CONWAY, Ark. – Head coach John Newberry and the Central Arkansas volleyball team have announced the 26-game schedule for the 2026 season, a slate that features a daunting non-conference circuit, plus year one of the United Athletic Conference.
 
The Sugar Bears will play three exhibitions in the Prince Center before kicking off the season, facing Arkansas Tech (Aug. 18) and Missouri State (Aug. 22), bookending the annual Purple & Gray Scrimmage on August 20^th.
 
The regular season officially starts on August 28^th with the first of three non-conference tournaments, along with the first of ten-straight road matches. Central Arkansas opens the regular season in Boulder, Colorado, facing the University of Denver, Colorado, and Cal State-Northridge. The Sugar Bears then stay on the road at Ole Miss for a weekend of action, then head way out west for a pair of matches at Hawaii.
 
Central Arkansas rounds out non-conference play with a heavy-hitting tournament at Iowa, facing West Florida, then back-to-back matches against Texas Tech and the hosting Hawkeyes. The final weekend of the non-conference slate brings the total of Power Four opponents to four for the Sugar Bears. Last season, the Sugar Bears took eventual National Champions Texas A&M to five sets, and defeated Oklahoma in the Farris Center.
 
Conference play, and the home schedule, starts on September 24^th against EKU. The Sugar Bears, now part of the UAC, will see mostly familiar faces in the new conference, still facing EKU, Austin Peay, West Georgia and North Alabama. The new programs to join the UAC on the schedule are Tarleton State, Little Rock, Abilene Christian and UT Arlington.
 
The Sugar Bears will play eight matches at home during conference play: the aforementioned EKU match, Austin Peay (Sept. 26), West Georgia (Oct. 10), Little Rock (Oct. 13), Tarleton State (Oct. 17), Abilene Christian (Oct. 29), UT Arlington (Nov. 5) and North Alabama (Nov. 6).
 
Central Arkansas returns a significant amount of talent from last season's ASUN Championship team, including seniors Trinity Hamilton, Greyson Button and Sophie Skinner, along with ASUN All-Freshman middle McKinzee Haas.
 
To see the full schedule with all dates and game times, visit the schedule page at UCASports.com.