Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Releases 2026 Big Ten Schedule
5/28/2026 12:00:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State head volleyball coach Kristen Kelsay and the Big Ten Conference announced the 2026 league schedule on Thursday. MSU will play a 17-match conference slate with nine matches inside the Breslin Center.Â
With the debut of the Big Ten Volleyball Tournament this fall, the B1G regular-season schedule decreases from 20 to 17 matches in a single, round-robin format. Each team will play nine conference home matches and eight conference road matches or eight home matches and nine road matches.Â
In addition, the conference's Big Ten | Discover Volleyball Challenge will take place for the second-straight year during the month of October. Each team will compete in five designated Challenge matches, with the winner determined by the highest win total across the five matches. All weekday matches in October will count towards the Challenge. A trophy is awarded to the winning team.Â
Nine of the conference's 18 teams earned bids to last year's NCAA Tournament, with five reaching the Sweet 16 and three advancing to the Elite Eight. Wisconsin advanced to the national semifinals, falling to Kentucky in five sets.Â
The Spartans open conference play with a pair of home matches against Washington (Sept. 25) and Penn State (Sept. 27). MSU then travels to California to take on UCLA on Oct. 2 and USC on Oct. 4 for its first B1G road contests.Â
MSU returns to East Lansing the following weekend to host Oregon on Oct. 9 and Iowa on Oct. 11. Four-straight road contests then await the Spartans, who will visit the state of Illinois for matches at Illinois (Oct. 15) and Northwestern (Oct. 17) before an East Coast trip with matches at Rutgers on Oct. 23 and Maryland on Oct. 25.Â
The Spartans wrap up the month of October at home with contests against Indiana (Oct. 30) and Nebraska (Oct. 31). MSU smashed its attendance record last season against the Huskers with 11,578 fans at the Breslin Center.Â
MSU visits Wisconsin (Nov. 5) before returning home to host Ohio State (Nov. 7) and follows with another home-away week, hosting Purdue on Nov. 12 before traveling to Minnesota on Nov. 14.  The Spartans conclude the regular season on Nov. 17 at home against in-state rival Michigan for the fifth Battle at Breslin.Â
The inaugural Big Ten Tournament will take place from Nov. 20-25 at Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Indiana, beginning with three opening round matches followed by four second-round matches. The competition will then progress through the quarterfinals and semifinals, culminating with the championship match slated for Nov. 25. One off day will be built into the tournament schedule. The top 15 teams in the regular-season standings will qualify for the tournament.  Â
MSU recorded an 18-12 record in 2025 and posted its best team hitting efficiency (.222), kills per set (12.83), assists per set (11.99) and service aces per set (1.71) since 2017. Â
Match times, television designations and season ticket information, along with MSU's complete 2026 schedule, will be announced at a later date. Â
