The Pepperdine men’s volleyball team is set to continue its homestand this weekend, facing the Daemen Wildcats on Sunday afternoon at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves began their 2026 season with a straight-set victory over St. Thomas Aquinas and are looking to build on last year’s strong performance, which included reaching the NCAA tournament semifinals and securing the MPSF conference title.
This season marks the final year that Pepperdine will play home matches in Firestone Fieldhouse before moving to a new arena, The Mountain at Mullin Park, for the 2026-27 season. The new facility will seat 3,600 spectators and feature modern amenities such as a high-definition scoreboard and upgraded locker rooms.
Pepperdine enters the season ranked No. 4 in the AVCA preseason poll, trailing only Long Beach State, Hawai’i, and UCLA. The team boasts several returning All-Americans: Ryan Barnett, James Eadie, Cole Hartke, and Jacob Reilly. Over the summer, Barnett earned a silver medal with Team USA’s U23 squad at the Pan American Cup while also competing alongside Reilly for the senior national team. Hartke contributed to a bronze-medal finish for Team USA’s U21 squad at the FIVB World Championship—the best result ever for an American team in that event.
Redshirt freshman Grant Lamoureux is expected to make his debut after being named Junior Male Indoor Athlete of the Year and serving as captain of Team USA’s U19 World Championship squad last summer. Another newcomer is Ford Harman, who transferred from Long Beach State after winning a national championship there; Harman also earned silver at last year’s Men’s Beach Collegiate Challenge.
International talent continues to be part of Pepperdine’s roster with players representing Cuba, Serbia (including transfer Andrej Polomac), and Switzerland. Looking ahead to next year, two international recruits—a Serbian player and a Czech middle blocker—are set to join.
Head coach Jonathan Winder is entering his fourth year leading Pepperdine following his most successful campaign yet: “Last season was special for our program,” Winder said previously about reaching the NCAA Final Four and capturing an MPSF title—the first since 2019—for his alma mater.
In previous meetings with Daemen University, Pepperdine holds a perfect record of 2-0; both matches ended in sweeps by Pepperdine. Daemen comes into Sunday’s match after losing its opener against UC Irvine but returns four all-conference players from last year’s Northeast Conference championship squad.
First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m., with streaming available via B1G+ (subscription required) and live stats on pepperdinewaves.com.
Pepperdine men’s volleyball has won five NCAA National Championships—four under Hall of Fame coach Marv Dunphy—and produced numerous All-Americans over its history. Under Coach Winder’s leadership since taking over three years ago, the Waves have returned to national prominence by making another Final Four appearance in 2025.
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