Purdue Volleyball Headed to Bahamas in 2026
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The Purdue volleyball team will be stepping outside of the country for a special event in 2026. As part of its regular-season schedule, the Boilermakers are heading to Nassau, Bahamas for the Paradise Invitational.
Purdue announced the addition to the schedule on Monday. The Boilermakers will head to Nassau from Sept. 11-13 and will feature Kentucky, SMU and Houston, along with Purdue. The event will take place at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar Resort, the same place the Purdue men's basketball team played in the Baha Mar Championship.
“Volleyball is an exciting sport to watch. The amount of TV viewership or attendance records being set the last few years leaves no question about it," coach Dave Shondell said in a statement. "From our players to our coaching staff – we have dedicated ourselves to the sport we love – and to see others investing in it now the way we do is very fulfilling.
"We’ve known how great the sport is, and being able to participate in the first-of-its-kind destination tournament for collegiate volleyball is something we’re proud to be a part of.”
Tickets for the event will go on sale to the general public on March 16. VIP packages for members of the John Purdue Club and volleyball season-ticket holders will be available beginning March 9.
Purdue is coming off a 2025 campaign in which it finished with a 27-7 record and a 15-5 mark in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers reached the Regional Final round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to Pitt in the final match of the season.
After the year concluded, Shondell signed a four-year contract extension to keep him in West Lafayette for the foreseeable future. The Boilermakers return plenty of key contributors from last season, including outside hitter Kenna Wollard, opposite hitter Grace Heaney, middle blocker Dior Charles, libero Ryan McAleer and setter Taylor Anderson.
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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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