COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced the 2026 women's volleyball preseason coaches' poll on Tuesday afternoon in addition to the 2026 Preseason All-RMAC Team. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 6-20 (2-12 RMAC) season where they finished 13
th in the conference. In the preseason coaches' poll, the Yellow Jackets are predicted 13
th in the conference as they enter season two of the head coach
Grayson DuBose era.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a season where they had the most wins in a season since 2021 and the most conference wins since 2022. The Yellow Jackets went 3-1 in the 1
st International Bank Homecoming Classic before entering RMAC play and pulled out two wins over Chadron, one of them in the regional pod, and a win over Western Colorado in regular conference play.
DuBose will begin a new era after losing five seniors this past season. The Yellow Jackets will be returning three players who started in over half of last season's games and two others who started ten plus games for the Jackets last year. The key returners include
Elena Atkinson, who was the top setter for BHSU last year with a team-leading 403 assists.
Peyton McLeod also brings in height at the middle position and was second on the team in total blocks last year with 52.
Carsyn Mettler is the top hitter returning after posting 159 kills and a .174 hitting percentage. Also returning is
Izabel Abril, who had 85 kills and 100 points for BHSU last year and
Mianna Cardenas, who had 23 blocks in 10 starts.
The Green and Gold have seven newcomers this year with six of them being freshman.
Aspen Baird is the lone transfer in this year's class and posted over 1300 assists as Dawson CC's top setter the past two seasons including 714 her first season. Baird isn't the only incoming setter as
Neva Cook, a freshman from Morrison, Colo., joins the team. Cook reached the 2,000 assist mark in her career at Green Mountain H.S. and had over 650 her senior year. DuBose also brings in two Black Hills outside hitters as
Adelyn Bouman from Spearfish and
Maddie Altstiel from Rapid City Christian. Bouman is SHS's all time leader in kills with 895 and also holds the record for kills in a season with 330 this past year. Altstiel had 258 kills and 50 aces this past season.
Emma Hager brings height to the team as a 6'0" middle blocker from Casper, Wyo. She had 92 blocks and 284 kills her senior year at Kelly Walsh H.S. Finally, DuBose adds two Liberos to the mix as he searches for a new starting Libero:
Alannah Kemmis and
Keirian Barnett. Kemmis had 360 digs for Bismarck H.S. her senior year while Barnett had 170 kills and 181 digs her senior year at Ascent Classical Academy.
BHSU will begin their season at the Marauder's First Serve Invitational at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, N.D. on August 28
th versus MSU Billings at 10:30 AM MT, and UMary at 6:30 PM MT.
| 2026 RMAC Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| Rank |
Team (1st-2nd-3rd) |
Points |
| 1. |
UCCS (8-4-1) |
187 |
| 2. |
Colorado Mesa (1-5-3) |
169 |
| 3. |
Colorado School of Mines (2-3-4) |
165 |
| 3. |
MSU Denver (4-2-2) |
165 |
| 5. |
CSU Pueblo (0-1-4) |
155 |
| 6. |
Colorado Christian (0-0-1) |
125 |
| 7. |
Fort Lewis |
112 |
| 8. |
South Dakota Mines |
107 |
| 9. |
Westminster |
83 |
| 10. |
Regis |
67 |
| 11. |
Adams State |
62 |
| 12. |
New Mexico Highlands |
52 |
| 13. |
Western Colorado |
44 |
| 14. |
Black Hills State |
43 |
| 15. |
Chadron State |
38 |
