PEORIA, Ill. – Head Coach Alicia Williams and the Bradley Volleyball program have announced the 2026 season schedule, featuring a full slate of non-conference tournament action, the Braves' home CEFCU Invitational and another challenging Missouri Valley Conference schedule.

The Braves begin their campaign with the Red-White Scrimmage at Renaissance Coliseum on Friday, Aug. 14, before traveling to Champaign for an exhibition matchup at Illinois on Sunday, Aug. 16. Bradley returns home to host Eastern Illinois on Friday, Aug. 21 to close out preseason action.

Nonconference Slate

Bradley's nonconference schedule features four tournament weekends, beginning with the Toledo Tournament from Aug. 28-29. The Braves will also travel to the South Dakota State Tournament from Sept. 4-5 and the Loyola Tournament from Sept. 10-11 before returning home to host the CEFCU Invitational from Sept. 18-19 at Renaissance Coliseum.

Across the nonconference slate, Bradley will face Binghamton, Toledo, Oakland, NAU, Western Illinois, South Dakota State, Alabama A&M, SEMO, Loyola-Chicago, UTRGV, New Mexico State and Lindenwood, giving the Braves a strong early-season test before Missouri Valley Conference play begins.

Missouri Valley Play

Missouri Valley Conference play opens with road matches at Indiana State on Friday, Sept. 25 and Evansville on Saturday, Sept. 26, before Bradley returns to Renaissance Coliseum for its MVC home-opening weekend against Northern Iowa and Drake from Oct. 2-3.

The Braves' conference home slate also includes matchups with Belmont, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso, I-74 rival Illinois State and UIC. On the road, Bradley will visit Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Drake, Northern Iowa, Belmont and Murray State, closing the regular season with a two-match trip to Belmont and Murray State from Nov. 13-14.

The 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Championship begins Wednesday, Nov. 18 with quarterfinal matches hosted by the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. Semifinals are set for Saturday, Nov. 21 at the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with the championship match scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 24 at the No. 1 seed.

For more information, follow Bradley Volleyball on all social media platforms.