The 2026 SCIAC Volleyball Tournament is scheduled to begin tonight, November 10, with the first round match between No. 4 La Verne and No. 5 Chapman to be played on the Leopards' campus. 

In what was a competitive conference schedule all throughout the season, California Lutheran captured the top seed with a 12-2 SCIAC record and will take on the winner of the opening round. Whittier, the No. 2 seed, was just behind the Regals with an 11-2 finish, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps claimed the No. 3 seed at 9-4. The Poets and Athenas will face off in the semi-finals on Thursday at 7 p.m.

With its most wins in the conference slate since 2022, Cal Lutheran got out to a 6-0 start in SCIAC play and faltered just twice thereafter. The Regals also ended the regular season on a five-match winning streak, which they will look to carry on into the postseason.

Led by a team-best 136 kills from Tarin Rueckert, Cal Lutheran has displayed one of the best attacks in the league with a conference-high .226 hitting percentage in SCIAC play. Three other Regals have eclipsed 100 kills as well in Kennedy Smith, Emily Ford, and Cienna Alvarez. The defensive efforts have been just as strong, as Keegan Corley led all conference players in digs with 327, while Rueckert posted 48 total blocks. 

For a second straight year, Whittier won 11 conference matches, highlighted by a 9-0 start. Though the Poets lost back-to-back contests to La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer, they recovered with five straight wins, including four sweeps, to finish the regular season.

In their 13 matches, no team hit better than .191 against the Poets, and in five of those, teams hit below .100. Two players finished in the top-10 in kills in the SCIAC for Whittier in Mia D'Amato and Morgan Kinser with 100 and 80, respectively. D'Amato also stepped up at the net with 46 total blocks. On the back row, Alyssa Gonzalez was fourth in digs with 219. 

The defending tournament champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps played its best volleyball to end the regular season with eight wins in its final 10 matches, including a current four-match winning streak. 

A 2024 All-SCIAC player, Solvej Eversoll topped the league in blocks with 79, as the Athenas also led the conference in team blocks per set with 2.78. On the attack, Phoebe Shorney racked up 129 kills, good for seventh in the league. 

La Verne was a SCIAC Tournament finalist last season and makes its return to the postseason under first-year head coach Dr. Randi Taylor-Toomay, who led the Leopards to an 8-6 conference record. 

The team saw strong offensive production from Lauren Gott, who put down a SCIAC-best 174 kills. Zacky Coaston also tallied 131 kills on an impressive .324 hitting percentage. As a group, La Verne collected the most kills in the conference with 760. 

Rounding out the field, the Panthers are back in the postseason with a 7-6 SCIAC record. Chapman registered notable wins all throughout the year, including victories against both La Verne and CMS. 

In just her first year, Sasha Pugh has been a standout star for the Panthers with 174 kills, tied for a conference-high, on .321 hitting to go along with 39 total blocks. Her 199.5 points were second in the league.