Carolina volleyball opens the 2026 season with a pair of in-state tests, starting Saturday on the road at Davidson before coming home Sunday to face UNCW.
The Tar Heels’ trip to Davidson is a rare one. It will be Carolina’s first visit there since 2003, and the matchup comes with a long track record in UNC’s favor: the Tar Heels are 9-0 all-time against Davidson and have won seven straight meetings by sweep.
UNC will then turn around and play UNCW for the first time since 2015. The Tar Heels lead that series 5-1.
Saturday’s match at Davidson is set for 2 p.m., followed by Sunday’s home opener against UNCW at 4 p.m.
There’s plenty coming back for Carolina in 2026, and that’s the biggest reason optimism is high. The Tar Heels did not lose anyone to the transfer portal for the second straight year, and the roster is bringing back almost everything that drove last season’s production.
Out of 1,536 kills from a year ago, 1,535 return. All 342 blocks are back.
The team also brings back 90.2% of its aces and 69.7% of its digs.
Safi Hampton and Chelsea Thorpe were both named to the Preseason All-ACC Team ahead of the season.
The schedule won’t make things easy. Carolina is set to play eight different teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season, including road dates with Kentucky, Pitt and Nebraska. The Tar Heels will also travel to SMU, host Stanford and Georgia Tech, and face Louisville and Miami both at home and on the road.
Over the course of seven matches, UNC will go up against six teams ranked in the AVCA Preseason Top-11, with five of those matchups coming away from home and two in Chapel Hill.
The leadership group for 2026 includes Zoe Behrendt, Chelsea Thrope and Sadie Swift.
There’s also a built-in connection among some of the newcomers. Transfers Laynie Smith and Emily Bobbitt both played at Triangle Volleyball Club before arriving at Carolina, and Triangle is also where Erin Curtis, Lindley Miller and Carly Markham played club volleyball before college. Erin Curtis’ father, Jason, co-founded the club, and head coach Mike Schall previously worked there as an associate director before coming to Chapel Hill.
Now entering his fourth season, Schall has Carolina moving in a different direction than it was when he arrived. The Tar Heels are in the preseason AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll for the first time since 2017 and were picked fifth in the ACC preseason coaches poll.
Schall opened his tenure with a 13-14 record, followed that with a 23-8 season in 2024 and UNC’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021, then posted a 22-9 mark in 2025 and another first-round NCAA Tournament win. The next target is three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, something Carolina has not done since a seven-year run from 2010-16.
The roster also comes with a notable athletic family tree. Jackie Taylor’s father, Sean, played football at Miami from 2001-2003, was part of the 2001 BCS National Championship team, went No. 5 in the 2004 NFL Draft to the Washington Redskins, and earned two Pro Bowl selections in 2006 and 2007. Her mother, Jackie García, played midfield for Miami’s women’s soccer team.
Erin Curtis’ father, Jason, captained the Santa Clara men’s volleyball team, while her sisters Emily and Maggie also played college volleyball at Villanova and Santa Clara, respectively. Julia Bohlinger’s father, Rob, played football at Wyoming from 1993-98 and later in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers as a left tackle.
Carson Overbeck’s mother, Carla, was a three-time All-America and four-time NCAA champion on UNC’s soccer team from 1986-89, captained the 1995 U.S. World Cup team that reached the semifinals, and served as captain of the 1996 U.S.
Women’s Soccer Olympic Team that won gold. She is now an assistant coach for the Duke women’s soccer team.
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