ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 83
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BY TRAVIS BAUGH
TBaugh@Purdue.edu
P
urdue appeared destined for a fifth
consecutive trip to the postseason
with eight days left in the regular season:
It was 22-7 overall, 12-5 in conference
play and had a No. 16 national ranking.
"We knew we had a real challenge with
those three road matches, but we really
felt like we were where we needed to be at
that point in time," Coach Dave Shondell
said.
But those three games — at Minneso-
ta, Michigan State and Wisconsin — re-
sulted in three consecutive losses to end
the season and an RPI of 54. And Purdue
was left out of the NCAA Tournament for
the first time since 2009.
"I don't want to make this out to be a
bad year," Shondell said. "It wasn't like we
fell off the face of the Earth. But I would
agree that we didn't have the success that
I wanted to have with this team. I would
still say any time Purdue — with where
we are right now — doesn't make the
NCAA Tournament, we've probably under-
achieved.
"We had good talent. I think our play-
ers and coaches have to do a better job of
figuring out how to play better on the road
and how to play better together."
While Purdue's performance down the
stretch in conference play hurt its NCAA
chances, its poor non-conference sched-
V O L L E Y B A L L : S E A S O N W R A P
Tom Campbell
Outside hitter Annie Drews will be part of a
Boilermaker team with plenty of motivation
in 2015, after the selection committee left it
out of the NCAA Tournament this season.
Coming Up Short
RPI, poor finish keep Purdue out of NCAA Tournament
