K-State Volleyball Unveils Entire 2026 Schedule
Apr 16, 2026 | Volleyball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Coming off the program's 19th NCAA Tournament appearance and first under head coach Jason Mansfield, K-State volleyball unveiled its entire 2026 schedule Thursday afternoon.
"I'm really excited to compete this fall with our team," said Mansfield, who enters his fourth season at the helm. "We've put together a strong non-conference schedule featuring multiple tournament-caliber opponents and programs that consistently compete at the top of their conferences."
The Cats' 26-match schedule features 11 opponents that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament, including nine from the Big 12 Conference, which led the nation with 10 overall tournament qualifiers. Eight teams were slotted in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, while K-State received votes.
"The Big 12 will be a challenge again from top to bottom, much like last season when we had 10 teams reach the NCAA Tournament. I wouldn't be surprised to see that kind of representation again. With so many outstanding coaches and talented players in this league, every match is going to be a battle," Mansfield added.
The Wildcats open the season with a pair of exhibitions, beginning August 13 at Missouri State before hosting Oklahoma on August 22 at Morgan Family Arena.
K-State officially begins the regular season August 28-30, hosting the annual K-State Invitational. The Wildcats welcome Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Campbell for a three-match weekend in Manhattan.
The following weekend, K-State remains home to host CSUN and Drake (Sept. 4-6), before traveling to Reno, Nevada (Sept. 11-13) for matchups against Weber State and Nevada. A two-match road swing in Omaha, Nebraska (Sept. 18-19) against Creighton and Omaha wraps up the non-conference slate.
The 18-match Big 12 slate begins September 24 on the road at UCF in Orlando, Florida. The Wildcats' conference home opener is set for September 27 against Houston.
The first half of league play also features home matches against BYU (Oct. 1), Utah (Oct. 3) and the first match of the Sunflower Showdown with Kansas (Oct. 15), along with road trips to Iowa State (Oct. 9), Colorado (Oct. 11) and Cincinnati (Oct. 22).
The Sunflower Showdown continues October 30 in Lawrence before the Wildcats travel to TCU on November 1.
The final month of the regular season is highlighted by a series of matches at Morgan Family Arena against Cincinnati (Nov. 6), Baylor (Nov. 8), TCU (Nov. 13), before hosting West Virginia on Senior Day (Nov. 22). The Cats will also make a stop at Texas Tech on November 19.
K-State closes the regular season with a two-match road trip to Arizona State (Nov. 25) and Arizona (Nov. 27).
Season tickets for the 2026 season will go on sale in June, while the Wildcats' promotional and broadcast schedules will be announced at a later date.
K-State is set to welcome seven newcomers to the 2026 roster while returning eight players from the last season's roster that finished 18-10 overall with a 10-8 mark in Big 12 play. The Wildcats' 18 victories were the most in the Mansfield era and highest win total since 2016.
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on the K-State Volleyball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
"I'm really excited to compete this fall with our team," said Mansfield, who enters his fourth season at the helm. "We've put together a strong non-conference schedule featuring multiple tournament-caliber opponents and programs that consistently compete at the top of their conferences."
The Cats' 26-match schedule features 11 opponents that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament, including nine from the Big 12 Conference, which led the nation with 10 overall tournament qualifiers. Eight teams were slotted in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, while K-State received votes.
"The Big 12 will be a challenge again from top to bottom, much like last season when we had 10 teams reach the NCAA Tournament. I wouldn't be surprised to see that kind of representation again. With so many outstanding coaches and talented players in this league, every match is going to be a battle," Mansfield added.
The Wildcats open the season with a pair of exhibitions, beginning August 13 at Missouri State before hosting Oklahoma on August 22 at Morgan Family Arena.
K-State officially begins the regular season August 28-30, hosting the annual K-State Invitational. The Wildcats welcome Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Campbell for a three-match weekend in Manhattan.
The following weekend, K-State remains home to host CSUN and Drake (Sept. 4-6), before traveling to Reno, Nevada (Sept. 11-13) for matchups against Weber State and Nevada. A two-match road swing in Omaha, Nebraska (Sept. 18-19) against Creighton and Omaha wraps up the non-conference slate.
The 18-match Big 12 slate begins September 24 on the road at UCF in Orlando, Florida. The Wildcats' conference home opener is set for September 27 against Houston.
The first half of league play also features home matches against BYU (Oct. 1), Utah (Oct. 3) and the first match of the Sunflower Showdown with Kansas (Oct. 15), along with road trips to Iowa State (Oct. 9), Colorado (Oct. 11) and Cincinnati (Oct. 22).
The Sunflower Showdown continues October 30 in Lawrence before the Wildcats travel to TCU on November 1.
The final month of the regular season is highlighted by a series of matches at Morgan Family Arena against Cincinnati (Nov. 6), Baylor (Nov. 8), TCU (Nov. 13), before hosting West Virginia on Senior Day (Nov. 22). The Cats will also make a stop at Texas Tech on November 19.
K-State closes the regular season with a two-match road trip to Arizona State (Nov. 25) and Arizona (Nov. 27).
Season tickets for the 2026 season will go on sale in June, while the Wildcats' promotional and broadcast schedules will be announced at a later date.
K-State is set to welcome seven newcomers to the 2026 roster while returning eight players from the last season's roster that finished 18-10 overall with a 10-8 mark in Big 12 play. The Wildcats' 18 victories were the most in the Mansfield era and highest win total since 2016.
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on the K-State Volleyball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
K-State Volleyball | Spring Scrimmage vs Oklahoma Recap
Wednesday, April 01
K-State Volleyball | 2025 Season Recap
Thursday, December 18
K-State Volleyball | Postmatch Press Conference vs Nebraska (NCAA Tournament Second Round)
Sunday, December 07
K-State VB | Postmatch Press Conference vs Nebraska (NCAA Tournament Second Round)
Saturday, December 06
