Williamsburg, KY – Coming off the most successful season in program history, the University of the Cumberlands volleyball team is set for another challenging campaign in 2026. The Patriots finished 36-1 in 2025 while capturing both the Mid-South Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships and advancing to the NAIA Final Site for the first time in program history. UC now turns its attention to a 32-match regular season that features 12 home contests and 12 Mid-South Conference matchups as it looks to build on last year's historic success.

"I'm excited about this year's schedule," said Head Coach Kathryn Park. "We're going to be challenged early and often. Our goal was to build a tougher schedule, and I believe we've accomplished that. We wanted to continue improving our program and better prepare ourselves for the tough matches we know we'll see in conference play and at the national tournament. I can't wait to see how this team grows through this challenge."

Cumberlands will begin the season in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the Keiser University Invitational on August 14-15. The Patriots open the tournament against Goshen College (Ind.) and Texas Wesleyan before wrapping up the weekend with two additional matches to be determined.

The Patriots will make their home debut the following weekend, hosting Bluefield University and Andrew College on August 21 in Williamsburg. UC then heads north for the IU Kokomo Tournament on August 28-29, where the Patriots will square off against the University of Rio Grande, IU Kokomo, Mount Vernon Nazarene (OH), and Marian (Ind.) in four challenging contests.

Cumberlands returns home September 4-5 to host the annual Cumberlands Invite. The Patriots will welcome Bethel (Ind.), Carolina University, and a rematch with Columbia International from last year's NAIA Opening Round to Williamsburg.

"We're playing in three incredibly tough tournaments in the first four weekends of the season, and in each one we'll face teams that competed in the national tournament last year. I believe the Keiser tournament will tell us very quickly where we stand as a team and what we need to work on. These tournaments will show us exactly where we need to grow and give us time to make those improvements before conference play begins, this will test us both mentally and physically."

UC will then be traveling to Columbia, Kentucky, the following weekend for neutral-site matches against Fisk and Blue Mountain University.

The conference schedule begins in mid-September as UC hosts Lindsey Wilson on September 15 before welcoming Cumberland (Tenn.) to Williamsburg on September 23. The Patriots will then travel to Lima, Ohio, on September 26 for matches against Aquinas and the University of Northwestern Ohio before returning home to host Midway on September 30.

October features several key Mid-South Conference matchups, beginning with road contests at Bethel (Tenn.) and Freed-Hardeman on October 2-3. The Patriots return home to host Campbellsville on October 6 before traveling to Georgetown on October 9. UC closes its home portion with conference matches against Bethel on October 15 and Freed-Hardeman on October 17 before hitting the road for matches at Lindsey Wilson, Indiana Southeast, Union Commonwealth, and Cumberland (Tenn.).

The Patriots wrap up the regular season with a home match against Georgetown on November 4 before closing conference play at Campbellsville on November 6. Following the regular season, Cumberlands will turn its attention to the Mid-South Conference Championship Tournament as it looks to defend its conference titles and make another deep run in the NAIA postseason.

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