MERCED, Calif. – The 2026 University of California, Merced women's volleyball schedule features 25 matches, including ten played in the friendly confines of the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
Ahead of the first campaign under head coach Dr. Anitra Brockman, the Bobcats will get a taste of action in a scrimmage at UC Santa Cruz.
The Bobcats first season as an active NCAA Division II member begins at the Sunbird Invitational in Fresno on August 28 against Jessup. UC Merced will continue with the Sunbird Invitational the following day against Hawai'i Hilo and first-time opponent Western Oregon. Hilo is coming off a 20-win season.
UC Merced will play in the Cougar Classic in San Marcos, Calif., September 3-5. There, UC Merced will play Minnesota Crookston, Bemidji State, and Saint Michael's for the first time in program history. The Bobcats will finish out the multi-team event against the host Cal State San Marcos in a nonconference match.
The home opener and the start of a four-match homestand is set for September 8 against Jessup.
The homestand continues with CCAA matches against Fresno Pacific, Cal State San Marcos, and Cal State San Bernardino. Eleventh-ranked FPU won the 2025 PacWest Tournament Championship and 25th-ranked Cal State San Bernardino is the defending CCAA Tournament Champion. FPU enters its first year in the CCAA.
UC Merced follows the home stretch with a four-match road trip starting in Southern California against Cal State Dominguez Hills (Sept. 25) and Cal State San Marcos (Sept. 26). While those are CCAA opponents, the two SoCal matches will not count in the league standings.
The Bobcats will then travel to Menlo College (Oct. 2) and Cal State Monterey Bay (Oct. 3). The October 2 meeting against Menlo will mark the 26th meeting all-time between the two foes, the fourth most frequent opponent in program history.
Recent CCAA and NCAA championship contender San Francisco State will visit Merced on October 9. Cal State East Bay will be in the Gallo on October 10.
The next road trip will cover over 1,300 miles up and down the Golden State as the Bobcats head to Cal Poly Humboldt (Oct. 15) before traveling south to Cal State Dominguez Hills (Oct. 17).
Nonconference home matches against Chico State and Cal Poly Humboldt follow October 23-24.
The final regular season road trip takes the Bobcats to Chico State (Oct. 29) and Stanislaus State (Oct. 31).
UC Merced then wraps up the league schedule when they host back-to-back regular-season champion Cal Poly Pomona (Nov. 6) and Cal State LA (Nov. 7).
The CCAA Championships will start at campus sites on November 10 before the final four teams meet at Pioneer Gym in Hayward, Calif., for the semifinals and final November 13-14. UC Merced is eligible for the CCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
Click here for the full schedule.
