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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 8 • 41 braska, Illinois and Northwest- ern. Middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe has been a force at the net for the Buckeyes with 3.04 kills and 1.32 blocks per set, the third-best mark in the conference. "Ohio State seems to al- ways play well against us," Workman said. "It will definite- ly be our biggest weekend of the season so far." A pair of victories over the weekend would give Purdue its first 8-0 Big Ten start since 1983 and guarantee a two- game cushion over everyone in the conference except No. 5 Wisconsin, which hosts No. 23 Minnesota Saturday. "It was a different feel in practice this week because we know what we have to do," Workman said. "A lot of people thought we had a pretty easy schedule to begin, so they thought, 'Oh, there's no big deal that they're 6-0. ' "I think it's actually pretty exciting that we can show peo- ple what we can do and we're not just beating up on smaller teams." j OLYMPIC ATHLETE-OF-THE-WEEK: DEBORAH SUAREZ T ennis coach Laura Glitz believes her team is having its best fall season in her eight years at Purdue. A big part of that hot start has been the play of Deborah Suarez, who transferred from Miami (Fla.) in the offseason. "She's very athletic," Glitz said. "She's a pretty physical player. She has a big serve and a big forehand. I see her somewhere at the top of our lineup. She's getting better each tournament because she didn't really compete a lot last year." Suarez dominated No. 46 Stephanie Vlad from Arizona State 6-1, 6-0 last week - end, marking her second straight-set win over a ranked opponent after defeating No. 110 Marta Morga of Memphis 6-0, 6-3 in the Purdue Invitational. She holds a 6-3 record in fall competition through three tournaments. "I feel like I'm playing really well thanks to Coach Laura," Suarez said. "I feel like she's really helped me in every aspect of my game mentally, emotionally and on the court. I think my intensity throughout the whole match has been constant. I'm trying not to go up and down with my in- tensity, but let it stay the same." Glitz and her staff first recruited Suarez, whose aunt Claudia Suarez was the No. 1 ranked 18s tennis player in Venezuela at one time, when she was a teenager in Venezuela. Former Purdue assistant Roberto Aspillaga and Glitz watched Su- arez play in a couple tournaments in her native country and offered her a scholarship. "I think she's playing at a high level now, and I kind of saw that when I was recruiting her two years ago," Glitz said. Suarez ended up attending Miami, however, at first, where she had an 11-2 record her freshman year, marking the best win percentage of any Hurricane who played in at least five matches. Miami finished the season 23-6 and made the Elite Eight, knocking out Purdue on the way, although Suarez didn't compete. She went 4-3 last fall for the Hurricanes and asked for her release from Miami in the spring be- fore contacting Glitz about coming to Purdue. "What made me transfer was definitely Laura," Suarez said. "I was being recruited by her before I went to Miami and I always thought she was a great coach. The team atmosphere here is amaz- ing. The girls we have here really love each other and it's really hard to find that." Glitz was happy to get a transfer she was famil- iar with that had such a solid college track record. "I thought that experience was a good thing because she's been on a team that's good and knows what it takes and what the work ethic was going be," Glitz said. "Sometimes when you bring in freshman it takes a while to adjust. "Getting her to transfer was a great thing because I didn't have to tell her what is expected because she already knew because at Miami it's tough and competitive there. That's where I want to take this program, so I thought that was a perfect thing for us." Suarez said the transition from Miami to Purdue has been an easy one. She's already set goals to make it to national indoors and get Purdue to a top-20 ranking in the country. "I feel like I'm adjusting really well," Suarez said. "I definitely think the girls have helped me adjust a lot. Laura has helped me a lot. Without them, it would be really difficult." — Travis Baugh