There will be plenty of familiarity for coach Donny Gleason when preparing for an early season non-conference home match.
Purdue Fort Wayne as part of releasing its 2026 schedule announced it will play host to Gleason’s former team Daemen in February.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs since Gleason departed Daemen after the 2024 season to become the new head coach at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Gleason was the inaugural Daemen head coach and developed the Wildcats into a program that won the NEC championship and was ranked in the national coaches poll. Daemen also in its first season without Gleason repeated as NEC champions and reached the NCAA Tournament.
Purdue Fort Wayne under Gleason finished last season seventh place in the MIVA and advanced to the conference tournament quarterfinals. Among the starters returning for the Mastodons includes opposite Logan Muir who was sixth in the nation with a 4.29 kills per game average last season.
This will be the second all-time match between Daemen and Purdue Fort Wayne. The Mastodons defeated the Wildcats in five games during the inaugural meeting in 2023.
2026 Purdue Fort Wayne schedule
Jan. 10 vs. Missouri S&T
Jan. 11 vs. NJIT
Jan. 16 vs. Menlo (at Lindenwood)
Jan. 17 vs. CSUN (at Lindenwood)
Jan. 23 vs. Maryville
Jan. 24 vs. Charleston
Feb. 6 vs. Northern Kentucky
Feb. 8 vs. Daemen
Feb. 12 vs. Lindenwood
Feb. 13 vs. McKendree
Feb. 19 at Northern Kentucky
Feb. 21 at Ohio State
Feb. 27 at Ball State
March 5 at Lewis
March 7 at Loyola
March 14 vs. Ohio State
March 21 vs. Ball State
March 26 at McKendree
March 28 at Lindenwood
April 2 at Queens
April 3 at Queens
April 9 vs. Loyola
April 11 vs. Lewis