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ST. LOUIS, Mo. – With the players back on campus, preseason practices are underway under the direction of head coach Vanessa Walby, who is in her 13th year leading the Washington University in St. Louis volleyball program.

Last year, WashU finished the 2025 season with a 24-9 record after making its second straight UAA championship match and reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.

Schedule
The 2026 season will kick off at home with the annual Bear Invite on Friday, Sept. 4 and run through Sunday, Sept. 6. UC Santa Cruz, (RV) St. Olaf, Webster, Wheaton (Ill.), and Bowdoin will all visit the Athletic Center. The Bears start things off with a 7:30 p.m. match against Wheaton on Sept. 4 before taking on St. Olaf on Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. WashU will play in both matches on Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. against Bowdoin and 1 p.m. against UC Santa Cruz. All of the Bears' matches will take place in the Field House. Complete tournament information with schedules and links can be found here.

WashU will be on the road the next three weekends, beginning with the East-West Classic, hosted this year by Emory in Atlanta on Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12. The Bears will start off with a match against No. 5 Colby on Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. ET, immediately followed by a 4 p.m. ET contest against No. 23 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The weekend closes out with a 12 p.m. ET contest on Saturday, Sept. 12 against No. 4 East Texas Baptist.

The following weekend, the Bears travel deep into the heart of Texas for the Tiger Classic on Friday, Sept. 18 and Saturday, Sept. 19, in San Antonio. WashU opens with a pair of matches on Sept. 18, taking on No. 11 Johns Hopkins at 11 a.m. and the University of St. Thomas (TX) at 3 p.m. The Bears will wrap things up with an 11 a.m. match on Sept. 19 against host No. 2 Trinity (TX).

UAA action started the following weekend at Round Robin #1, hosted by Rochester. The first conference contest for WashU will be against No. 21 Emory at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, with an immediate turnaround against Brandeis at 3 p.m. ET. The weekend closes with a 12 p.m. ET match against No. 25 NYU.

The Bears return home the following Saturday, Oct. 3, when they host Central (Iowa) at 12 p.m. in the Field House. Prior to the contest, the Bears will recognize their five seniors — Ellie Laird, Megan Manaj, Anaia Montaque-Harrison, Naya Ohuabunwa, and Leah Oyewole — with a special ceremony as part of Senior Day.

The first midweek contest of the year will be on Wednesday, Oct. 7, when WashU travels to Westminster (Mo.) at 7 p.m. The Bears will remain on the road that weekend when they visit the Big Apple for UAA Round Robin #2, hosted by NYU, on Sunday, Oct. 12. WashU will face Case Western Reserve at 12 p.m. ET and (RV) Chicago at 2 p.m. ET before returning to the Danforth Campus.

WashU will host a pair of midweek contests over the following two weeks, starting with a match against crosstown opponent Webster on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. and finishing with a match against Greenville on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.

The Bears will host the final UAA Round Robin on Sunday, Oct. 25, with all eight UAA teams participating. WashU will take on its final two conference foes in Rochester at 10 a.m. and No. 20 Carnegie Mellon at 2 p.m.

It will be a short trip the next weekend when WashU visits No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan for the IWU Classic on Saturday, Oct. 31. The Bears and No. 7 Wis.-Eau Claire play a midday match at 12:30 p.m. before the host Titans and WashU close out with a 3 p.m. contest.

The final regular-season home contest will be on Wednesday, Nov. 4, when (RV) Illinois College comes to the Field House for a 7:30 p.m. match.

The last weekend of the regular season will see WashU back on the road, taking on Millikin and DePauw on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET, respectively. The matches are being played at DePauw. The next day, the Bears will be at Rose-Hulman for a 1 p.m. ET match.

Carnegie Mellon will host the UAA Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 15, with the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Personnel
While the Bears graduated some key components from their 2025 campaign, they also return several players who started and played as part of the rotation.

WashU returns a pair of All-Americans in Oyewole and Laird. Oyewole led the team and the UAA in kills last season (447) while ranking fourth in the conference in points (462.0). Laird played in all 125 sets and reached double-figure digs in all but one of WashU's 33 matches, totaling 657 digs. She ranked first in the conference in both total digs (657) and digs per set (5.26).

A quartet of juniors will help the seniors guide the Bears this season. Ela Bartu, Eileen Chavez, Baylor McInturff, and Emma Quast are all in their third year with the volleyball program.

Returning for their second season are Isabel Campie, Maya DeValk, Nia Jones, Abby Krause, and Avery Reed. The sophomores combined for 813 digs, 242 kills, and 99 service aces.

Eight first-years join WashU this season: Saoirse Henderson, Georgia Hite, Keely Kawamura, Grace McCluskey, Emma McGough, Anya Mikhailenko, McKenna Schubmehl, and Olivia Szymkiewicz.


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Elevating scholar-champions requires resources beyond the institutional budget. Through the W Club, generous alumni, parents, and friends provide unrestricted support that is essential to the extraordinary WashU student-athlete experience—and the ongoing growth and development of the department. Annual support for Athletics allows the Bears to consistently rise to national levels of competition and ensures that our student-athletes enjoy exceptional opportunities as they train, compete, and lead. To make a gift to the Annual Fund for Athletics, please visit our secure online giving form or contact the Athletics Advancement Office at athletics@wustl.edu.