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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 81 that will serve as motivation to prove people wrong, that even though we lose three core players we'll come back just as strong and hopefully even stronger." This offseason, Purdue wants to continue the trend it started a year ago. It was then that the Boilermakers felt like they had been a fractured group during the 2014 season, one that ended with a top-20 ranking but not a tourney bid. So they worked to resolve that through the offseason, building chemistry through workouts and other non-volleyball activities. It all paid off. Purdue was more unified in 2015, able to overcome adversity that had overwhelmed it at times the year before. "They worked really hard," 14th-year coach Dave Shondell said. "They really com- mitted to get back in the NCAA Tournament; they just vowed that wasn't going to happen again while they were here. (And secondly), they became a better team, they worked re- ally hard at becoming better teammates. I think they felt like that was part of the issue the year before that may not have allowed us to reach our potential. It was not the unity that we really needed. "It's difficult when you have student-ath- letes with a lot going on, some are playing all the time, some aren't, to have a perfect environment. I think this year we came as close as we can to that (camaraderie), and I give our seniors credit for how they led. They didn't strong-arm anybody. I think they led Say What? Purdue was dropped from the NCAA Tournament last season, a snub that left many scratching their heads. This year might have been equally as confounding. Although the Boilermakers were ranked 17th in the last regular-season poll — and had finished fifth in the Big Ten — they didn't get a favorable placement in the NCAA. Not at all. The committee, in essence, considered Purdue as an 8 or 9 seed, forcing it or first-round opponent SMU to play on the home court of third-ranked Texas, which had the nation's best RPI and was 25-2, in the second round. The Boilermakers did beat SMU, before losing to the Longhorns. The selection committee, which puts a strong emphasis on RPI, seeds only the top 16 teams, which serve as hosts for the first two rounds. It doesn't seed the rest, unlike men's basket- ball, which orders teams one through 68. After the seeding, the volleyball committee tries to organize teams to create balance, while also keeping location and travel considerations as prior- ities. And in doing so, the tournament might have some seeding ir- regularities, some of which seem unexplainable. Take Purdue and Illinois, as examples: Purdue finished with a 22-9 regular-season record, 13-7 in the Big Ten, with an RPI of 35. Illinois was 19- 12, 10-10, with the 29th-best RPI. The Boilermakers, who finished three games higher in the Big Ten standings, beat the Illini in five games in West Lafayette in their only meeting of the season. Yet, Illinois got a more favorable draw, heading to Louisville's sub regional, where the 18th-ranked Cardinals were the Tourna- ment's 16th seed. The Illini advanced to the Sweet 16. In early December, Purdue coach Dave Shondell sent a letter to the selection committee chair asking for clarification. "What about our body of work indicated that it wasn't as good as Illinois?" Shondell asked, using Illinois as an example while not criticizing the Illini program. "The fact that we beat them head-to- head? The RPIs were almost even in a world where RPI is hard for us to master. Or the fact that we were three games above them in the league? If their RPI was significantly better — and I know how RPI controls the decision-making, then I get it — but their RPI wasn't." — Kyle Charters "We have a solid core, and the people who did not get as much playing time, I think they will flourish in the spring and will embrace their new roles." Setter Ashley Evans