By: Mark Wasik
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KENNESAW, Ga. – Three weekend road tournaments at regional rivals highlight the opening slate of Kennesaw State Volleyball schedule this fall, as the Owls' entire 2026 schedule was announced on Thursday. The non-conference slate will also feature a total of four games against in-state competition, the most in a season for KSU since playing five in the 2015 campaign.
"I'm really excited about the schedule that we put together this year," said KSU head coach
Keith Schunzel. "We have a nice mix of in-state rivalries, teams with a history of success, and programs who this will be our first competition against."
With a number of returning players in new roles and also adding five new faces into the mix this year, it was important to have a variety of teams and challenges for our group to grow and work through in our non-conference schedule. I'm looking forward to a fun and challenging fall with this group!"
KSU starts the season going up to the Hampton Inn+Suites Seahawk Classic, where the Owls will take on The Citadel, host UNC Wilmington, and Le Moyne on Aug. 28-29. Next will be the first meeting against local rival Georgia State for the first time in nine years, as the Owls will face the Panthers in Atlanta on Sept. 3. Following that, KSU will play its home opener against West Georgia on Sept. 4 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools before closing out the weekend at home against Alabama A&M.
It will be back to the road for the next two weeks. The Owls will make their first trip to Mobile, Ala., since the 2007 season to play in the South Alabama Invitational (Sept. 11-13) against the host USA Jaguars and Tulane. KSU will close out that three-day event with a neutral contest against Georgia, the first meeting against the Bulldogs since 2019.
KSU will close out non-conference play by staying in-state while making its first-ever trip to Statesboro to play in Georgia Southern's Eagle Invitational on Sept. 17-19. The Owls will face Fordham and North Florida along with the host GSU Eagles in the three-day event.
The Owls' Conference USA opener will be against Sam Houston on Sept. 25-26, before the Owls hit the road for the next two league series.. KSU will face defending tournament champion Western Kentucky on Oct. 23-24 in Bowling Green, and their last road series will be at rival Jacksonville State on Nov. 5-6. The regular season will close out with a pair of home games against Middle Tennessee (Nov. 13-14), while this year's CUSA championship will be hosted by Western Kentucky (Nov. 20-22).
KSU returns four starters from last year's team that finished 19-9 overall and 12-4 in Conference USA play, good for a third-place finish. The Owls also reached the semifinals of the CUSA Tournament, marking the 11
th straight year KSU had reached the semifinal of a conference tournament., including both years it has been a member of CUSA.
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