MALIBU, Calif. –  The Pepperdine men’s volleyball team plays the first match of the 2026 season Friday night against the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College in Firestone Fieldhouse at 6 p.m.
 
LAST SEASON
• The Waves are coming off an incredible season with the farthest run in the NCAA tournament since 2019, losing to eventual National Champion Long Beach State in the semi-finals.
• Pepperdine finished 4th in the MPSF, making a run in the conference tournament hosted in Malibu, beating higher-seeded USC and UCLA to win the whole thing.
• In just three seasons under head coach Jonathan Winder, it is the team’s most successful season under his leadership.
 
GAME NOTES
• This season marks the 56th and final season with Firestone Fieldhouse as the home for Pepperdine Men’s Volleyball
• Pepperdine will move into the Mountain at Mullin Park for the 2026-27 season.
• The Mountain is a new 3,600-seat arena that will give Pepperdine a state-of-the-art competition venue, complete with a 360-degree high-definition scoreboard, VIP and hospitality spaces, and custom team locker rooms.
• Owning 5 NCAA titles and 18 MPSF titles, with the most recent being earned last year, the Waves are no stranger to what it takes to put together a championship-level team.
• With one of the toughest schedules in the NCAA, Pepperdine is setting the season up for success with a NCAA quarterfinal rematch against Loyola Chicago, a semifinal rematch with Long Beach State and a trip to the islands, taking on No. 2 Hawai’i in March.
• Opening No. 4 in the AVCA preseason poll, the Waves are only behind LBSU, Hawai’i, and conference-foe UCLA.
• Ryan Barnett, Cole Hartke, and Jacob Reilly all return as All-Americans for the Waves.
• All three played on some level of the national team this summer.
• Ryan Barnett earned a silver medal with the U23 team at the Pan American Cup while also playing on the senior USA team with Jacob Reilly in the Pan American Cup.
• Cole Hartke earned a bronze in the FIVB World Championship with the U21 team, the farthest the USA has ever gotten in the tournament.
• Redshirting last season, Grant Lamoureux is a player to keep an eye out for on this star-studded roster.
• Named the Junior Male Indoor Athlete of the Year this past year, the redshirt freshman brings plenty of experience regardless of never logging collegiate minutes.
• This summer, Lamoureux was a captain of the U19 World Championship squad with team USA where he led the team in kills nearly every time out.
• Redshirt Ford Harman transferred into Pepperdine from national-champion Long Beach State.
• This summer, Harman earned a Silver medal at the 2025 Men’s Beach Collegiate Challenge for team USA.
• Harman is originally from Santa Barbara, playing at Santa Barbara HS before college.
• Outside of the United States, the Waves represent three other countries in Cuba, Serbia, and Switzerland.
• Andrej Polomac, a transfer from Purdue Fort-Wayne, is the sole Serbian on the squad, brings elite experience as a setter with an average of just under 9 aces per set last season.
• The Waves add even more international experience next year with two of the three commits coming from overseas, bringing another Serbian to Malibu as well as a middle blocker from the Czech Republic.
• In his fourth year at the helm, Winder is coming off his most successful season last year with a run to the final four in the NCAA tournament.
• Last season, Winder led the Waves to an MPSF title, the program’s first since 2019.  
• As the ninth coach at the helm, Winder is an alum of the program himself, earning a National Title with Pepperdine in 2005.
 
First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game can be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required) with live stats available on pepperdinewaves.com
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Pepperdine men’s volleyball boasts one of the richest histories in collegiate volleyball, with five NCAA National Championships. Four of those championships came under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Marv Dunphy who totaled 612 victories in 34 seasons at the helm. With 19 NCAA Appearances and 63 All-Americans, the program has consistently been a destination for top talent across the country. Under current head coach Jonathan Winder, the Waves reached the NCAA Final Four in his third season at the helm in 2025.
 
TICKETS
For more information and to purchase tickets to upcoming home events, visit here.
 
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine women’s soccer news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMVB_ .
 

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Fresh off a national championship season, No. 3 Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball opens the 2026 campaign at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid with a pair of home matches, beginning with a season opener against Lindenwood on Friday, January 9, followed by a ranked showdown with No. 15 McKendree on Saturday. The opening weekend marks the start of a demanding schedule for the Beach, who enter the season as a Big West preseason favorite and a consensus national contender.

In the Rankings

• After finishing the 2025 season as the National Champion, Long Beach State starts the 2026 season ranked No. 3 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Preseason Poll. The Beach garnered 460 total points and five first-place votes.

• McKendree is ranked No. 15 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Preseason Poll. The Bearcats accumulated 167 points.

• The Big West is one of the most competitive Division I Men’s Volleyball conferences as all six Big West schools are nationally ranked, with No. 2 Hawai’i and No 3. Long Beach State sitting in the Top 5.

• This season, Long Beach State will face ten nationally ranked opponents in No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Hawai’i, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 10 UC San Diego, No. 11 CSUN, No. 13 Penn State, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 15 McKendree, No. 17 UC Santa Barbara and No. 19 George Mason. Additionally, the Beach will play one team that is receiving votes in Fort Valley State (9).

About The Beach

• No. 3 Long Beach State open the 2026 campaign looking to build on a national championship 2025 season which saw the Beach post a 30-3 overall record. The Beach went 9-1 in Big West action winning their fourth-straight regular season title and fourth national championship title.

• Long time Long Beach State Head Coach Alan Knipe retired after his championship 22nd season. The winningest coach in LBSU Men’s Volleyball program history, Knipe owns a career record of 449-171 for a winning percentage of .724.

 

• Replacing Knipe at the helm is long-time former Associate Head Coach Nick MacRae. MacRae is joined by Assistant Coaches McKay Smith, Amir-Lugo Rodriguez, Matt Prosser and Technical Coordinator Jon Parry. MacRae, a seasoned coach under Knipe, has worked at Long Beach State for the last 13 seasons helping Long Beach State capture three NCAA National Titles, two Big West Championships, and has helped lead the Beach to eight NCAA Final Four appearances.

• The Beach return 12 players from one year ago and welcome five newcomers.

• Senior Skyler Varga and Sophomore Alex Kandev, both returners, were named to the 2026 Big West Preseason Team. Varga returns as one of the nation’s premier attackers. Both earned NCAA All-Tournament Team honors for their performance in the NCAA Championship match. Varga finished the 2025 campaign with 270 kills (2.73 per set) on a .368 attack percentage, while adding 33 service aces, 70 total blocks, and 341 points across 99 sets. In addition to his on-court excellence, Varga also received CSC Academic All-America recognition. Kandev concluded his freshman season with 210 kills (3.23 per set) while hitting .458, and added 21 aces, 36 blocks, and 250 points in 65 sets.

North American Challenge

Long Beach State hosted the North American Challenge, a preseason exhibition tournament, featuring a total of four teams from the United States and Canada.

The tournament took place on Friday, Jan. 2 and Saturday, Jan. 4 with four matches played on day one and four on day two. The tournament was held in both the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid and the Gold Mine.

The United States won the tournament after sweeping all eight matches over two days.

The Beach were led by senior outside hitter Skyler Varga who was named MVP of the Tournament.

Big West Preseason Favorite

The Big West released its 2026 Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll and Team, and defending Big West regular season and National Champion Long Beach State was selected as the preseason favorite. The Beach garnered 24 total points and four first-place votes from league head coaches, signaling strong expectations for another elite season.

Long Beach State’s status as a national powerhouse was further reinforced in the 2026 AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Preseason Poll (Dec. 23), where the Beach were ranked No. 3 nationally behind UCLA and Hawai’i.

The Beach also placed multiple student-athletes on the 2026 Big West Preseason Coaches’ Team, as Skyler Varga and Alex Kandev earned preseason recognition following standout performances during Long Beach State’s championship 2025 season.

Following Long Beach State atop the Big West preseason poll, Hawai’i was chosen second with 22 points and two first-place votes, and UC Irvine was tabbed third with 17 points. CSUN, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara rounded out the poll, each earning nine points.

 

A Nebraska volleyball player has been named a finalist for another prestigious award. Setter Bergen Reilly, along with Olivia Babcock from Pittsburgh, Eva Hudson from Kentucky, and Mimi Colyer from Wisconsin, are the four finalists for the Class of 2026 Honda Sport Award for Volleyball.

Reilly had a tremendous 2025 season, helping the Huskers to a 33-1 record and a third straight Big Ten Championship. She averaged 10.47 assists per set and 2.70 digs per set with 73 kills, 67 blocks and 19 aces.

The Sioux Falls, S.D. native was a first-team AVCA All-American, AVCA Setter of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Setter of the Year, AVCA Region Player of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team. 

PORTLAND, Ore. — A new year brings with it a new season for the Portland State track & field program as the Vikings open their 2026 indoor season this Friday and Saturday at the Silver & Blue Invitational in Reno, Nev.
 
The season opener brings extra excitement for the Vikings, who enter their first track season under new head coach Joseph Blue. The Vikings’ new coach welcomes that excitement, though is quick to contextualize it as the first step in a long process for his team and his athletes.
 
 “We’re just trying to get our feet wet. There are no expectations. I just want them to go out there and race hard, throw hard and execute the things that we’ve been working on,” Blue said of the team’s season opener.
 
It’ll be the first official action for the non-distance runners in the Viking program since last May’s Big Sky Outdoor Championships. The Vikings’ throwers, jumpers, sprinters and hurdlers worked with their new coaches during the fall. Blue said the team trained throughout October together, then three weeks in November.
 
The seven-week training period was shorter than Blue would have liked, but productive. The short period of training means the Vikings will be still looking to build through the early part of their season.
 
“The first half of the season will be us still practicing. As we get through the end of February and we get to outdoor, our team will get more whole. But as we start right now, we’re still in preseason mode,” Blue said.
 
Some of the Vikings will be ready to go from this weekend’s season opener. Blue said Daniel Coppedge, who broke the school records in the weight throw and hammer last indoor and outdoor season, respectively, should be ready to go.
 
Coppedge will compete in the weight throw Friday morning. He set the record in the event with a throw of 56-00.00 (17.07m) at the Riverfront Invitational last season, though that isn’t even a personal best for Coppedge. His personal best came when he was competing unattached at the PSU vs. UP Dual Meet where he threw 56-02.00 (17.11m).
 
Meanwhile, Blue called Tori Forst “the best athlete” across both the men’s and women’s teams at Portland State. Forst should be ready to make noise for the Vikings this weekend. She had her 2025 outdoor season shut down early due to injury, but before then, had entered the top 10 all-time in the indoor 60 meters when she finished in 7.54 seconds at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
 
Forst also recorded an overall win in the 200 meters at the Oregon Preview during the outdoor season, finishing in a personal best of 24.40 seconds.
 
Forst is entered in the prelims of the women’s 60 meters Friday alongside teammates Sienna Rosario and Aida Wheat. Forst will also run the 200 meters Saturday with Rosario, Savannah Beasley and Ashley Peterson.
 
Some of the Vikings’ distance runners who had strong cross country seasons should also be ready to continue that this weekend. Emma Stolte ranks chief among those after she posted five top 10 finishes this past fall, including a ninth-place finish at the Big Sky Championships to earn all-conference honors.
 
Stolte is entered in the women’s mile Friday alongside Libby Fox and Sam Sharp. She’ll double back in the 800 meters Saturday, an event in which she ranks eighth all-time at Portland State.
 
Amir Ahmed returns to the middle distances after running cross country in the fall. He’ll chase a school record in the 600 meters Saturday, an event in which he ranks third all-time after finishing in 1:20.85 at the UW Preview last season. Nate Boyer set the current 600-meter record at 1:19.48 in 2006.
 
Ahmed will also run in the 1,000 meters Friday. Fellow men’s distance runners Abdinajib Abade, Luke Gillingham and Farhan Ibrahim will also run in the mile Friday.
 
More Vikings will make either their season or career debuts this weekend. Blue cautioned all of them, no matter where they are in their training, to not overextend themselves.
 
“All your best PRs are going to happen when you were confident and relaxed. It’ll never happen by running as hard as you can or trying to throw as far as you can. That’s when bad habits creep in. A lot of our sport is reflex, muscle memory and reactive strength. That’s all it is. And mental. If you can do that and do what you trained, it’ll happen,” Blue said.
 
That can be tough to keep in mind during a season opener when athletes are eager to prove themselves. But no one hits their New Year’s resolutions by the second week of January. If you did, then you chose too easy of a resolution.
 
“I want them to stay in their process. Because [this meet] is not the result. I don’t care what they finish here. It’s cool to see the result, but that result is just part of the process for the year,” Blue said.
 
MEET INFO

Jan. 9-10 – Silver & Blue Invitational – Reno, Nev. (Reno Sparks Convention Center)
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Results
 
MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 9
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
10 a.m. – Women’s Weight Throw (Flight 1 of 1 – Fisher)
~11 a.m. – Men’s Weight Throw (Flight 1 of 1 – Coppedge, Green)
2 p.m. – Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Heat 3 of 3 – Beasley)
2:15 p.m. – Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Heat 1 of 2 – Johnson, Sweeney)
2:25 p.m. – Women’s 60 Meters – Prelims (Heat 1 of 3 – Forst; Heat 2 of 3 – Rosario, Wheat)
2:40 p.m. – Men’s 60 Meters – Prelims (Heat 3 of 3 – Brost, Mcdonald)
2:55 p.m. – Women’s Mile (Heat 1 of 1 – Fox, Sharp, Stolte)
3:05 p.m. – Men’s Mile (Heat 1 of 1 – Abade, Gillingham, Ibrahim)
3:15 p.m. – Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
3:20 p.m. – Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
3:25 p.m. – Men’s 60 Meters – Final
3:30 p.m. – Women’s 60 Meters – Final
3:35 p.m. – Women’s 1,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Butterfield)
3:40 p.m. – Men’s 1,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Ahmed)
 
Saturday, Jan. 10
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
10 a.m. – Women’s Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – Fisher)
11 a.m. – Women’s 400 Meters (Heat 2 of 2 – Peterson)
11:15 a.m. – Men’s 400 Meters (Heat 1 of 3 – Johnson; Heat 2 of 3 – Payne; Heat 3 of 3 – Cadengo, Jones)
11:30 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Stolte)
11:35 a.m. – Men’s 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Abade)
11:40 a.m. – Women’s 600 Meters (Heat 3 of 3 – Butterfield)
11:50 a.m. – Men’s 600 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Ahmed)
11:55 a.m. – Women’s 200 Meters (Heat 2 of 8 – Forst; Heat 4 of 8 – Rosario; Heat 5 of 8 – Beasley; Heat 7 of 8 – Peterson)
~12 p.m. – Men’s Triple Jump (Niyongere)
12:30 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters (Heat 2 of 8 – Cadengo, Sweeney; Heat 3 of 8 – Jones; Heat 4 of 8 – Payne; Heat 5 of 8 – Mcdonald; Heat 8 of 8 – Brost)
1 p.m. – Women’s 3,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Fox, Sharp)
1:20 p.m. – Men’s 3,000 Meters (Gillingham, Ibrahim)