COMING UP: at Paradise Volleyball Classic (Honolulu, Hawaii) – Friday vs. No. 12 Oklahoma Wesleyan, Noon (HDT)/3 p.m. (PDT); Saturday vs. Embry-Riddle, 9 a.m. (HDT)/12 p.m. (PDT); Saturday vs. Dakota State, 6 p.m. (HDT)/9 p.m. (PDT)
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: A live stream of all matches will be provided (pay-per-view) by the tournament host at https://passthaballlive.com/category/live-events/. Any live stat links will be listed online at OregonTechOwls.com.
 
SEASON OPENERS: Since volleyball returned to OIT in 1998, the Lady Owls are 16-12 in regular-season openers, with the team playing their first game on a neutral court for the 19th time and fifth-straight year. During the previous 28 seasons, Tech opened the year at home just twice – in 2001 vs. Warner Pacific and 2021 vs. Simpson.
 
EARLIEST STARTING DATE: Tech opens the season on Aug. 14, the earliest starting date in program history. Last season, the Lady Owls began the year on Aug. 15 – the previous earliest date – while in 2023 and 2024, the team started the season on Aug. 17.
 
TO THE ISLANDS: The Lady Owls start the 2026 season 2,500 miles from home, traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Paradise Volleyball Classic – held at Hawaii Pacific University. Tech joins six NAIA schools at the 2-day event – as Providence, Dakota State, Indiana Tech, Doane, Oklahoma Wesleyan and Embry-Riddle have each made the long trip. It is the second time OIT has traveled to the Islands, going 1-2 at the 2023 Magic Island Volleyball Classic.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – OKLAHOMA WESLEYAN (26-5 in 2025, FIRST ALL-TIME MEETING): Tech meets their first-ever opponent from Oklahoma and the first from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Eagles, ranked No. 12 in the preseason NAIA Top-25 poll, won the KCAC Tournament title in 2025 along with picking up an Opening Round victory, before dropping two matches at the final site of the NAIA Championships. OWU led the NAIA in kills per set (14.31), but lost KCAC Player of the Year Evelyn Rohrberg (5.36 k/s) and KCAC Setter of the Year Sydney Collins (10.23 a/s). The cupboard isn't bare, as the squad returns 5-foot-11 middle Iva Mrkaic (0.70 k/s, 0.71 b/s), 5-foot-9 opposite Maia Rubio (3.15 k/s, 2.89 d/s), 5-foot-9 outside Maria Santa Cruz (2.74 k/s, 0.44 b/s) and libero Maria Luisa Caycedo (5.51 d/s). The roster features players from eight different countries.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – EMBRY-RIDDLE (12-15 in 2025, ERAU LEADS SERIES 2-1, LAST MEETING IN 2023): Day 2 of the tournament has the Owls facing Embry-Riddle of Arizona, from the Great Southwest Athletic Conference. The Eagles head into 2026 picked sixth in the GSAC preseason poll, looking to improve an offense that last season posted a .161 attack percentage. ERAU returns two of their top-three hitters – 5-foot-8 outside Anela Chew (2.35 k/s, 0.22 b/s) and middle Brooke Eglington (2.05 k/s, 0.61 d/s) – along with setter Alice Tuci (7.61 a/s, 1.91 d/s). The two teams last played in 2023, with the Eagles claiming a 5-set victory in Ashland, Ore.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – DAKOTA STATE (16-13 in 2025, FIRST ALL-TIME MEETING): The trip to Hawaii ends Saturday against Dakota State – the first time OIT has faced a team from South Dakota since meeting Northern State in 2008. The Trojans return the bulk of their roster from a 2025 team that ranked No. 3 in the NAIA in kills per set (14.11), with the 2026 team picked fourth in the 12-team Frontier Conference preseason poll. The duo of 5-foot-10 hitter Tristyn Maras (3.15 k/s, 0.49 b/s) and 5-foot-9 middle Macey Wathan (2.69 k/s, 0.62 b/s) are experienced players, as is libero Kate Van Rooyan (5.09 d/s). DSU becomes the seventh team in the current Frontier Conference that Tech has matched up against.
 
OIT PICKED SEVENTH IN CCC POLL: After finishing ninth in the regular-season standings in 2025 (climbed to eighth after Walla Walla was forced to vacate wins due to an ineligible player), the Lady Owls open the new season picked seventh in the CCC Preseason Poll. Tech and Northwest share the position with 52 voter points, chasing Eastern Oregon (118), the defending national semifinalist, who received nine first-place nods. Corban (106) is second, followed by both Southern Oregon and College of Idaho with 92 points. Just ahead of the Owls are Lewis-Clark State (74) and Bushnell (69), with Walla Walla (28), Evergreen State (25) and Warner Pacific (14). The Top-8 finishers following the 20-game CCC schedule, will advance to the CCC Championships.
 
NAIA TOP-25 POLL: The NAIA announced the preseason Top-25 poll on Wednesday, with seven OIT opponents opening 2026 in the national ranking. Eastern Oregon opens the year at No. 2, Corban at No. 5, Oklahoma Wesleyan at No. 12, College of Idaho at No. 18, Bushnell at No. 19, Southern Oregon at No. 22 and Lewis-Clark State at No. 23.
 
SET TO DEBUT: Five new players have joined the 13 returning players to make up the Lady Owls 2026 roster. Transfers Larrynn-Alexis Joseph-Rodrigues, Leilani Kench, Ka'ala Masaoka and Kaliko Schilling are all from Hawaii and look to making their OIT debut in front of friends and family. The fifth new player is true freshman setter Daisie Gargurevich of Roseburg High.
 
RECORD BOOK: Three current Lady Owls rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Aleksen Thayer leads the way, holding the all-time blocks (339) mark, with Kaley Whalen No. 4 in digs (1,395) and No. 19 in assists (206), while Lucy Boyd is No. 9 in assists (1,559) and No. 22 in aces (70).
 
SCHEDULE UPDATES: Multiple changes have been made to the upcoming schedule for the Hope International SummerSlam – with the Lady Owls now facing La Sierra and Simpson on Day 1, while meeting Hope International and Life Pacific on Day 2 (games at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.). In addition, the preseason home opener vs. Simpson has shifted back one day, with the contest set for Aug. 29 at 2 p.m.