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Boilermakers bounce back In mid-October, Purdue was sitting at 2-4 in Big Ten play, in desperate need of a string of victories. When Purdue hosted Indiana on Oct. 22 at Belin Court, it was the third match in five days for the Boilermakers. After taking down the Hoosiers in a three-set sweep, the Boilers had just what they'd been looking for: A spark. A three-match winning streak put them above .500 in Big Ten play and back in the thick of the conference race. "(That) was really important for us," senior Tom Campbell Carly Cramer said. "We Val Nichol was a big reason the Boilermakers were really showed how fo- able to pull a big upset at Nebraska, a match that cused we were over those could be a turning point for the Boilermakers' seathree matches. We were son. able to respond and refocus after each match with another strong performance." Before the sweep of Indiana, the then-No. 21 Boilermakers (14-6 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) won a pair of big road matches, sweeping Iowa in three sets before upsetting then-No. 8 Nebraska in four sets. Setter/outside hitter Val Nichol was key in those road victories, finishing with 22 assists and 14 digs against the Hawkeyes before a 32-assist, 13dig performance in the upset of the Cornhuskers. That production earned Nichol Big Ten Player-of-the-Week Honors. It was the first conference award for Nichol, as she became the first Boilermaker to win Player-of-the-Week honors since Ariel Turner did so last November. "(Nichol) is doing everything she needs to be doing right now, from her approach to her training and her performance on match day," Shondell said. "She has a great amount of talent and some of that is coming to fruition. "Val still has a ton of room for growth. She can be a really good player in this league." —Brandan Alford 112 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 2 "We initially thought she would have more time to learn our system," Shondell said. "But she became an integral part of our team very fast. She's a brilliant young woman, a real worker who is a cerebral player. "She is slightly undersized for a middle blocker, so she has to be ahead of the game mentally." Adelaja credits much of her development while at Purdue to last year's redshirt season, as well as the team's summer trip to Europe. During that time she was able to learn the ins and outs of the program and see the action from a different perspective. "Redshirting last year was a great learning experience for me," Adelaja said. "I was able to learn the system and help out the other girls as much as possible every day in practice. "But maybe the biggest thing was when you are on the bench, you are able to see the game differently and see things that you may not see when you are out there on the court." The mental aspect of Adelaja's game has caught the attention of her teammates as well as the coaching staff. "Faye has responded well to coming in right away and playing this season," senior defensive specialist Carly Cramer said. "She's one of the smartest players we have and I certainly appreciate what she brings to our front line. She makes things easier for us; f