Bemidji State volleyball unveils 28-match 2026 schedule

Bemidji State volleyball will spend the first two weekends of its 2026 season far from BSU Gymnasium, a deliberate early test that sets the tone for a 28-match schedule built around travel, conference pressure and high-visibility home dates. Head coach Erika Bute announced the slate on June 17, and the schedule shows how the Beavers plan to balance nonconference preparation with the 20-match grind of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

The season opens Aug. 28 and 29 at the University of Mary’s First Serve Invitational in Bismarck, North Dakota, where Bemidji State will face Western New Mexico, UMary, Montana State University Billings and Black Hills State University. The following week takes the Beavers to San Diego for the Fall Cougar Classic, hosted by California State University San Marcos, beginning Sept. 3. There, Bemidji State is set to see CSU San Marcos, the University of California Merced, the University of Minnesota Crookston and Saint Michael’s College, giving the roster an early stretch against a mix of regional and distant opponents before conference play starts.

That travel-heavy opening matters for a program trying to establish itself under Bute, who was named the Beavers’ 15th head coach in February 2025 after serving as an assistant in 2024. This will be her first full season in charge, and the schedule shows a staff intent on getting live matches against a range of styles before the NSIC race tightens in mid-September.

Bemidji State begins league play on the road Sept. 11 and 12 at Minot State University and the University of Mary. The first home conference matches follow quickly, with Jamestown visiting Sept. 18, Northern State on Sept. 19 and Minnesota Duluth on Sept. 24. The release marks Sept. 19 as Parent’s Night and Sept. 24 as homecoming, giving the fall calendar built-in touchpoints for students, families and alumni around campus.

The Beavers also will honor lone senior setter Katrina Thompson on Senior Night against UMary on Nov. 6, before closing the regular season Nov. 7 with an 11 a.m. home match against Minot State. Road dates at Winona State, Concordia-St. Paul, Wayne State and Augustana add long-haul travel to the conference slate, while home matches against St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota Crookston should give local fans several chances to see a team that will need to build rhythm quickly if it wants to stay in the upper tier of the NSIC.