Boilers head on
road trip
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
Heading on the road to face two of the nation's
top 15 teams can bring about an array of emotions for a freshman.
"I am incredibly nervous but I'm just like really
excited," said Lyndsey Phillips, a freshman middle hitter for the Purdue
volleyball team. "Because with Penn State and Ohio State you know that's
Big Ten."
The Boilers (1-7, 1-1 Big Ten) will endure what
is undoubtedly the toughest road trip of the season when they face No.
15 Ohio State (10-0, 3-0) at 7 tonight and No. 6 Penn State (8-2, 2-1)
at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. But the Boilers aren't intimidated.
"We've got a winning mentality," Phillips said.
"When you play good teams you step up to the challenge, and when you
play a really good team you want everybody to really step up."
Purdue coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said the key for his
team to avoid intimidation is to worry simply about what they're going
to do, not what may be done to them.
"We're focused a lot on what we can do," he said.
"Those teams, if you try to counter punch with them and let them establish
their offense you're going to be in trouble. You have to go out there
and try to be the aggressor and try to take it to them, especially when
they're at home."
Hulsmeyer said the Boilers want to be more aggressive
up front, where they have 6-foot-4 Phillips and 6-foot-2 Tiffany Yoskey.
Other than the centering on middle blockers' improvement,
Purdue has been working on the simple things — serve receive, serving,
etc.
"We're just focused on those fundamentals, and
I think if we can execute well then we'll come back with a win," Hulsmeyer
said. "We think we can play with anybody in the conference. It's just
a matter of how well we can execute."
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