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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 1 • 32 BY TRAVIS BAUGH Tbaugh@purdue.edu A fter an offseason filled with well-deserved hype, Purdue volleyball coach Dave Shondell is ready to see how good his eighth- ranked Boilermakers really are. He'll get that opportunity this weekend as Purdue hosts three talented teams in South Florida, No. 14 San Diego and LSU in the Mortar Board Premier in Holloway Gymnasium. "We're eager to see if we're very good or not," Shondell said. "We think that we're doing some good things in practice, but you never know until you get on the floor against somebody else and that's what we'll find out this weekend. … We're going to play three teams who are all capable of beating us." San Diego, the reigning West Coast Conference champs, went 26-4 and made it to the Sweet 16 of last year's NCAA tourney. LSU, which Shondell called one of the most athletic teams Purdue will see all season, is slat - ed to finish in the top three of the SEC and received 52 votes in the preseason poll. South Florida finished with a winning record last season and returns American Conference Player-of-the-Year and Olympic trial participant Erin Fairs. "I think this weekend will be the real test," Purdue junior libero Amanda Neill said. "We'll find out where we stand. There's been a preseason of polls, but to be hon - est, nobody should be looking at that. We don't. "Playing those teams will re- ally be an eye-opener to where we stand." Purdue faced a similarly tal- ented group of teams in last year's Mortar Board Premier and went 1-2 with a 3-1 loss to then-No. 4 USC and a 3-2 setback from West- ern Kentucky, which finished the season 27-6. Shondell downplayed the importance of beginning this sea- son better, due to the Elite Eight run last year's squad ended up making despite the sluggish start. "You recognize how we fin- ished last year, and you realize it's not that crucial," Shondell said. "We aren't going to lose our mind if we go 1-2 this weekend be- cause we did it last year and we ended up having a very memora- ble season. It's really how you're playing down the stretch as op- posed to how you play when you open the can of worms." Neill said she likes the compet- itiveness of the season-open- ing tournament because it forces Purdue to be ready from the season opener as opposed to easing in. The strong slate to start served as motivation throughout offseason work- outs. "We like to put competi- tion against ourselves," Neill said. "Having good teams come in here will hopefully give us a run for our money and make us better." Shondell said Purdue's lineup isn't set due to the emer- gence of the upperclassmen and the rapid development of its CHALLENGING OPENING WEEKEND AWAITS BOILERS Purdue Sam Espensa and the rest of her Boilermaker teammates face a tough opening weekend. 2014 VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Aug. 29 USF 10 a.m.^ No. 14 SAN DIEGO 7:30 p.m.^ Aug. 30 LSU 7 p.m.^ Sept. 5 vs. UNC-Asheville 5 p.m* Sept. 6 vs. Elon 10 a.m. at Kennesaw State 7:30 p.m.* Sept. 12 vs. Austin Peay 1 p.m.# at Western Kentucky 7 p.m.# Sept. 13 vs. Western Michigan 1 p.m.# Sept. 19 ST LOUIS 10 a.m.% MOREHEAD STATE 7:30 p.m.% Sept. 20 NOTRE DAME 8 p.m. % Sept. 26 MICHIGAN 7 p.m. Sept. 27 MICHIGAN STATE 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at Rutgers 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at Maryland 1 p.m. Oct. 8 INDIANA 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at Indiana 7 p.m. Oct. 17 PENN STATE 7 p.m. Oct. 18 OHIO STATE 7 p.m. Oct. 24 at Northwestern 8 p.m. Oct. 25 at Illinois 8 p.m. Oct. 29 WISCONSIN 7 p.m. Nov. 1 MINNESOTA 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at Nebraska 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at Iowa 8 p.m. Nov. 12 MARYLAND 7 p.m. Nov. 15 NORTHWESTERN 7 p.m. Nov. 19 RUTGERS 7 p.m. Nov. 22 at Minnesoa 8 p.m. Nov. 26 at Michigan State 7 p.m. Nov. 28 at Wisconsin 8 p.m. ^ Mortar Board Premier, West Lafayette * KSU Owls Invitational, Kennesaw, Ga. # Holiday Inn University Plaza Invitational, Bowling Green, Ky. % Active Ankle Challenge, West Lafayette