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USA SPORTS ANNOUNCES WEDNESDAY NIGHT PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR 2026 LOVB SEASON ON USA NETWORK
USA Network Will Air Live, Primetime Coverage of LOVB's Second Season, With 'Match of the Week' Airing Nearly Every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET from January to April
Playoff Coverage Includes 2026 LOVB Championship Matches, One Semifinal Match
Season Kicks Off with 2025 Championship Rematch on Wed., Jan. 7, as Defending Champions LOVB Austin Host LOVB Nebraska at 6 p.m. ET Live on USA Network
STAMFORD, Conn. - December 15, 2025 - USA Sports today announced its Wednesday night primetime broadcast schedule for League One Volleyball's (LOVB) 2026 season on USA Network, featuring the Match of the Week and postseason coverage culminating with the 2026 LOVB Championship.
USA Network's Match of the Week coverage begins with the first serve of the 2026 season on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 6 p.m. ET, featuring a rematch of the 2025 Championship when LOVB Nebraska faces defending champion LOVB Austin. LOVB Nebraska features former University of Nebraska Cornhusker star libero Lexi Rodriguez, making her league debut, while LOVB Austin's roster is headlined by last year's LOVB Finals MVP Madisen Skinner, a three-time NCAA champion including twice with the Texas Longhorns
Earlier this year, USA Sports acquired media rights for LOVB in a multi-year agreement. The premier women's professional volleyball league in the U.S., LOVB boasts one of the strongest talent profiles among professional sporting leagues. One in every five LOVB athletes are Olympians, with 90% of international players and 75% of U.S. players in the league having national team experience, including Skinner and Rodriguez, making the opening match on USA Network must-watch TV.
Following the opening match, USA Network will exclusively air the league's Match of the Week in primetime on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET, taking a two-week break in February during coverage of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
In April, USA Network will feature LOVB's second semifinals match (April 12) and both championship matches (April 16 and 18), where the 2026 LOVB champions will be crowned live to a primetime audience. In LOVB's new postseason format, four teams will make the semifinal round and compete in a two-match series. Should the teams split the match results - 1 win & 1 loss - there will be a 'Golden Set' to 15 to determine the winner, played immediately after the determining set of the second match. The championship series will follow the same format.
USA Sports' coverage of LOVB is part of the brand's nearly 1,000 hours of women's sports programming across its platforms in 2026. This includes coverage of the WNBA, which will be showcased on USA Network in primetime on Wednesday nights beginning in May, as well as the LPGA Tour, and college and amateur sports.
USA Network's 2026 LOVB Schedule
DATE MATCH TIME (ET)
Jan. 7 LOVB Nebraska at LOVB Austin 6-8 p.m.
Jan. 14 LOVB Austin at LOVB Atlanta 8-10 p.m.
Jan. 21 LOVB Austin at LOVB Madison 8-10 p.m.
Jan. 28 LOVB Houston at LOVB Atlanta 8-10 p.m.
Feb. 4 LOVB Atlanta at LOVB Austin 8-10 p.m.
Feb. 25 LOVB Salt Lake at LOVB Austin 8-10 p.m.
March 4 LOVB Houston at LOVB Madison 8-10 p.m.
March 11 LOVB Austin at LOVB Houston 8-10 p.m.
March 18 LOVB Atlanta at LOVB Nebraska 8-10 p.m.
March 25 LOVB Salt Lake at LOVB Houston 8-10 p.m.
April 1 LOVB Houston at LOVB Nebraska 8-10 p.m.
April 12 Semifinal Match 2 2-4 p.m.
April 16 Championship Match 1 8-10 p.m.
April 18 Championship Match 2 8-10 p.m.
About USA Sports
USA Sports is home to premier sporting events airing on USA Network, Golf Channel, and CNBC across the calendar year, including NASCAR, PGA TOUR, Premier League, WWE, WNBA, Pac-12 Football and Basketball, USGA, R&A, LPGA Tour, PGA of America, Atlantic 10 Basketball, DP World Tour, Augusta National, League One Volleyball (LOVB), and more. Golf Channel - the first-ever single-sport cable network which was founded in 1995 - delivers comprehensive live golf tournament, studio and shoulder programming and is the television home of the sport and industry in the United States. USA Sports is a division of VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT), Comcast Corporation's planned spin-off, which will be a leading independent publicly traded media company comprised of certain of NBCUniversal's cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, along with digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass and SportsEngine. The well-capitalized company will have significant scale as a pure-play set of assets anchored by leading news, sports and entertainment content. The spin-off is expected to be completed in early 2026, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions.
About LOVB
Founded in 2020, LOVB's mission is to reimagine the future of volleyball. With a unique community up approach, LOVB is one holistic ecosystem - from club to pro. The largest community of youth clubs in the country, LOVB launched the first serve of its pro league in January 2025, featuring some of the very best players in the world including American silver medalists and players from the last Olympics. For more information on LOVB as it embarks on its second season, its clubs, and its professional teams in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison, Omaha, Salt Lake, and soon to be Los Angeles, please visit www.lovb.com or on social channels like Instagram.
-USA Sports-
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