Purdue’s dynamic duo pushing the team forward

The offensive power provided by Freshman of the Year Eva Hudson was one of the main weapons of Purdue in the last Big Ten women’s volleyball season and the Boilermakers are doubling down on it to have even more success this year.

Besides having a more experienced version of Hudson to lead the team, Purdue also added one of the most-coveted recruits in the country to split the scoring load with her in Chloe Chicoine and the two have helped the Boilermakers take three wins in their first five non-conference matches.

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Purdue opened the season with a 3-1 win over Duke, but then fell in consecutive matches to Creighton and Loyola. The Boilermakers are back in good form now, having topped Kansas and Marquette in the tie-breaker at the Kansas Invitational last weekend.

Hudson had a stellar freshman season for Purdue, leading the team in points with 582 points, including 514 kills. Coming back this year, the outside hitter continues to be a force at the net, having registered 76 kills in five matches.

“My confidence level is much higher now,” Hudson commented. “Coming in as a freshman, you don’t know what to expect and you have a lot to look forward to and get used to. Now, coming back as a sophomore and knowing what I’m up against and what’s coming up in the season and that I can do this, that’s very comforting.”

Recruited to be her sidekick, Chicoine is delivering exactly what Purdue expected in her early days as a Boilermaker. The freshman outside hitter is up to an excellent start with Purdue and is currently the team’s top scorer with 95 points, having had 20 or more kills in two of her first five matches with the team.

Chicoine joined the team with some international experience under her belt, having been a part of the USA national team that took bronze at the 2021 U18 World Championship and having helped the Americans win back-to-back editions of the U21 Pan-American Cup in 2022 and 2023, being awarded as the Most Valuable Player this year.

“She’s been bringing so much to our team in so many different aspects,” head coach Dave Shondell said. “She is a difference maker. When she came into our gym, our culture improved. She's a workhorse and she's got a cannon of an arm, and it's going to take a lot of pressure from people like Eva Hudson and Raven Colvin to have another player out there that can create her own points for us. So she's nice to have.”

Purdue’s dynamic duo will be in action again this week, when the Boilermakers host the Stacey Clark Classic. The team will play Southern Methodist (SMU) on Friday and then either Kentucky or Houston on Saturday, at 19:00 local time (23:00 UTC).

The team’s second match this weekend will be streamed live on VBTV for subscribers around the world.

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