SPEARFISH, S.D.- Black Hills State University Volleyball announced their 2026 schedule on Tuesday afternoon. The schedule will consist of the normal 14-game conference schedule, two games in the RMAC Regional Pod and the RMAC Power Pod, as well as two non-conference tournaments in North Dakota and east river South Dakota. The Yellow Jackets will have two extra home games this year.

Year two of the Grayson DuBose regime will begin in North Dakota at the UMary Volleyball Invitational in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Yellow Jackets will start the campaign in a Yellow Jacket battle versus MSU Billings on the afternoon of August 28. BHSU is 2-2 in their last four games versus the Yellowjackets but they played last in 2024. They will then face the home team that night on August 28 versus UMary. It will be the first of two matchups versus UMary this year after they went 1-1 versus the Marauders last year.
On day two of the UMary Volleyball Invitational, BHSU will play an afternoon game versus Lone Star's Western New Mexico on August 29. It will be BHSU's first meeting with the Mustangs since 2015. Directly after that game, BHSU will face Bemidji State to finish off the tournament. The Yellow Jackets beat BSU in 2021, and this will be only their fifth meeting.

The second tournament of the year will be a week later and co-hosted by USF and Augustana in Sioux Falls. The Yellow Jackets will start this tournament with a tough test facing Washburn University at the Stewart Center on September 3, who finished last season ranked #8 in the country and earning a win in the NCAA Tournament. It will only be the second matchup ever between the two schools. They will then get some rest before playing Sioux Falls and UMary at the Elmen Center on September 4. BHSU will look get a win versus the Cougars in the first matchup, before meeting with Mary for the second time this year and fourth time in the last two years. Finally, on September 5, BHSU will end their non-conference slate with a matchup in the Elmen Center versus Upper Iowa in their first matchup since 2014. BHSU is 0-1 all time versus the Peacocks.

The Green and Gold will begin RMAC play at home versus Fort Lewis on September 11 and Western Colorado on September 12. The Yellow Jackets fell in Durango last year and will look to bounce back. Western was one of BHSU's two RMAC wins last year with the Yellow Jackets winning 3-1.

BHSU will then head on their first RMAC road trip, where they will play their first RMAC road contest of the season versus Colorado Christian on September 18 and then will face their second NCAA Tournament team of the season when they face CSU Pueblo on September 19.
After that, BHSU will head back home for the RMAC Regional Pod, which will start in A2 Arena with Chadron State on September 22. Chadron was the only team last year that BHSU beat multiple times, going 2-1 versus them. They will then head up I90 for a matchup in the King Center versus South Dakota Mines on September 25. The Yellow Jackets took Mines to four sets in that matchup last season.

Then, BHSU will get a chance to face the reigning national champions at home when MSU Denver makes their way to A2 Arena on October 2. MSU Denver won the championship and ended the year ranked #1 in the top 25 coaches poll. They will then host another NCAA Tournament qualifier in UCCS on October 3. UCCS was receiving votes by the final AVCA Coaches' Poll

The Yellow Jackets will start a three game road trip, where they will head to Adams State on October 9, where they Yellow Jackets have won a set in each of the last five matchups versus the Grizzlies. On October 10, BHSU will head to Las Vegas, N.M. to face the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls where the Yellow Jackets will look to hold onto their 8-7 series lead. Finally, on Tuesday, October 13, BHSU will head to the Chicoine Center in Chadron, Neb. to face the Chadron State Eagles, where BHSU will face them for the second time this season.
After that stretch, BHSU will have five home games in a row. This starts with Regis on October 17. This matchup will start a stretch of four home games in ten day for the Green and Gold.

BHSU will then get to host the RMAC Power Pod with Chadron State and Western Colorado that weekend. BH will host CSC on October 22 and make it the sixth time in two years that the two teams have faced off. They will then get to host Western Colorado for the second time this season on October 24 and look to get another win versus the Mountaineers.

The final home week of the year will include a Black Hills Brawl matchup with the Hardrockers making the trip down to face us on October 27. Then, senior night will be on October 30 versus Colorado School of Mines which will start a stretch of back-to-back national qualifiers in a row for the Green and Gold.

The final national tournament invitee that BHSU will face will be Colorado Mesa on November 6 in the second to last game of the season. BHSU will head to Grand Junction to face a Mesa team that finished eighth in the region. They will then finish out their season in Salt Lake City on November 7 when the Jackets will head to Westminster. BHSU scored 20 or more points in three out of the four sets in their last meeting.

If BHSU is able to make a conference tournament push, the Yellow Jackets will play the first round game on the higher seed's campus on November 10 with the Semifinals and Championship hosted in the highest remaining seed's arena on November 13 and 14.