NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale volleyball team has unveiled its 2026 schedule, which features 14 high-stakes Ivy League matchups and a competitive slate of eight non-conference opponents.
The Bulldogs will open the season with the Yale Invitational against Hofstra, Manhattan and Santa Clara, before facing off against Fairleigh Dickinson. The following week, Yale travels to Storrs for matchups against New Hampshire and the hosting UConn Huskies. Non-conference play wraps with Yale's first trip to Texas since attending the Rice Invitational in 2016. Once there, the Bulldogs will play TCU and SMU.
Ivy League action begins on the road against Brown on Sept. 26, followed by two home matches against Harvard and Dartmouth before traveling to face Princeton and Penn. The Bulldogs then return to John J. Lee Amphitheater for a three-match homestand against Columbia Cornell and Brown. Yale rounds out the month of October with Halloween weekend matches against Dartmouth in New Hampshire and Harvard in Massachusetts.
The final stretch of conference play includes a road trip to Cornell and Columbia and a regular-season finale weekend against Penn and Princeton.
The top four teams in the conference will qualify for the Ivy League Tournament, hosted by the No. 1 seed. Semifinal matches will take place on Friday, Nov. 20, with the Ivy Championship match scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21.
The Bulldogs are looking to host the tournament for the third time since its inception in 2022, and the first time since their perfect 14-0 season in 2023.
"We're very excited about this schedule," head coach Erin Appleman said. "The pre-conference is particularly challenging and should give us a great lead-up to Ivy League play."
Here's a look at Yale's 2026 opponents:
Non-Conference Matches:
- Sept. 4 – vs Hofstra (CAA)
- Sept. 5 – vs. Manhattan (Metro)
- Sept. 5 – vs. Santa Clara (WCC)
- Sept. 10 – vs. FDU (NEC)
- Sept. 12 – New Hampshire @ UConn (America East)
- Sept. 13 – at UConn (Big East)
- Sept. 18 – at TCU (Big 12)
- Sept. 19 – at SMU (ACC)
Ivy League Matches (7 home, 7 away):
- Sept. 26 – at Brown
- Oct. 2 – vs. Harvard
- Oct. 3 – vs. Dartmouth
- Oct. 9 – at Princeton
- Oct. 10 – at Penn
- Oct. 16 – vs. Columbia
- Oct. 17 – vs. Cornell
- Oct. 24 – vs. Brown
- Oct. 30 – at Dartmouth
- Oct. 31 – at Harvard
- Nov. 6 – at Cornell
- Nov. 7 – at Columbia
- Nov. 13 – vs. Penn
- Nov. 14 – vs. Princeton
Postseason:
- Nov. 20 – Ivy League Playoffs @ No. 1 Seed (Semifinals)
- Nov. 21 – Ivy League Championship (Final)
Yale will compete in eight states during the regular season: Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Texas.
Santa Clara's visit to the John J. Lee Amphitheater on Sept. 5 will be the first home game Yale has played against a team from California since UC Santa Barbara took a trip to New Haven on Sept. 5, 2015.
Live stats and video of all home games—and road games where applicable—will be available on yalebulldogs.com. Ivy League home matches will stream live on ESPN+.
