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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 26, Digital 1

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When I say "good," you say "neighbor." P097313.1 State Farm, Home Office, Bloomington, IL Call me for your insurance needs and see how it feels to be on a #1 team. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. ® CALL ME TODAY. Now that's teamwork. Trent B Johnson, Agent 249 E State Street West Lafayette, IN 47906 Bus: 765-743-9595 trentismyagent.com ple are going to be hitting every ball her direction and it doesn't make any sense (to keep her in the match). You can't set her if we don't get the ball to the setter and get the ball back to her. That's one thing: She's got to play defense." Classmate Amanda Neill thinks Drews will be ready. "We need her at crucial points, and she's stepped up," Neill said. "We can count on here to be there, not just on the court. She's a leader. She's a senior. She does things right. She does what she's supposed to do when she's supposed to do it. I think having her for our underclass- men is crucial. "She definitely is a spark. She steps on the court, and we all want to play just as hard as she does." That's what Shondell wants to see. He compares Drews to former Purdue greats Stephanie Lynch and Jaclyn Hart, the difference being that those two stepped their games to a new level as seniors. Drews will have that chance now. "She's got to commit to being great," Shondell said. "It's really that simple. Commit to be great, not only for yourself but for the team, for the program and for the university. That's what it is. I'm not saying she hasn't done that, I just think she's got a different level of com- mitment." — Kyle Charters VOLUME 26, ISSUE 1 71 the Tournament last season, it might be a bit off the radar, at least by its recent standards, in the presea- son now. The Boilermakers were picked to finished seventh in the loaded Big Ten by the coaches this season, a little bit of a head-scratcher considering they were sixth last fall, the only team in the top seven left out of the tournament. And Purdue's not in the AVCA Top-25 poll, although it's receiving the second-highest votes among those outside. Purdue's again scheduled tough — it thought it had last season too, but a slew of opponents slumped, costing the Boilermakers in RPI and ulti- mately leading to their tourney snub — with three non-conference foes, BYU, LSU and Miami (Fla.), making the NCAA last year. The Big Ten will be rough, as always. Six confer- ence tournament teams are on Purdue's schedule, including NCAA champion Penn State and Elite Eight qualifiers Wisconsin and Nebraska. Six league teams are ranked in the preseason top-25, including four of the top eight. "The Big Ten is going to be ridiculous is how good it is," Shondell said. "It's never been this tough." It'll be a challenge as Purdue moves on from its disappointment last season, but one that the Boiler- makers say they're ready for. "Everybody has thought long and hard about it, like what went wrong or what we can do better," Neill said. "At this point in time, you can't even think about last season. It's over. It's done with. All we have now is to look forward to this upcoming season. I'm a senior, so I have one more year to em- brace everything that is here at Purdue. I'm going to move forward. I'm going to lead this team to what we want it to be." j

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