All-American returns to Purdue volleyball, giving 'emotional lift' to No. 10 Boilers

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue volleyball‘s sorrow of a three-set loss to No. 6 Wisconsin on Sunday at Mackey Arena was brightened by the presence of an All-American outside hitter.

Senior Kenna Wollard, who in August announced on social media in August she is “currently dealing with an unexpected health issue that will keep me away for a little while” and wishes not to share further details at this time, was on the sideline for the second time this regular season.

And it may be a recurring theme.

“Kenna is back with us. She is going to travel with us if we let her to Oregon (Oct. 2) and Washington (Oct. 4),” Purdue volleyball coach Dave Shondell said. “It will be nice to have her with us. Hopefully she can give us an emotional lift a little bit.”

Wollard previously returned to Mackey Arena for Purdue‘s match against Georgia on Sept. 2 but left before Purdue finished off a five-set victory.

Last season, Wollard was a unanimous All-Big Ten Selection, Midwest Region Player of the Year and a second-team All-American after helping Purdue go 27-7 and reach the Elite Eight in a year she led the Boilermakers with 4.4 kills per set. Wollard entered 2026 as a preseason All-Big Ten selection and on the National Player of the Year watch list.

Shondell does not anticipate Wollard returning to competition this season.

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“She feels really good right now and she wants to be back. She thinks this is going to be really good for her to be back and be around her people,” Shondell said. “She wants to travel with us and doctors say she is perfectly ready to go and travel with us. She’s getting lots of treatment. Sometimes that treatment goes smooth and sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s going very smooth so far, so we are happy about that.”

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: All-American returns to Purdue volleyball, giving ’emotional lift’ to No. 10 Boilers