ESPN Unveils Largest Women's College Volleyball Schedule in Network History

Women's college volleyball is getting its biggest spotlight yet as ESPN unveils a record-breaking 2026 schedule with more than 2,400 matches and unprecedented national television coverage.

Dec 21, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the court during the second set of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Texas A&M Aggies at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 2026 women's college volleyball season will receive its most extensive television coverage ever as ESPN announced a record-breaking slate of more than 2,400 matches across its family of networks in the fall.

The network will carry 106 regular-season matches on its linear television platforms, the highest total in company history. This includes 21 matches on ESPN and a record number of broadcasts across ESPN and ABC combined. Every match will also stream on the ESPN App, giving fans access from opening weekend through the NCAA Tournament.

The schedule features 16 matchups between teams that finished the 2025 season ranked in the top ten, as ESPN continues expanding its investment in women's sports. Top-15 programs will appear throughout the season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ACC Network.

ESPN serves up its largest @NCAAVolleyball season yet!

🏐 2,400+ matches
🏐 16 matchups ft. the final top 10 teams of 2025
🏐 21 matches on ESPN

The season begins w/@AVCAVolleyball First Serve (Aug. 21, 6p ET, ESPN2)

Schedule: https://t.co/jKkIiJzL8r pic.twitter.com/EKwarFZlLf

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 5, 2026

The season opens August 21 with the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Milwaukee, where four national title contenders immediately collide. Louisville will take on defending national champion Texas A&M on ESPN2 before 2025 national runner-up Kentucky faces preseason No. 5 Wisconsin in the night's matchup on ESPN. Two days later, Texas A&M meets SMU while Pittsburgh and Kentucky square off in another top-ten showdown.

Conference actions arrive quickly with several interconference showcases highlighting some of the nation's strongest teams.

The SEC-Big Ten Challenge includes UCLA traveling to Kentucky on Sept. 2 before USC visits Texas later that evening. One of the season's biggest events follows on Sept. 6 when Louisville and Texas headline the Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party inside Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on ABC. Tennessee will also host Indiana as part of the showcase.

ESPN's record-setting 2026 volleyball schedule is the latest example of its commitment to showing women's sports to a broader audience. The company has continued to dedicate more premium television windows and resources to women's competitions across multiple sports.

The expanded volleyball package follows several years of increased women's sports programming. ESPN remains the exclusive home of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament and has also expanded its WNBA coverage under the league's new media rights agreement.

It has also added other women's professional sports to its portfolio, including League One Volleyball and the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

Throughout October, conference volleyball matches will dominate ESPN's programming.

Postseason coverage begins Nov. 20 with every match of the SEC Volleyball Tournament from Savannah, Georgia, airing on SEC Network or SEC Network+. The tournament concludes Nov. 24 with the conference championship.

The season culminates in San Antonio, where ESPN will exclusively broadcast the entire 2026 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament. The national semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 17 at the Alamodome before a national champion is crowned on Dec. 20.