ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - The 2026 CCAA Volleyball Tournament opens Tuesday, Nov. 10, with seven teams competing for the tournament championship and the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Championship. This year’s expanded field features three quarterfinal matches at campus sites before the semifinals and final at Cal State East Bay’s Pioneer Gym in Hayward on Nov. 13-14.
 
No. 4 Cal State East Bay hosts No. 5 Cal State LA, No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona welcomes No. 6 San Francisco State, and No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino hosts No. 7 Cal State San Marcos. All three quarterfinals begin at 5 p.m. Top-seeded Fresno Pacific receives a bye into Friday’s semifinals. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
No. 5 Cal State LA at No. 4 Cal State East Bay
Cal State East Bay and Cal State LA finished tied at 9-4 in conference play, but the Pioneers enter the tournament with home court advantage after earning a victory in the teams’ only meeting this season. CSUEB won that Sept. 18 conference match, 3-1, in Hayward. Tuesday’s rematch returns the Golden Eagles to Pioneer Gym, where East Bay will also host the semifinals and final.
 
The Pioneers bring an 11-12 overall record and a four-match winning streak, while the Golden Eagles enter at 11-14. Their postseason history adds another layer: Cal State East Bay defeated Cal State LA, 3-1, in last year’s quarterfinals before advancing to the semifinals.
 
Cal State East Bay’s defense will be central to its attempt to advance again. The Pioneers lead the CCAA with 17.00 digs per set, with Kale’a Kuamo’o averaging 4.19. Lamona Lauhingoa supplies 3.41 kills per set, while Pi’ilani Carvalho contributes 8.71 assists per set.
 
Cal State LA counters with one of Division II’s most productive attackers in Samarah DaCoud, whose 4.13 kills per set rank 14th nationally. The matchup puts her ability to finish rallies against East Bay’s ability to extend them. For the Golden Eagles, turning those extended points into kills could determine whether they reverse September’s result.
 
No. 6 San Francisco State at No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona
Cal Poly Pomona enters at 21-4 overall and 11-2 in conference play after delivering one of the season’s biggest results: a four-set victory at previously unbeaten Fresno Pacific on Saturday. Sarah Ybarra recorded 22 kills and Elle Walker added 19 as the Broncos ended the Sunbirds’ 24-match winning streak.
 
The Broncos also won both meetings with San Francisco State this fall. Pomona swept the Sept. 18 conference match in San Francisco, then returned for a 3-1 victory in an Oct. 22 pod match. Both victories counted toward Pomona’s overall record, while only September’s result counted toward the CCAA standings.
 
Cal Poly Pomona’s offense leads the conference with 14.16 kills per set, seventh nationally. Ybarra averages a CCAA-best 4.27 kills per set, with Walker adding 3.70. San Francisco State’s serving offers a way to disrupt that attack: the Gators lead the conference and rank 24th nationally with 2.18 aces per set. Their offense features Aidan Goodrich, Grace Witcher and Alana Larson, each averaging more than three kills per set.
 
The Gators, 12-11 overall and 8-5 in conference play, also bring recent postseason success against the Broncos. San Francisco State defeated Cal Poly Pomona in five sets in last year’s CCAA semifinals on its way to the program’s first tournament championship appearance.
 
No. 7 Cal State San Marcos at No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino
Defending tournament champion Cal State San Bernardino begins its title defense at home against Cal State San Marcos. The Coyotes finished 23-2 overall, shared the regular-season championship at 12-1 and enter with 12 consecutive victories and a 13-0 home record. Cal State San Marcos finished 11-14 overall and 6-7 in conference play.
 
The teams met just 10 days ago, when Cal State San Bernardino swept their Oct. 31 conference match at San Marcos. Tuesday shifts the matchup to Coussoulis Arena.
 
Cal State San Bernardino combines a .278 team hitting percentage with a conference-leading 2.41 blocks per set, which ranks 15th nationally. Allison Legates averages 1.13 blocks per set, while Kacie Pedersen leads the attack with 3.50 kills per set.
 
San Marcos will look to setter Blair Keith, who averages 9.19 assists per set, and Addison Kranz, who contributes 3.27 kills per set. Hazel Livingston-Jones adds efficiency in the middle with a .325 hitting percentage. Sustaining that offense against San Bernardino’s block will be a major test for the Cougars.
 
The Coyotes have won seven of the 10 CCAA tournaments contested since the event began in 2015, including last season’s championship.
 
Fresno Pacific awaits its tournament debut
Fresno Pacific earned the No. 1 seed after finishing 24-1 overall and 12-1 in conference play during its first season in the CCAA. The Sunbirds will face the East Bay–Cal State LA winner Friday at 3 p.m.
 
The Sunbirds won their conference meetings with both potential opponents, sweeping East Bay on Oct. 9 and defeating Cal State LA in four sets on Nov. 6. Neither was a pod match.
 
Fresno Pacific’s .302 hitting percentage ranks fourth nationally. Rylee Pitney ranks fifth individually at .425, and setter Mikayla Weiss averages 10.63 assists per set, 14th in Division II. That efficient offense helped the Sunbirds win their first 24 matches before Pomona handed them their first defeat in the regular-season finale.
 
Friday brings their first opportunity to respond—and their first opportunity to turn a CCAA regular-season championship into a tournament title.
 
Statistical averages and national rankings are through Nov. 9.