st john's university Michigan State volleyball announced its complete 2026 schedule on Wednesday, and the slate gives the Spartans 28 regular-season matches with 15 inside the Breslin Center. The schedule also includes a 17-match Big Ten run and the program's first shot at the new conference tournament format.
Breslin Center Loaded in 2026
The home-heavy slate starts Aug. 28 against Miami (Fla.) and continues Aug. 29 against LIU before a non-conference stretch that takes Michigan State to Ann Arbor for neutral-site matches against LSU on Sept. 1 and South Carolina on Sept. 2. The Spartans also play at Central Michigan on Sept. 5, host Western Michigan on Sept. 8 and add Cincinnati, Morehead State and Oakland across Sept. 11-12.
Michigan State will host Drake and Wright State on Sept. 18-19 in the fourth annual Kathy DeBoer Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance. That event sits inside a schedule that now carries 11 non-conference matches, a larger opening block before the Big Ten portion begins.
Washington Starts Big Ten Play
Conference play opens Sept. 25 at home against Washington, and the Spartans will split their league slate into nine home conference matches and eight road conference matches. Michigan State then goes to UCLA on Oct. 2 and USC on Oct. 4, two of the five Big Ten | Discover Volleyball Challenge matches the program will play in October.
The 2026 schedule is packed with opponents that will stress the roster early and often. Michigan State's slate features 12 NCAA Tournament teams, along with three teams that won conference regular-season titles last season and three conference tournament champions from a year ago.
Fishers Event Center Awaits
The regular season ends Nov. 17 at home against Michigan, then the focus shifts to the inaugural Big Ten Tournament from Nov. 20-25 at Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Indiana. The top 15 teams in the regular-season standings will qualify, and the event will begin with three opening round matches and four second-round matches before moving through the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship match on Nov. 25.
For Michigan State, the schedule release does more than fill in dates. It gives the Spartans a path through a 17-match conference schedule in a season that now includes a wider home calendar, a tougher non-conference mix and a clear cut to the first Big Ten Tournament under the new format.
