Volleyball team to
open season
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
Starting the last few seasons at home has allowed
the Purdue volleyball team to ease into the season.
Not this year.
For the first time since 1997, the Boilers will
begin the season on the road as they travel across the country to Seattle
to face Texas, No. 11 Brigham Young and the tournament's host, Washington,
in the Husky Opener today and Saturday.
"I think any team will tell you that when you head
out on the road there's a lot of bonding experiences that take place,"
Purdue coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "Those are the things that the players
will remember long after the wins and losses fade away — the fun
on the road they had together."
Hulsmeyer has never been to Seattle, and he and
his team will visit tourist attractions in the city Sunday before coming
back to West Lafayette. However, first the Boilers must do their best
to get some wins.
"This will be a great opener for us because all
three teams are of the caliber that we'll be seeing in the Big Ten Conference,"
Hulsmeyer said. "It's going to be a great test to see how far along
we are in our preparation.
"I wanted to make sure that we had a challenge
early in the season to show what we needed to do to compete in the Big
Ten."
Purdue's toughest challenge will come Saturday
against Brigham Young, which has one of the finest coaches in the nation.
Coach Elaine Michaelis is 867-216-5 in her 32 years at the school. BYU
was 26-7 last season. The Cougars have an All-American middle blocker,
Nina Puikkonen, and four all-conference players.
The Boilers' first game is against a team that
is very similar to them, Texas. The Longhorns went 10-18 last season
and finished in seventh place in the Big XII. Purdue went 13-19 and
finished in ninth place in the Big Ten.
After suffering through its first losing season
ever, Texas has a new coach, Jerritt Elliott, who was 50-12 the last
two years at Cal State-Northridge. The Boilers and Longhorns play at
5 p.m. today.
On Saturday, Purdue plays another team with a new
coach, Washington. The Huskies recently hired Jim McLaughlin, who had
success at Kansas State the last few years, to help rebuild a team that
went 8-19 and finished in ninth place in the Pac-10.
"We anticipate differences in these teams from
last season," Hulsmeyer said.
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