BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University Vikings officially open the 2025-26 season with opening weekend for the volleyball and soccer programs.

 

This Week in Viking Athletics features the volleyball program hosting the six-team WWU Invitational on WECU Court in Carver Gym and the men's and women's soccer programs taking to the road to open non-conference play.

 

Opening Week is highlighted by the WWU Volleyball Invitational, with nine matches played in Carver Gym on campus over three days September 4-6. The Vikings host No. 3 nationally ranked St. Cloud State, No. 4 San Francisco State, No. 11 Cal Poly Pomona and GNAC teams Simon Fraser and Central Washington in the three-day tournament. WWU plays the three ranked opponents to open the 2025 season.

 

The soccer teams take to the road to open the campaign with the women's team heading to Colorado for a trio of non-conference games and the men's team heading to California for key West Region matchups against Chico State and Stanislaus State.

 

Here is a rundown of the WWU programs in action this week. All results, statistics and event recaps will be posted on WWUVikings.com to follow the teams in action.

 

The Vikings entered the 2025 season picked to finish in a tie for 3rd place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, coming off a 12-12 season in 2024. WWU returns 11 letterwinners and adds five newcomers to the squad entering the season-opening WWU Invitational this weekend.

 

Head coach Diane Flick-Williams (530-149/.781) enters her 26th season as the Vikings head coach. WWU is led by preseason All-GNAC selections senior pin hitter Devyn Oestreich, junior pin hitter Delaney Speer and junior middle Emily Vossenkuhl, with Oestreich selected as the conference preseason player of the year.

 

The season-opening WWU Invitational features nine matches played on WECU Court in Carver Gym September 4-6 (Thursday-Saturday), with the Vikings facing three nationally ranked teams in No. 11 Cal Poly Pomona, No. 3 St. Cloud State and No. 4 San Francisco State.

 

 

What's Next:

Following the WWU Invitational, the Vikings wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule with four matches in Honolulu at the Aloha State Showdown co-hosted by Chaminade and Hawai'i Pacific. WWU faced UC Merced and Chaminade during the first day of the tournament on September 11, then takes on Hawai'i Hilo (9/12) and HPU (9/13). Western opens GNAC play the following week with a road trip to face Northwest Nazarene (9/18) and rival Central Washington (9/20). The conference home opener is scheduled for Thursday, September 28 kicking off the start of the fall quarter facing Montana State Billings on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

 

Free Parking:

Fans can park for free during the WWU Invitational in Lot 9G on WWU's campus. Follow the signs for the free parking and reference the WWU parking map for more information.

 

Ticket Information:

Tickets are available online at WWUVikings.com/Tickets or in person at the WWU Box Office. 

 

Live Coverage:

The GNAC Network makes its pay-per-view debut with the WWU Invitational. Login to the network, create an account and watch every GNAC competition during the 2025-26 season. Live stats will be available for free with all links available at WWUVikings.com/Live.

 

The WWU men's soccer program opens the 2025 season with a pair of non-conference games on the road, facing West Region foes Chico State (Thursday, 9/4) and Stanislaus State (Saturday, 9/6), with both matches featuring a 7 pm kickoff.

 

The Vikings open the season picked to finish 2nd in the GNAC earning 27 points and one first-place vote in the preseason coaches poll. WWU is coming off a 10-5-3 record last season, finishing 2nd in the conference with an 8-3-1 record. The Vikings had a strong finish to the campaign falling just short of an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, winning eight of their final 10 games.

 

WWU returns a host of key players including senior winger and three-time All-GNAC performer Albin Jonsson (16 career goals, 12 assists), senior defenders Joar Tidblom, Sebastiano Silvetti and Krubelle Tesfaye, and sophomore midfielder Edgar Serrano.

 

Head coach Greg Brisbon (103-68-33/.586) enters his 13th season at the helm of the program. 

 

 

What's Next:

WWU is back on the road next week with a pair of games against nationally-ranked No. 24 Cal State Dominguez Hills and No. 11 Cal State LA, before making its home debut at Harrington Field on September 18 vs. Regis. Starting with the game vs. Regis, the Vikings will play six consecutive home games including hosting St. Edward's (9/24) and Dallas Baptist (9/26) during the first week of school.

 

How to Follow:

Both matches during the opening weekend of the season feature a pay-per-view webcast via the CCAA Network. Free live statistical updates will be available with direct links available at WWUVikings.com.

 

The Vikings open the season ranked just outside of the national top 25 coming off GNAC regular-season title and NCAA Championships appearance in 2024. WWU is on the road to open the season with three matches in Colorado facing MSU Denver (9/4), UC Colorado Springs (9/7) and No. 4 Colorado School of Mines (9/10).

 

WWU has been picked to finish first in the preseason GNAC Coaches Poll earning seven of the eight first-place votes to finish ahead of second-place Simon Fraser and third-place Seattle Pacific.

 

The Vikings return a majority of the team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, led by All-GNAC performers midfielder Morgan Manalili (18 career goals, 16 assists) and defender Asia Hardin (started 68 of 69 possible games). First Team All-GNAC performer Mie Carins anchors the midfield entering her junior season and senior forward Claire Potter looks for a strong finish to her collegiate career. Western's senior class made their collegiate debut during the 2022 national championship season.

 

Following the season-opening three-game trip to Colorado, the Vikings make their home debut at Harrington Field September 18 vs. Cal State Monterey Bay and September 20 vs. Cal State East Bay. The GNAC schedule opens the following week with Western traveling to play at Northwest Nazarene (9/25) and Central Washington (9/27).

 

WWU went 14-4-5 overall last season and won their 10th GNAC regular-season title going undefeated at 11-0-3 in conference play. Head coach Travis Connell enters his 23rd season leading the program with a 325-89-46 (.757) record and 198-44-28 mark in conference matches.

 

 

What's Next:

Following the three-game trip to Colorado the Vikings make their home debut at Harrington Field on Thursday, September 18 kicking off Move in Week with a 7 pm match vs. Cal State Monterey Bay. WWU also hosts Cal State East Bay at 2:30 pm on Saturday, September 20 at Harrington Field.

 

How to Follow:

All three games in Colorado feature a live pay-per-view webcast on the RMAC Network. Free live statistical updates will be available with direct links available at WWUVikings.com.