assists. She is the ninth player in Minnesota history to register 2,500 assists.
7 -- Of Minnesota's eight non-conference matches were against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Seven of the teams were ranked or receiving votes when Minnesota played.
6 -- Of the eight teams Minnesota played in non-conference competition were ranked at the time of their matchup.
6 -- Different Gophers have reached double figures in kills this year (Carter Booth, Naya Gros, Julia Hanson, Taylor Landfair, Jenna Wenaas, Mckenna Wucherer).
5 -- Graduate libero CC McGraw ranks No. 5 all-time at Minnesota with 1,736 career digs. She's just two away from passing Jessica Granquist (2008-11) for No. 4 all-time. Dalianliz Rosado (1,870) ranks No. 3.
4 -- Of the past six matches, the Gophers have hit over .300 as a team. They've done so eight times this season, posting an 8-0 record in those contests.
2 -- Hugh McCutcheon became the second winningest coach in Minnesota history with last Sunday's win over Michigan State, his 264th win at the helm of Minnesota.

HUGH'S LAST HURRAH
• The 2022 season will be head coach Hugh McCutcheon's last as the man in charge of Minnesota's volleyball program, he announced on Sunday, Oct. 16. Associate head coach Matt Houk will serve as interim head coach of the program after the season while a national search is conducted.

LAST TIME OUT
• Minnesota rallied for a three set win against Illinois on Saturday afternoon at the Pav. Taylor Landfair had 12 kills while Jenna Wenaas posted 11 kills and nine digs. Rachel Kilkelly posted a season-best 10 digs.
• The Gophers continued their strong play with a sweep over Iowa on the road on Wednesday. Minnesota hit .294, paced by 13 kills and eight blocks from Taylor Landfair and 29 assists, 10 digs from Mel Shaffmaster.

SCOUTING PURDUE
• The No. 12 Purdue Boilermakers are coming off an Elite Eight NCAA run under legendary head coach Dave Shondell. Shondell is in year 21 as the man in charge in West Lafayette.
• Purdue is 9-1 but lost their lone ranked matchup of the non-conference season against No. 3 Louisville in three sets. Their lone ranked win (1-3 record) came against Minnesota on Sept. 23.
• Freshman Eva Hudson leads the Boilers with 4.58 kills per set, a feat that also leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 10 nationally.

HISTORY VS. PURDUE
• Minnesota is 56-33 all-time against Purdue, including a 13-5 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers have won nine of the last 12 in the series, with the losses coming in 2017, 2021 and then in September in West Lafayette to open Big Ten play.

LANDFAIR HAVING PROLIFIC THIRD SEASON
• The No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020, Taylor Landfair had an excellent true freshman season in the spring of 2021. She ranked second on the Gophers in kills per set and made First Team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America honorable mention.Last fall wasn't quite as fun for Landfair as she sat out most of the year (played just nine games) with an abdominal injury.
• She's back and better than ever in 2022, leading the 'U' in kills with 4.51 per set so far this year. She's also averaging over 1.7 digs and nearly 0.6 blocks per set, playing all six rotations. Landfair was named MVP of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge after leading all players in points and kills. She's led Minnesota in kills 16 of 17 games in 2022.
• Landfair ranks second in the Big Ten and 11th nationally with 4.51 kills per set. Her 5.06 p/s ranks 16th.
• Landfair is one of just two players in the nation to have 10+ kills in every match this season.

MCGRAW MOVES HER WAY UP RECORD BOOKS
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Gophers history with 1,736 digs. CC is now 264 digs away from becoming just the 10th player in B1G Volleyball history and second Gopher ever to reach 2,000 in her career.
• McGraw ranks 24TH among active Division I players in digs and first in the Big Ten.
• In three of her four seasons, McGraw has made Minnesota's top-20 list for most digs in the season. In 2018, she had 428 (18th), 450 (16th) in 2019 and a career-best 510 in 2021 (12th). She's the second Gopher to have three-or-more seasons with 400-or-more digs. So far in 2022, McGraw has tallied 181 digs.

GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 152-45 (.773) in Big Ten competition. In his 10 seasons prior in charge, the Gophers have had nine seasons above .500 in conference play. In nine of those seasons, the 'U' went 15-5 or better in conference play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018.
• Minnesota is 6-3 in Big Ten play in 2022 through the halfway point. In 2021 the Gophers were also 6-3 (finished 15-5). Minnesota was 9-0 in spring 2021 (15-2) and 8-1 in 2019 (17-3) through nine games.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in eight of the last nine seasons.

BLOCK PARTY IN MINNESOTA
• In 2021, the Gophers ranked No. 7 in the B1G and No. 40 nationally in blocks with 289.5 and 2.47 per set.
• So far in 2022, Minnesota ranks No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 7 nationally with 2.81 blocks per set.
• Naya Gros leads the Gophers and ranks 5th in the B1G with 1.41 blocks per set.

GETTING HOT AT THE RIGHT TIME
• Minnesota has won five of its last six matches entering Saturday's tilt with Purdue. In four of those matches, the Gophers swept their opponents.

BIG TEN KEEPS STACKING ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
• So far in 2022, Wisconsin leads the nation in attendance (8,426) with Nebraska in second (8,186). Minnesota comes in at No. 4 (4,725). Hawaii (5,688) is just above the Gophers.

GOPHERS HEATING UP HITTING
• Minnesota is up to No. 3 in the Big Ten and No. 28 nationally in hitting percentage at .260 for the year. Only Wisconsin (.261) and Michigan (.263) rank ahead of the Gophers.
• The 'U' has hit .300-or-better eight times this year, and has done so in four of its past six outings.
• The Gophers are up to fifth in the conference with 12.30 assists per set.

UP NEXT
• The Gophers host Michigan State on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. before traveling to Wisconsin to take on the Badgers on Saturday, Oct. 29. Saturday's match will be a 5:30 p.m. start on BTN.

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Players Mentioned

Carter Booth

Naya Gros

Julia Hanson

Rachel Kilkelly

Taylor Landfair

CC McGraw

Melani Shaffmaster

Jenna Wenaas

Mckenna Wucherer