Kentucky Volleyball to Play North Carolina in 2026 SEC/ACC Challenge
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Volleyball team has added another date to its 2026 fall schedule as the Wildcats will be playing the North Carolina Tar Heels as part of the 2026 SEC/ACC Challenge. The game will be played at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington and be televised by the ESPN Family of Networks.
Kentucky is 11-5 all-time against the Tar Heels, having last met in 2014 in Chapel Hill in a five-set Tar Heel victory. UK and UNC have only met twice in the 2000’s with UNC winning the 2014 match and Kentucky winning a meeting in 2012 with a 3-0 sweep at Memorial Coliseum.
This year’s SEC/ACC Challenge marks the second year of the co-sanctioned event. All matches of the challenge will be broadcasted on the ESPN Family of Networks and this season, Texas A&M and Tennessee will represent the SEC in the two neutral-site matches, which UK and Texas did in Ft. Worth a season ago.
The SEC/ACC Challenge is the second conference challenge that UK will participate in this season with the Wildcats facing Penn State at Wrigley Field and play host to UCLA in the 2026 inaugural SEC/Big Ten Challenge.
SEC/ACC Challenge Match-Ups
Tuesday, Sept. 8
Auburn @ Florida State
Notre Dame @ Georgia
NC State @ LSU
Mississippi State @ Wake Forest
Clemson @ Ole Miss
Oklahoma @ Georgia Tech
Cal @ South Carolina
Wednesday, Sept. 9
Alabama @ Virginia
Arkansas @ Syracuse
Miami @ Florida
North Carolina @ Kentucky
Missouri @ Louisville
Tennessee vs. Pitt (State Farm Fieldhouse | Kissimmee, Fla.)
Texas A&M vs. Stanford (State Farm Fieldhouse | Kissimmee, Fla.)
Texas @ SMU
Vanderbilt @ Boston College
Confirmed 2026 Kentucky Volleyball Non-Conference Match Dates
Friday, Aug. 23 // vs. Wisconsin (AVCA First Serve, Milwaukee, Wisc.) // 9 p.m. ET
Sunday, Aug. 25 // vs. Pittsburgh (AVCA First Serve, Milwaukee, Wisc.) // 4 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Sept. 2 // UCLA (SEC/Big Ten Challenge)
Sunday, Sept. 6 // vs. Penn State (SEC/Big Ten Challenge, Wrigley Field) // 7pm or 9pm ET // FOX
Wednesday, Sept. 9 // NORTH CAROLINA (SEC/ACC Challenge)
Saturday, Sept. 12 // vs. SMU (Paradise Invitational, Nassau, Bahamas)
Sunday, Sept. 13 // vs. Purdue or Houston (Paradise Invitational, Nassau, Bahamas)
Friday, Nov. 20 // SEC Tournament Opening Round (Savannah, Ga.)
Saturday, Nov. 21 // SEC Tournament Second Round (Savannah, Ga.)
Sunday, Nov. 22 // SEC Tournament Quarterfinals (Savannah, Ga.)
Monday, Nov. 23 // SEC Tournament Semifinals (Savannah, Ga.)
Tuesday, Nov. 24 // SEC Tournament Championship (Savannah, Ga.)
For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.
