Purdue Selected to Play Tennessee In NCAA First Round

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The postseason journey is set to begin for the No. 8 seeded Purdue Boilermaker volleyball squad (20-10, 11-9 Big Ten) on Friday in a rematch vs. Tennessee at 4 p.m. ET in Louisville, Kentucky. The match will be played in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

The matchup will be hosted by the region’s No. 1 seed, Louisville. The winner of No. 8 Purdue vs. Tennessee will play the winner of No. 1 Louisville vs. Samford on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

Single-session tickets will go on-sale tomorrow (Monday) at 10 a.m. ET. The first and second rounds will be streamed on ESPN+.

Purdue and Tennessee faced off earlier this season in the opening week of the season, where the Boilermakers took down the Volunteers, 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19) to win the Tennessee Classic Tournament in Knoxville. Overall, Purdue is 8-1 against Tennessee. Friday’s meeting will be the third time the programs have faced each other since the beginning of last season.

With the team’s bid, Purdue has made the NCAA tournament 24 times in program history. Additionally, the ticket punched is the eighth consecutive year and the 17th time in the last 19 seasons.

Head coach Dave Shondell has led the Boilermakers to their 14th 20th-win season and 17th NCAA appearance. While at the helm, Shondell owns a 30-16 record in the Big Dance and is coming off back-to-back Regional Final berths.

This year, Purdue finished sixth in the Big Ten standings, marking the sixth consecutive year and 12th time in the last 13 seasons Purdue has finished sixth or better in the Big Ten.

The road trip will mark the first time Purdue has traveled for the opening rounds since 2018 (excluding the COVID season, in which the entire tournament took place in Omaha, Nebraska).

While Purdue’s first and second rounds will take place December 2-3, matches across the bracket will run from Thursday, December 1 through Saturday, December 3. The NCAA Regional Semifinals will take place Thursday, December 8 and Regional Finals on Saturday, December 10. The national semifinals and final will return to Omaha, Nebraska’s CHI Health Center Omaha, where the 2020 tournament took place. The semifinal matchups will take place on Thursday, December 15, while the national championship will be on Saturday, December 17.