The Big West will be featured on ESPNU twice this fall with two October contests coming to conference campuses.  

In women's volleyball, one of the league's storied rivalries takes center stage on Oct. 22 at The Thunderdome. Defending league champion and NCAA regional participant Cal Poly travels to UC Santa Barbara as the Gauchos on the front half of a home-and-home week of Blue-Green Rivalry games. First serve for the Thursday contest on ESPNU is set for 7:30 p.m. 

In last season's pair of meetings the games were hotly contested, both needing the full five sets before winning on their home floor. Reigning Big West Freshman of the Year Gabi Martinez of UC Santa Barbara provided a team-best 19 kills as fellow first-year player Ayva Ostovar dished out a career-high 31 assists for the Gauchos in their win. Both student-athletes are back in the mix in 2026 as UCSB will be under the direction of first-year head coach Michael Henchy, who joins the program after two years on the staff at Penn State highlighted by a national championship.  

Meanwhile, the Mustangs got a combined 32 kills and 36 digs from the trio of Kendall Beshear (15k, 11d), Emma Fredrick (17k, 7d) and Elif Hurriyet (18d) at the Mott with all three upperclassmen returning to defend the title in 2026. Cal Poly closed last year ranked 21st in the AVCA Teraflex Coaches Poll after knocking off BYU and USC in a magical postseason run before falling to eventual national runner-up Kentucky as the final unseeded team in the bracket. 

Additionally, new Big West member institution California Baptist will play host on the pitch as the Lancers take on Oregon State on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. The ESPNU contest from CBU Soccer Stadium is part of a new-look collaboration of West Coast soccer with the Pac-12.  

California Baptist opens the year as the final regular-season WAC champions and winners of the crown in three of their final four seasons in the league. Opening the season ranked No. 19 by the United Soccer Coaches, OSU is back in the Pac-12 in its revival year after competing in the WCC for the last two seasons. Both teams eclipsed double-digit wins last season, as the Lancers went 10-4-3 overall, while the Beavers sported a 10-5-2 record.  

The game is part of the Pac-12 conference soccer slate as four Big West member institutions will compete as affiliates in the conference in 2026. The unique and innovative solution preserves additional pathways to the NCAA Championship across the region, protects the future of men's soccer in the West and increases the competitive non-conference scheduling opportunities with three crossover games between the two leagues each season. For more on the collaboration, click here. 

In total, ESPN has slated more than 2,400 women’s college volleyball matches across networks this fall, marking the highest total number in ESPN history. Additionally, ESPN will present 1,110 men's college soccer matches this season with 20 taking to the national television airwaves.  

Along with the two games selected to air on national television, The Big West will see robust coverage on the airwaves of ESPN+ across all sports. Big West home conference women's volleyball and men's and women's soccer matches are set to be broadcast on ESPN+, with select non-conference contests slated for air this fall. For men's soccer, any regular-season Pac-12 games originating from a Big West campus that are chosen to be broadcast will be seen on ESPN+. More than 375 volleyball, soccer and men’s water polo telecasts scheduled this fall on ESPN+. View The Big West's streaming schedule here >>>