WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana — Things learned Friday at Purdue:
— The Nebraska freshmen, talented as they are, probably now believe people when they say how tough it is on the road in the Big Ten.
— Purdue is scrappy as ever.
— There are simply so many outstanding freshmen in NCAA women’s volleyball and seven of them started here in Nebraska’s 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 15-12 victory.
— Two of those kids were simply fantastic as Harper Murray led Nebraska with a career-high 21 kills, three assists, two blocks and 10 digs; and Chloe Chicoine, generously listed at 5-foot-10, had 18 kills for Purdue while hitting .359 to go with an ace, a block and seven digs.
“We’re both really young teams but we’re both pretty good,” Chicoine said. “It’s really fun playing against each other.”
— John Shondell has left the Purdue program after 20-plus years.
The crowd of 2,415 inside cozy and uber-loud Holloway Gym had plenty to cheer about from the get-go as AVCA No. 17 Purdue (8-4, 2-1 Big Ten) took it right to the unbeaten Huskers (12-0, 3-0), the No. 2 team in the VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll. Purdue, which squandered a five-point second-set lead, rallied from a 19-16 deficit in the fourth by scoring the last 10 points of the set.
“We were out of sorts tonight,” Nebraska coach John…
