WICHITA, Kan. – Head coach Chris Lamb and the Wichita State volleyball program announced the 2026 schedule on Monday, including a season-opening home tournament and a home-and-home series against in-state rival Kansas.

Lamb has put together another challenging non-conference schedule; eight of the 10 non-conference opponents finished 2025 ranked in the top 100 of the RPI, six reached the NCAA tournament and five won either a regular season or conference tournament championship.

Wichita State opens the season with two exhibition matches, hitting the road to battle Omaha on August 15 before returning home to take on Kansas City on August 22. The season begins in earnest with the Shocker Volleyball Classic, in which the Shockers host Stephen F. Austin, Idaho State and Missouri State, August 28-30 at Charles Koch Arena. This is the second consecutive season the Shockers open at home, something that previously had not occurred since 2007.

A trip to Boulder, Colorado on September 4-5 includes matches against NCAA tournament qualifiers Colorado and Northern Colorado. WSU and UNC have become familiar foes over the last few seasons, with meetings in each of the last four years.

The Shockers play a standalone match at Kansas on September 8, a trip the Jayhawks will return when they visit the Roundhouse one week later on September 15. In between, Wichita State heads to Columbia, Missouri for a challenging tournament against Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun Conference regular season champions), Arkansas State (Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament champions) and host Missouri (52 RPI in 2025).

The final non-conference trip is a well-known destination for the Shockers, as WSU renews a historic Missouri Valley Conference rivalry against Northern Iowa. The Shockers and Panthers will play back-to-back days, September 18 and 19th in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI is coming off a 26-6 season that included a 16-0 mark in MVC play.

The 16-match conference slate begins with three straight home matches: Memphis on September 25, South Florida on September 27 and Tulsa on October 2. In addition to that trio, the Shockers will later host UTSA, Rice, North Texas, Florida Atlantic and Temple with road swings at Tulane, Rice, Tulsa, East Carolina, Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA and UAB. The American Conference tournament will be hosted by Rice and begins November 19 in Houston, Texas.

Lamb and the Shockers are coming off a 19-11 season that included an 11-6 mark in American Conference play. The record-setting head coach enters 2026 with a career record of 545-261 over 26 seasons at the helm.

Wichita State returns several key pieces from the 2025 roster, highlighted by seniors Elinor Engel, Jordan Heatherly, Gabi Maas, and Maddie Wilson. Juniors Grace Hett and Allie Paulsen have both been impact contributors for multiple seasons, and a talented group of underclassmen is back for year two in the program, including Olivia Cohee, Jenna Cubbage, McKenzie Jones and Janaya Weitkemper.

Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday. Summer ticket office hours are 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. in person and 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. over the phone.