REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's volleyball 2026 schedule has officially been announced by Head Coach Savannah Cox looking to build off a successful and historic 2025 campaign.

The Bulldogs open their season in Texas at the Trinity Fall Classic with three matches beginning with Schreiner University on September 4.

Schreiner is match one of 23 this fall for the Maroon and Grey. They will play eight non-conference matches, seven being played at neutral sites and then another nine conference games being played inside Currier Gym.

Redlands' first opponent, Schreiner, finished 2025 24-7 overall and made it to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Tournament Championship where they lost in five sets to Colorado College.  Redlands leads the all-time series 1-0, having beaten Schreiner 3-0 in their only prior meeting on September 6, 2013.

The day after Schreiner, on September 5, the Bulldogs play East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) along with tournament host Trinity University (Texas).

ETBU had their best season in program history in 2025, finishing 34-1 with that lone loss coming in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals against Berry College in four sets. They were ranked No. 1 in the NCAA NPI rankings entering the championships.  No prior meetings between Redlands and ETBU.  

Trinity, a traditional power, had their 2025 season come to an end against eventual national champion University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (UW-Oshkosh) in the NCAA Tournament Semi-Finals. The Semi-Final run was their fourth since 2019.  Since 2002 the Bulldogs have only faced Trinity once, which came in 2013, a 3-0 loss on the road.  

In their return back to California, the Bulldogs play five consecutive neutral site matches during the Whittier/La Verne Invitational and the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational.  One match will take place at Whittier College, two at the University of La Verne (ULV), and the final two at California Lutheran University (CLU).  

The first of those matches is against Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) on September 11. The Lutes went 16-10 last fall.  The two have met three times since 2002 with the Lutes holding a 2-1 record.  The last win for the Maroon and Grey came in 2006 when they pulled out a five-setter.      

On September 12 Redlands takes on Willamette University and Batten University (formerly named Virginia Wesleyan University) in a doubleheader.

Willamette went 12-12 in 2025 with an 0-1 record against the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). Their season ended with a four-set loss to Whitworth University.  This series is deadlocked at 2-2, with the Bulldogs winning the most recent meeting in 2018, 3-0 in Thousand Oaks.  

Batten went 32-3 last season and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in what was only their third appearance in program history. The 32 wins were four more than their previous program-high.

On September 18 in Thousand Oaks, Redlands plays Hardin-Simmons University (HSU) and an opponent to be determined. The Cowgirls went 17-10 and had their season end against ETBU in the American Southwest Conference (ASC) Tournament.  HSU leads the series 1-0, beating Redlands 3-0 in their only meeting back in 2018.

With non-conference complete, Redlands begins SCIAC play at home with their home opener against California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on September 22. The second match is on October 20. The Beavers finished ninth in SCIAC at 1-15 and went 5-23 overall.  Redlands dominates this series at 34-6 since 2005, with a current five-match winning streak.

New SCIAC member APU hosts the Bulldogs on September 26. Redlands hosts APU on October 24. The Cougars completed their final season at the NCAA Division II level last fall with a 9-16 record.  APU leads the series 1-0, winning 3-0 in their only meeting in 2021.

Back inside Currier Gym on September 29, the Bulldogs host CLU. CLU then gets a return trip on October 27. The Regals finished in fourth place in the regular season at 11-5. They lost to the Bulldogs in the first round of the SCIAC Tournament, giving them an 18-7 overall record.  Since 2005 Redlands has picked up just three wins against the Regals, but two of them have come over the last two seasons.  

Redlands plays host to Occidental College on October 3 and goes on the road on October 31. The Tigers were SCIAC's eighth-place team at 3-13 inside conference play and finished 5-19 overall.  This has been a tight series since 2005 with the U of R holding a slight 22-19 advantage, winning six of their last seven meetings.  

Match one of two against Whittier is at home on October 6. The second is on the road on November 3, their final road match of the season. The Poets finished in third place at 11-5. They lost in the SCIAC Semi-Finals to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) which gave them a 19-10 overall record to end the season.  Whittier leads the series 26-14, with the last win for the Bulldogs coming back in 2019.  

The Bulldogs travel to Orange on October 10 to take on Chapman University. Redlands then hosts the Panthers for the regular season finale on November 7. Chapman was the first team out of the SCIAC Tournament in sixth place at 6-10. They finished 11-14 overall.  This head-to-head series has been with Chapman as they hold a 30-11 record.  But over the last five meetings Redlands has gone 3-2 with wins coming in 2025, 2024, and 2023.  Four of these matches have also gone five-sets.    

Their lone meeting with reigning SCIAC Tournament champion CMS is at home on October 13. The Athenas finished in second place with a 12-4 record and won the SCIAC Tournament title thanks to wins over Whittier and No. 1 seed University of La Verne. They finished 20-8 overall after losing to Babson College in the NCAA Tournament First Round.  CMS holds a 34-6 advantage over the Maroon and Grey.  In 2025 the two sides split with the Bulldogs picking up their first win over the Athenas since 2010, ending a 26-match losing streak.  

Redlands also faces Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) only one time with it coming on the road on October 15. The Sagehens went 5-11 in 2025 and finished seventh. They had a 10-16 overall record.  The Sagehens hold the advantage in this match-up at 31-11, but the Bulldogs have won the last three meetings, all by the score of 3-1.  

National runner-up ULV comes to Currier Gym on October 17 in the first and only meeting between the two sides. They won the regular season title at 15-1 and lost in the SCIAC Tournament Championship to CMS. They made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament Championship match where they lost to UW-Oshkosh, giving them a final record of 30-3. ULV has a dominant 40-5 record against the Bulldogs since 2005.  The two teams split in 2025 with the Bulldogs stunning the Leopards in a five-set thriller at home, which handed the No. 1 ranked team in Division III their first loss of the season.   

At the end of the regular season, the top five teams in the SCIAC standings will qualify for the tournament. The No. 4 and No. 5 teams will play in the first-round game with the winner advancing to face the No. 1 seed in the Semi-Finals. The other Semi-Final will feature the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. The two Semi-Final winners play in the championship for SCIAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Championships.