# US collegiate women's volleyball season

> Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/us-collegiate-womens-volleyball-season
> Updated: 2026-09-25T21:42:00.000Z. Sources: 11. Developments: 2.

The 2026 collegiate women’s volleyball season began with season openers characterized by closely contested matches. Menlo College participated in the Fresno Pacific Sunbird Classic, losing two separate five-set matches to Hawaii Hilo and Western Oregon. During these games, Fuka Kikuchi recorded 21 kills in the match against Hilo, while Ruby Santos provided 55 assists across both contests. In the Gael-Bear Classic, the University of the Pacific lost to California in three sets.

As the season progressed into conference play, teams faced new matchups in various leagues. Fort Hays State earned its first MIAA conference victory by defeating Pittsburg State in five sets, recording 85 kills during the win. Conversely, the University of Houston lost its conference opener to Kansas in straight sets, and Cleveland State lost a five-set match to Purdue Fort Wayne to begin Horizon League play.

## Claims

- Fort Hays State won its first conference match of the season against Pittsburg State in five sets. (single source)
- The set scores for the Fort Hays State vs. Pittsburg State match were 24-26, 26-24, 25-17, 21-25, and 15-12. (single source)
- The University of Houston volleyball team lost its conference opener to #19 Kansas in straight sets. (single source)
- Cleveland State lost a five-set match to Purdue Fort Wayne in their Horizon League opener. (single source)

## Timeline

### 2026-09-25: Butler leads Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational men's golf

Butler leads the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational men's golf tournament at 555 (-12), with Ball State in second and Luke Johnston leading the individual standings at -5.

8 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/collegiate-volleyball-teams-compete-in-conference-openers

### 2026-08-28: College women's volleyball season openers feature close matches

Menlo College women's volleyball lost two five-set matches to Hawaii Hilo and Western Oregon, while University of the Pacific fell in three sets to California during season-opening volleyball contests.

3 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/college-womens-volleyball-season-openers-feature-close-matches

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Cite as: US collegiate women's volleyball season. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/us-collegiate-womens-volleyball-season