BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 3, 2026

Dave Shondell

Dior Charles

Grace Heaney

Purdue Boilermakers

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Purdue. We'll open it up starting with coach.

DAVE SHONDELL: Thank you. Appreciate a nice crowd being in here. You're all really spread out.

Great to be here. I think it's going to be a very interesting campaign in the Big Ten. We have an idea of what we're going to look like, but it's really hard to know what the other 17 Big Ten programs are going to be like.

But I think it will be a stronger year than a year ago. I thought last year was an anomaly in the Big Ten where I didn't think the programs were quite as strong as normal. I really believe that there's a lot of experience back this season across the board.

Obviously Nebraska is the kingpin. Not only are they very talented, but they're very angry based on last year's final match of the season for them. We all know what they're capable of doing, what kind of talent they've got. Wisconsin has the best young talent in the country. I know Penn State has corrected some things in their program. Minnesota, our rival Indiana is convinced they're going to beat us this year.

A lot of things going on that we have to be prepared for. But I really love our team. It's as athletic of a team as we've had. We may not have one individual that stands beyond everybody else like maybe an Annie Drews or Danielle Cuttino. But we have a lot of really, really talented athletes.

As far as character and work ethic, toughness, unselfishness, we're hitting home runs in those categories. So I think it's going to be a fun team. I know we're going to be considerably better than a year ago. It's hard to know how that is going to pan out. Are we going to win or not win close matches.

I like what we have. Looking forward to getting this thing started.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. (No microphone.)

DAVE SHONDELL: I don't know that we got a target on our back or not. I think Nebraska has a target on their back. I'm not sure it's going to be very easy to hit either.

I think that our team, I feel like we have incredible setting on our team with Taylor Anderson going into her fourth year as our starting setter. Isabelle Bardin, nobody knows anything about, she's going to be a future All-American, a rockstar waiting to happen.

Grace Heaney, who is onstage today, from up in Nebraska. Took a year off two years ago because she had surgery. Came back and had a really good year last year. She's a totally different player than she was then.

Kenna Wollard, who was a Second Team All-American, nobody knew anything about her until last year. She answered the call beautifully. We're not where we are right now without her play a year ago. She's much better as a complete player now than she was then.

Our middle play, Dior Charles is maybe one of the most underrated players in all of America. She had about 350 a year ago, blocked about 1.2 balls a match. And nobody knows her name for some reason. She's a freak athlete. Undersized, but an incredible athlete. She's going to have considerable not only help but competition for spots in the middle.

We got a transfer from Clemson, Kate Hansen, who is 6'3", just a tremendous volleyball player.

We have Bianka Lulic who played about half the time last year, 6'5" in the middle.

We have a freshman that is so much better than I expected in Lily Bosworth that comes out of Champaign, Illinois. Then we have a very physical middle as well that redshirted last year named Mo Williams. We're going to be physical and so much better in the middle.

Our libero play will be as good as any in the country. And I'll say that again. Our libero play will be as good as any in our country. And Ryan McAleer, I think she's the heart and soul of our team.

And we got some of the good backcourt kids. A freshman class that's just really, really good. Four kids that nobody saw last year because they redshirted as freshmen. Everybody has evolved. There's a different feel.

Last year at this point in time we had no idea. I'm giving you a big answer for this question. We had no idea what we were going to be like. We were hoping it wasn't going to be a disaster. It played out pretty well because of the heart that this team had.

Now we feel a lot more confident that we're going to put a really, really good team on the floor that can compete with everybody.

Q. (No microphone.)

GRACE HEANEY: Yeah, I think playing back at Nebraska is just a dream come true. Obviously I didn't get to play there the first time we played there my sophomore year because I was hurt. It was just even super cool seeing my team play there, just be a part of that.

I think this will be even more of a special experience for me in just that all my family gets to be there just watching me play. Everything like that. Nebraska, as well as Indiana, is such a strong volleyball state in general. So seeing that support for volleyball as a whole, how far it's come, is just so cool to see. I'm just really excited to play back there, yeah.

Q. (No microphone.)

GRACE HEANEY: Oh, yeah. My memories in high school, wow. They're just great. I loved playing with all those girls at Elkhorn North, being a part of that volleyball in the state of Nebraska in high school, was just so cool. I just grew a lot in high school being a leader on that team. I really figured out how in the very early stages of my volleyball career to be able to lead a younger team.

Q. (No microphone.)

GRACE HEANEY: Yeah, I mean, Dave is one of the best coaches to play for, or the best coach to play for in the Big Ten. He's been here for 24 years now.

DIOR CHARLES: Long time.

DAVE SHONDELL: Long time (smiling).

GRACE HEANEY: I think the way Purdue volleyball has accelerated in the last few years, as well as all the time he's been for, is really cool to see. How he cares for his players, we all love playing for him.

I think after last year was a big emphasis. If there wasn't a game going our way, being able to play for him, have that bigger end goal of finishing forward. We didn't really know where we were going to end up last season. Now that we have that under our belt from last season, I think the standards for this next season are even higher because we know that we can get to that spot, hopefully make it even farther the next year into the Final Four.

DIOR CHARLES: Yeah, I think describing Dave as passionate is an understatement. This man eats, sleeps and drinks volleyball. I think you can see that and tell in the way he coaches us, in the way he prepares us. I think it is an honor to play for a coach like that. It really, really grows you as a person, as a player.

I'm actually happy he signed a four-year contract, even though I won't be there. Everyone else gets to enjoy him for the rest of however long he stays there.

DAVE SHONDELL: Could be a lot longer (smiling).

DIOR CHARLES: Yeah, I'm happy you did it. Props to you.

DAVE SHONDELL: Thank you.

Q. (No microphone.)

DIOR CHARLES: Dave says this all the time. It's the setting. I mean, Taylor Anderson is just like a world-class setter. It really makes a difference in my performance, in my confidence, in having trust that Taylor will get me the ball, then Taylor trusting me to put away the ball.

Even though it came late in the season, continuing to foster that connection is really, really, really important.

I mean, playing in the Big Ten, I'm not even six foot. I'm a 5'10" middle, it's challenging. Dave has really pushed me to make plays and put away the ball in other ways than just being tall. You have to be creative. You have to be a shot-maker, as he likes to say. I think that's helped.

DAVE SHONDELL: I think the other thing, they just arrived from Wake Forest. If you're a middle, you have to have a relationship with the setter. That doesn't happen always very quickly. As she mentioned, she's not super big. She's taller than 5'10". She's touching 10-4 and a half. She can fly. After watching yesterday's practice, I said how hard she works blocking-wise. She's a great blocker. She's a better blocker than attacker, that's because she works really hard at it.

It takes some time in that transition. Late in the year is when she really started to turn it on because I think she gained some comfort and confidence. Now she'll start off where she left off.

Q. (No microphone.)

DAVE SHONDELL: Yeah, I mean, so much of it is just who she thinks she is. I don't think she arrived -- I know she was a USA Volleyball national tournament All-American, whatever that is worth at the time, but I don't think she believed in herself like she does now.

The injury didn't help. But if you walk in our gym right now, I think there's one player that really, really stands out, and it's her. We've got good players in our gym. But right now so far with four practices, just how well she's jumping, how much harder she's hitting the ball. She's a great natural blocker. We've had great right side players at Purdue. Karch Kiraly at one point called us Opposite U. She's the best right side blocker we've had.

Some nights she doesn't look like it, but she really is. She just can do everything. Last year we played her six rotations. I didn't think there was any way she could play six rotations. She decided she was that kind of player we needed to keep on the floor. She's amazing as a defensive player. A lot of it is she has this great flexibility, this athleticism, she can get to the floor, great first step, she understands the game.

It's just been a tremendous evolution to watch from the time she got here, took a year off because she couldn't swing at a ball. Then last year, Can I swing at a ball again? Yeah, you can. Had some great matches.

But you're going to see a lot more good matches from her this year.

Q. (No microphone.)

DAVE SHONDELL: Yeah, I've told our team this. I'm becoming a real honest guy. I used to kind of make up stories. I really try to be honest now as much as I can.

We have 17 players. One through 17, there's not that much margin. That will make it difficult because there's going to be some great players that aren't going to play as much as they want. We have to establish this love for one another, team-first mentality. We have that. It's a unique group of players.

Our depth is really, really strong. I mean, I was just giving Dior a hard time whether or not she's even going to play because we have all these middles that are going to fight for those spots. Our left side, Kenna Wollard returns. Obviously Kash Anderson is gone. Addy Tindall is now healthy. Top 20 recruit in the country, couldn't play a year ago. 6'3" monster of a woman that is playing at a high level.

We picked up Mimi Mambu from Georgia Tech, who was their leading kill getter a year ago at Georgia Tech. She's in her second year. She's a high flyer that has an electric arm and great competitor, very mature kid.

We've got good depth on the right side for Grace, too, in Rachel Williams who is a freak athlete. I feel like the depth is really, really good. It's just going to be how well does our staff and our veteran players manage the team to make sure we're all on the same page.

Q. (No microphone.)

DAVE SHONDELL: Yeah, I think, as I mentioned, just the camaraderie, how we play together. Volleyball is the ultimate sport of cohesion. If you're not on the same page, you're not going to have any kind of success in this league. Last year we overcame a lot of obstacles because we played with this incredible love for one another and purpose.

How do you manufacture that this year with a little bit different team? Coaches think they're really important. I found out last year how unimportant I was and just kind of handed it off to our players and said, Let's go, go get it, you guys have it under control.

I think the love for one another, the cohesion, togetherness on the floor I think is what they will see first.

Q. (No microphone.)

DAVE SHONDELL: Yeah, when you're as old as we are, okay, it's great to see that our game has arrived. I mean, I would say that it has definitely arrived. I think the trajectory is unlike anything I ever thought that I would be able to see in my lifetime.

But it's because people like yourselves have put the game in front of people. People are now seeing what a great game it is. Both men and women's volleyball is obviously taking off.

I think it will continue to do that. The Big Ten Network is as valuable as any resource for what's happening right now. I mean, people now for almost 20 years have been now watching volleyball in the Big Ten. Now they can't get enough of it.

I think it's great. We're playing in The Bahamas this year, first time that's ever happened when a match took place outside the country that is legitimately an NCAA match. That is going to be a lot of fun.

We played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse last year. Bridgestone in Nashville. We're playing in great places in the league.

The league is supporting our sport more than any league in the country. That's another reason why we are where we are today.

As I mentioned, I think our conference is poised for more greatness. I thought last year it wasn't a great year. Unfortunately Nebraska didn't win that opportunity to go to the Final Four. They were the best team in the country. You have to prove it every day. That's what's great about our sport.

Q. (No microphone.)

GRACE HEANEY: Yeah, I think this year's team is very much similar just 'cause there's so many of the same people. I think the people that we have added have just added to that. All their personalities kind of just gel with what we've already established.

I think there is a difference, though, where when we come step on the court, we are very serious, very competitive, are ready to work hard, but we also know how to have a lot of fun. There's so many personalities and characters on the team, which makes it so much easier to love the game, want to come to practice every day, keep getting better every day.

I genuinely look forward to going to the gym, getting reps with my friends, just playing the sport that we love to do.

Q. (No microphone.)

DIOR CHARLES: I would say have fun. I think the most important thing about playing a sport is having fun because when you lose sight of the love you have for the game, it gets hard. It's really, really important to keep that motivation. Just keep grinding. It's a long road, but it's worth it in the end. You get to make best, best friends like me and Grace. You get so much out of it, like just keep on with it, stick with it.