California State University Northridge Athletics
CSUN Announces 2026 Women's Volleyball Schedule
7/9/2026 11:44:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CSUN officially opens its 50th season of indoor women's volleyball on Aug. 28, traveling to Boulder, Colo., for the Buffs Classic. Prior to the season opener against host Colorado, the Matadors will play a pair of exhibitions, hosting UCLA (Aug. 20) and Pepperdine (Aug. 22) at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
The Buffs Classic opens a 10-match non-conference schedule that will test a CSUN team that returns six starters and eight letterwinners from last season's squad that finished 17-13 overall and 10-8 in the Big West.
"With the experience that we have, we decided that this could be a great year to really test this group in non-conference play to prepare for the Big West season," said Montoya. "In order to prepare for the new-look Big West, we will be traveling to two Big XII opponents, hosting a deep second annual Ridge Invitational, and playing a home-and-home series with LMU."
In Boulder, CSUN will meet the host Buffaloes, Denver, and Central Arkansas from Aug. 28-30. The Matadors will next travel to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on Kansas State and Drake on Sept. 4-5, before returning to the Valley for the second annual Ridge Invitational. From Sept. 11-13, CSUN will host six matches featuring UNLV, San Francisco, and Fresno State.
The non-conference portion of the 2026 season wraps up in mid-September, as the Matadors travel to LMU (Sept. 17) before hosting the Lions on Sept. 19. Big West play opens at UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 25, as the Matadors will play 18 Big West matches in the conference that features new additions in California Baptist, Sacramento State, and Utah Valley.
After a conference-opening trip to UCSB and Cal Poly, CSUN hosts Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton (Oct, 2-3) before traveling to UC Riverside and CBU (Oct. 9-10). A three-match homestand against UC San Diego, UC Irvine, and Cal State Bakersfield follows on Oct. 16-23 before the second half of the season gets underway at CSUB on Oct. 24.
The Matadors will visit Cal State Fullerton (Oct. 30), Long Beach State (Oct. 31), UC Irvine (Nov. 13), and UC San Diego (Nov. 14) and host CBU (Nov. 5), UC Riverside (Nov. 7), Utah Valley (Nov. 20), and Sacramento State (Nov. 21) in the second half of the conference slate.
"Our players are excited to get on the court with each other and take on a difficult season," added Montoya. "Due to all of their combined experiences, we know it will be tough, but we are capable."
The fourth incarnation of the Big West Women's Volleyball Championship is scheduled for Nov. 25-28 at Cal Poly's Mott Athletics Center.#GoMatadors
