Purdue's incoming freshman class of Katie Bremner, Sam Gray, Carrie Gurnell, Lisa Pierce and Meagan Sesselmann has been ranked the 13th-best class in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com. PrepVolleyball described the class as adding "two of the nation's most athletic outside hitters, a Big Ten ready setter, and a crafty ball-control player that will complement the size and strength of the returning Boiler squad."

The Big Ten Conference placed six programs among the top 25 recruiting class list. Penn State was honored as having the nation's best incoming class, followed by Wisconsin (12th), Purdue (13th), Northwestern (14th), Ohio State (20th) and Michigan (25th).

Sam Gray named USA Volleyball 18 MVP

Incoming freshman setter Sarah "Sam" Gray was named a USA Volleyball Junior Olympic tournament MVP after helping her Team Indiana Terminators to the championship of the 18 American Division. The Terminators had to knock off another Indiana team, Circle City 18, and did so in three -- 25-19, 25-27, and 15-10.

Kelly Faris named USA Volleyball 15 MVP

Kelly Faris of Heritage Christian (Ind.) high school was named a tournament MVP at the 2006 USA Volleyball Junior Olympic Championships in Atlanta. Her Circle City 15-Purple Cobras squad won the 15 American Division title, beating a San Diego-based team 25-21, 19-25, 15-10 in the July 2 final.

Faris' love still seems to be basketball, where she led Heritage Christian to the Class 2A state title in March. Faris is being recruited on the basketball side by Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp and staff.

Eastbrook junior gains MVP award at Purdue camp

Katie Jones of Eastbrook (Ind.) high school won MVP honors in her division at the Purdue Elite Camp in July. Jones played in the 14-to-18 year-old division and her team won the tournament championship at the three day camp.

Large numbers for Purdue's Team Camp

Speaking of Purdue camps, Dave Shondell and the Purdue staff are gaining a reputation for holding one of the nation's best instructional team camps. Shondell has designed a format that not only allows the teams to go head-to-head like every other camp in the nation, but also works in individual skills and review segments. The morning sessions focus on individual skills, then the afternoon sessions review the individual skills and incorporate team skills. In the evening sessions, the teams play matches in a poll format that will place teams in a three-division tournament on the last day.

The 2006 Team Camp brought in an incredible 550 players and 55 high school coaches. Purdue had 75 camp coaches on hand to handle the enormous task of instruction. The staff believes this year's camp was one of, if not the, largest camps in Indiana history.

The top tournament division, the Gold Division, picked 24 of the camps top teams based on their pool play. The top finishers in tournament play among Gold Division teams are said to be Warren Central, New Albany, Providence, and Elkhart Memorial.

OGFP Volleyball page updated

Due to some difficualties in our server transition this summer, some of the fucntions of the OGFP Volleyball page disappeared. Most have now been restored, including updates to the scholarship grid, the committed recruits and the 2006 schedule. We are also back to updating the page with links to media stories on the team, so if you see a story about the team or a future or potential recruit, just email them to me at the Contact link at the top of the page.

This page is a collaborative effort, and we appreciate the help everyone has provided as we try to get our volleyball coverage off the ground. If anyone is interested in doing game summaries for the site, contact Bob Richards at the link at the top of the page for more information.

READ MORE: OGFP Purdue Volleyball page