No. 6 Wisconsin Sweeps No. 10 Purdue to Open Big Ten Road Play
The short version
- No. 6 Wisconsin beat No. 10 Purdue 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 at Mackey Arena, its third straight win in the series.
- Freshman Decelise Champion led the Badgers with 11 kills and matched Purdue's entire team with five blocks.
- Purdue hit .113 as a team, its lowest of 2026 and the lowest Wisconsin has allowed this season.
- Wisconsin is 2-0 in the Big Ten after also beating No. 20 Oregon in four sets on Sept. 24.
- Up next: home against No. 18 Indiana on Oct. 1, then a trip to No. 15 Minnesota on Oct. 4.
Freshman Decelise Champion supplied 11 kills, five blocks and nine digs as sixth-ranked Wisconsin held No. 10 Purdue to a season-low .113 hitting percentage.
Sixth-ranked Wisconsin opened its Big Ten road schedule on Sept. 27 with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 victory over No. 10 Purdue at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. The win before 10,505 fans was Wisconsin's third in a row over the Boilermakers. Some Purdue students arrived in cheese-grater hats, an apparent jab at Wisconsin's cheesehead identity, and both programs entered the night inside the national top 10.
Purdue never held more than a two-point lead at any stage of the three sets, and each frame followed a similar pattern. Once Wisconsin crossed the 20-point mark, it did so holding a cushion of at least three.
Freshman Decelise Champion paced Wisconsin with 11 kills, her third outing of 10 or more across the past four matches. The 17-year-old, listed at 6-foot-6 as a right-side hitter, posted a .235 hitting percentage with three attack errors. She also recorded five blocks, as many as Purdue managed as a team, plus nine digs, second on the Badgers behind libero Anna Bardaro's 12.
Champion's classmates contributed heavily as well. Outside hitter Audrey Flanagan put down nine kills on .292 hitting, fielded 26 of Purdue's 56 serves and made just one reception error. Middle blocker Lynney Tarnow added six kills and four blocks, giving Wisconsin three freshmen in prominent starting roles.
Addy Tindall and Lameen Mambu had produced over half of Purdue's kills this season coming in, and the pair again shouldered the load with 11 and eight kills. Grace Heaney matched Mambu's eight, and no other Boilermaker topped three. Accuracy deserted all three, though: Tindall's .147 was her worst of the season, Mambu's eight attack errors left her at .000, and Heaney finished at .111 with six miscues.
As a team, the Boilermakers hit .113, their lowest mark of 2026 and also the stingiest figure a Wisconsin defense has permitted this year. Wisconsin finished with an 8-5 advantage in blocks, and Purdue committed 15 additional attack errors on plays that did not involve a Badger block.
The result pushed Wisconsin to 2-0 in Big Ten play, with both wins against ranked opponents after a four-set defeat of No. 20 Oregon on Sept. 24. The Badgers used the same starting unit in both contests: Charlie Fuerbringer at setter, Eva Travis and Flanagan at outside hitter, Champion on the right side, Bardaro at libero, and Jaela Auguste and Tarnow at middle blocker. Backup setter Isabelle Hoppe appeared strictly as a serving specialist, Kristen Simon entered only on defense, and no other Wisconsin reserve saw the floor.
The ranked opposition keeps coming. Wisconsin returns home to face No. 18 Indiana on Oct. 1 before traveling to No. 15 Minnesota on Oct. 4. Unless the polls shift, those matches fall within a six-match stretch that includes five ranked opponents.
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