Purdue Volleyball's 2026 Home and Away Big Ten Schedule Revealed
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Purdue is one step closer to the 2026 college volleyball season, learning its home and away conference opponents for the upcoming campaign. The Big Ten released the schedule on Monday.
This year, Big Ten teams will play 17 matches, playing every team in the league just once. This comes as the conference is set to host the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament, scheduled to begin on Friday, Nov. 20, and will run through Wednesday, Nov. 25.
Dave Shondell's squad will play eight home matches and will play nine road matches during Big Ten play. No dates for the matches have been provided at this time, just the home and road opponents.
The Boilermakers are coming off a season in which they posted a 27-7 record and reached the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. With All-Americans Kenna Wollard, Grace Heaney and Taylor Anderson all returning, Purdue has high expectations for itself this coming season.
Purdue's home matches
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Maryland Terrapins
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- UCLA Bruins
- USC Trojans
- Wisconsin Badgers
Purdue's road matches
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Michigan Wolverines
- Michigan State Spartans
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Oregon Ducks
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Washington Huskies
Quick thoughts
Purdue actually has a nice balance of home and road opponents for the upcoming season. The Boilermakers finished last season third in the Big Ten standings and will play two of the last year's top five Big Ten teams at home and the other two on the road.
The most difficult match on the schedule will be against Nebraska, a preseason favorite to reach the Final Four and win a national championship. Purdue will also have to travel to Bloomington for a matchup against arch-rival Indiana.
The Boilers do play Wisconsin and USC on their home floor, though. That will give Purdue a little advantage against two high-quality opponents also on the 2026 schedule.
Purdue's non-conference schedule
In addition to playing in the best volleyball conference in the country, Purdue has also loaded up its non-conference schedule with quality opponents.
So far, the Boilermakers have announced a handful of those matchups. They will host reigning national champion Texas A&M in the first Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge on Sept. 1. On the following day, Purdue will then play Georgia, both matches scheduled to be played at Holloway Gymnasium.
Purdue is also traveling to the Bahamas to participate in The Paradise Invitational. That event, scheduled to be played at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar resort, will feature the Boilermakers, as well as Houston, Kentucky and SMU. Purdue will play Houston on Sept. 12 and will then play either Kentucky or SMU the next day.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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