HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Volleyball will play a 29-match schedule in 2026 with 12 home contests on the Big Island.

Reed Sunahara returns for his second season as head coach after the Vulcans posted a 20-9 record in 2025. Hawai'i Hilo finished tied for No. 3 in last year's Pacific West Conference standings and qualified for the four-team PacWest Championships postseason tournament.

"I'm looking forward to getting the season started right here in Hilo with the Hawaiʻi-Alaska Challenge," Sunahara said. "Our players will be working hard and we'll be ready to get the season going in front of our home crowd. We have some exciting events coming up and it's always a good time to see our Vulcan 'ohana."

Official venues will be announced at a later time but home matches are set to be played at either the on-campus Vulcan Gymnasium or the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Last fall, the Vulcans finished No. 1 in the country for average home attendance. It was also the second consecutive season finishing top three in venue percent capacity.

First official practice sessions are set for Aug. 10.

2026 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN

• 29 Total Matches
• 11 Non-Conference
• 18 PacWest Contests
• 12 Home Matches
• 6 Matches on O'ahu
• 3 Road Trips to California
• Four-Team Conference Tournament

The Vulcans open the season hosting the annual Hawai'i-Alaska Challenge on Aug. 20-22 with University of Alaska (Fairbanks), University of Alaska Anchorage, HPU and Chaminade University of Honolulu making the trip to the Big Island.

Hawai'i Hilo will complete the non-conference slate with a trip to Fresno, California for the Sunbird Classic (Aug. 28-29) against Menlo, Stanislaus State, UC Merced and Fresno Pacific before heading to O'ahu for the Hawai'i Challenge (Sept. 4-5) against Seattle Pacific, Emmanuel, Saint Martin's and Western Colorado.

PacWest Conference play begins Sept. 12 at home against Chaminade.

Other home matches include: HPU (Sept. 27), Dominican (Oct. 1), Jessup (Oct. 3), Biola (Oct. 6), Vanguard (Oct. 10), Westmont (Oct. 12), Concordia (Oct. 28) and Point Loma (Oct. 31).

Hawai'i Hilo will take trips to California on Sept. 16-21 (Concordia, Vanguard, Biola, Point Loma) and Oct. 20-23 (Westmont, Jessup, Dominican) as part of PacWest play. The four-team PacWest Championships postseason tournament are set for Nov. 13-14 in Costa Mesa, California hosted by Vanguard. The PacWest is now composed of 10 teams after the departures of Menlo and Fresno Pacific to the CCAA and Azusa Pacific to NCAA Division III.

Ticketing and video livestream information will be available at a later time.

2026 Women's Volleyball Opponents