Cal Poly Beach Volleyball Announces 2026 Schedule
1/21/2026 1:07:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Coming off its second straight NCAA Championships Semifinal appearance, Cal Poly Beach Volleyball has released its 2026 schedule that features three home events, including the marquee Center of Effort Beach Volleyball Challenge and hosting the Big West Championship.
11th year head coach Todd Rogers has put together another challenging schedule for his Mustangs in 2026. The team is set to face eight teams at least once who qualified for the NCAA Championships last season.
Things unofficially kick off with the second annual Green, Gold and Black scrimmage benefitting local charity organization Jack’s Helping Hand on Friday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex.
Cal Poly will officially open the season Feb. 20 at the Third Coast College Classic in Houston hosted by Houston Christian University. They will take on Saint Mary’s, Houston Christian, Tarleton State, and Southern Miss during that opening weekend.
They will then head to Los Angeles to compete in the Battle for LA Feb. 27-28 hosted by UCLA and USC. There, they will face three teams who made the NCAA Championships in Boise State, UCLA, and USC. They will round out the event against Concordia University Irvine.
That leads into the Chanticleer Classic in Conway, SC hosted by Coastal Carolina March 6-7. There, the Mustangs will face two teams from last year’s NCAA Championships in Georgia State and Florida Atlantic as well as Coastal Carolina and Tulane.
The first home event, The Mustang Roundup, will take place March 13-14 at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. The Mustangs will welcome Arizona, GCU, Oregon, and Santa Clara for the two day event. Cal Poly will play Arizona March 13 at 11:30 a.m. and GCU at 7 p.m. Then they will face Oregon at 11:30 a.m. and Santa Clara at 3:15 p.m. March 14.
Cal Poly will then compete in the annual Big West Challenge March 21-22, hosted this year by Long Beach State. There, they will face all six other Big West teams, including rivals Long Beach State and Hawai’i.
The Mustangs will enjoy a week off before heading back down to southern California April 3-4 for a challenging weekend at the Best in the West event in Laguna Beach. There, they will take on four teams who all reached the NCAA Championships in UCLA, USC, Long Beach State, and Stanford.
The second home event, the annual Center of Effort Beach Volleyball Challenge, will take place April 10-11 and will see seven other top collegiate programs come to Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. It will feature USC, UCLA, Cal, TCU, LMU, Stanford, and ASU. Just like previous years, the format will be pool play with two groups of four with the winners of each pool meeting in a championship match to crown a winner. In pool play, Cal Poly is scheduled to face Arizona State, UCLA, and Cal.
After COE, the Mustangs will head up to Stanford April 17-18 for the final event of the regular season. They will compete against San Jose State, Stanford, Pepperdine, and Cal.
The Big West Championship will take place April 23-24 at home at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. The last time it was held at home in 2022, the Mustangs won the title. Last year, Cal Poly advanced to the finals of the Big West Championship, falling to Long Beach State. The NCAA Championships will be held May 1-3 in Gulf Shores, AL. The Mustangs have made it there five of the last six seasons.
Cal Poly will be led this year by three returning AVCA All-Americans and seven players who that earned All-Big West honors last year. They are highlighted by Erin Inskeep, Izzy Martinez, Logan Walter, Ella Connor, Quinn Perry, Elise Lenahan, and Maddy Byrne.
They also added several talented newcomers, which include four talented Division I transfers. They brought in Ashleigh Adams from FAU and Julia Westby from Long Beach State, both of whom were AVCA All-Americans last season. They also bring in Bailey Showalter from USC with NCAA Championship experience. Peyton Dueck returns to Cal Poly after spending the last three years on the indoor volleyball team at UCLA. She played on the beach team at Cal Poly as a freshman in 2022, earning Second Team All-Big West honors.
Cal Poly will look to surpass the success from a historic 2025, which saw them reach the semifinals of the NCAA Championships for a second year in a row, match the program record for wins in a season with 31, and a final AVCA ranking of No. 4 in the nation.
