Under Dave Shondell Purdue has been a regular visitor to the NCAA Tournament, and it often hangs around a bit once there. Shondell took over the program in 2003 and since then Purdue has made the tournament 18 times in his 21 seasons. The program has reached the Sweet Sixteen of the tournament eight times in that span, and in 2010, 2013, 2020, and 2021 it reached a regional final and came within one match of the volleyball Final Four.

This season he has had a young team that has grown tremendously as the season has gone on. Purdue enters the tournament at 21-8, but it finished 15-5 in the rough and tumble Big Ten, good enough for third place. It beat fellow third place finisher Penn State twice and managed to grab a win over Wisconsin, who is a No. 1 seed this week and the badgers spent a good portion of the season at No. 1 overall.

Purdue managed wins this year over Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Kansas as top 16 seeds who are hosting subregionals this week. It will be the No. 3 seed in the Madison, Wisconsin Regional behind only Oregon and the Badgers. Their run will begin today in Holloway Gym as Eastern Illinois faces No. 6 seed Marquette at 4:30pm, follow by Purdue vs. Fairfield.

Here is a look at the field.

First Round – Thursday November 30, 2023

4:30pm – Eastern Illinois vs. Marquette

30 min. after conclusion: Purdue vs. Fairfield

Second Round – Friday, December 1

7pm – First Round winners

All matches streamed on ESPN+

Tickets Available via SeatGeek with code BOILERUPLOAD.