BYU plays men's volleyball in the dead of a Provo winter. The season starts in early January, when the football stadium is empty and basketball is the only other sport anyone talks about, and runs to late April. For three months, Friday and Saturday nights in the Smith Fieldhouse belong to a program that has won three national titles and holds the NCAA's single-match attendance record. Here is what the season looks like, how 2026 went, and how to get a seat for 2027.
The short version
| Season | Early January to late April (2026: Jan. 9 to the MPSF Tournament, Apr. 22 to 25) |
| Home venue | George Albert Smith Fieldhouse, west side of BYU campus |
| Capacity | 5,000, per BYU |
| Usual home slot | Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., same opponent both nights |
| Conference | Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) |
| Head coach | Shawn Olmstead (since 2015) |
| National titles | 1999, 2001, 2004 |
| 2027 single-match tickets | Typically on sale in December, per BYU |
Is it still the Smith Fieldhouse?
Yes. We checked, because the row we were given asked us to. BYU's ticket office says "all home matches are played at the Smith Fieldhouse," and every one of the 2026 home matches on the official schedule, 16 regular-season nights plus the conference tournament, was listed there. BYU's facilities page calls the building home to both volleyball programs and the gymnastics team's training room, with a capacity of 5,000 and "unobstructed sight lines from every seat." The court has been named Elaine Michaelis Court since 2005, after the longtime women's coach.
The one time men's volleyball outgrew the Fieldhouse is the reason the program has a footnote in the NCAA record book. On February 19, 1999, BYU beat Hawaii 3-1 in front of 14,156 fans in the Marriott Center, which BYU lists as the NCAA single-match attendance record. A 2003 Hawaii match in the Marriott Center drew 11,513. Since then the program has stayed in the Fieldhouse, where the top crowds land just under or over 6,000. The building record is 6,119, set in a four-set win over No. 1 UCLA in 2001. Six of the eight biggest Fieldhouse crowds were against the Bruins.
What that means for a newcomer: the room is small enough that the crowd is right on top of the court, and big enough that a good opponent fills it.
How the season works
College men's volleyball runs on a different rhythm from the fall sports most students know.
Back-to-back nights. BYU usually plays the same team twice in two nights. In 2026 that meant UC San Diego on January 16 and 17, UC Irvine on January 23 and 24, Pepperdine on March 27 and 28 and USC on April 10 and 11, all at home. If you miss Friday, Saturday is a second chance at the same matchup.
A long non-conference stretch. BYU's 2026 home schedule opened with Saint Francis, then mixed ranked West Coast programs with smaller schools such as Menlo, Fort Valley State and Concordia-Irvine. The marquee nights are the MPSF opponents: UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Stanford, UC Irvine and Hawaii.
Start times. Almost every 2026 home match was at 7 p.m., with a few 8 p.m. starts. Road matches in Hawaii started at 10 p.m. Mountain time, which matters if you plan to watch from a dorm.
The 2026 season, briefly
BYU finished 21-12 overall and 7-7 in the MPSF, 12-6 at home, as the program's schedule page records it.
- The good weekends: a sweep and a 3-1 win over No. 10 UC San Diego in mid-January, two road sweeps at No. 15 UC Santa Barbara, and a 3-1 home win over No. 4 USC on April 10.
- The tough ones: two five-set home losses to No. 5 UC Irvine in January, a pair of losses at No. 3 Hawaii, and back-to-back losses to No. 6 Pepperdine in Provo.
- The postseason: BYU hosted the MPSF Tournament in the Smith Fieldhouse in late April. As the No. 5 seed it beat No. 4 Stanford 3-1 in the quarterfinals, then lost 3-1 to top-seeded UCLA in the semifinals.
Rankings above are the opponents' rankings at the time of each match, as BYU's schedule lists them.
Over the summer, three Cougars, Connor Oldani, Trevor Herget and AJ Cottle, played on the U.S. team that won the U23 Pan American Cup in El Salvador in September 2026, the first time Team USA had won that event, according to BYU Athletics.
The coach and the program
Shawn Olmstead has run the program since 2015, and BYU lists his record as 208-88. His first three teams won three straight MPSF regular-season titles (2016 to 2018), BYU reached three straight Final Fours from 2016 to 2018, and his teams played for the national championship in 2016, 2017 and 2021. His 2020 team was 17-1 and ranked No. 1 when the season was cut short.
In September 2026 Olmstead added Mike Rogers as an assistant after Rogers' 10 seasons at UVU. Otavio Souza has been an assistant since 2023.
The program's three national championships came in 1999, 2001 and 2004. If you want a local thread to pull: the starting setter on the 2004 title team, Rob Neilson, is now the head coach of BYU's women's team. Our BYU women's volleyball 2026 guide covers his first season in the same building.
Tickets for 2027
The 2027 schedule had not been posted when we checked in October 2026, and BYU's men's volleyball ticket page was taking names on an interest form. Here is how BYU says the sale usually works.
Single-match tickets "typically go on sale in December." On sale day, Cougar Club members get a 10 a.m. presale and the public sale opens at noon. You pick your own seat, first come, first served from each start time.
Season tickets are not renewable from year to year. Everyone picks seats again on a presale ladder that runs by Cougar Club level from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., then previous season ticket holders at 3 p.m., and the public sale opens at 10 a.m. the next day. BYU calls every time on that list subject to change.
Who needs a ticket. Everyone 2 and older in reserved sections and 6 and older in general admission. General admission seats are first come, first served.
Where to buy. Online at BYU's ticket site, in person at the Marriott Center ticket office, or at the Smith Fieldhouse ticket booth on match days.
Price. BYU publishes a price map on the same page. In October 2026 it was still the 2026 map, so we have not quoted numbers; check it when 2027 tickets open.
Students: the ROC Pass changed this year
The ROC Pass still covers men's volleyball, and the cheaper Olympic Sports ROC Pass ($75 for 2026-27, per BYU) covers every ticketed sport except football and men's basketball. What changed for 2026-27 is how you get through the door.
BYU's ticket office now says that every ticketed athletics event requires students to claim an individual ticket, and that "ROC passes will not provide entry at the events." For Olympic sports, claims open at 2 p.m. on game day, or 2 p.m. Friday for a Saturday match, and stay open until the student section fills. Walk-up claims are possible if there is room. Students can scan in and scan out, and BYU uses that attendance to sort priority for football and men's basketball tickets, with men's volleyball named as one of the counting sports.
Practical upshot: a January men's volleyball weekend is one of the easier ways to build attendance before the next football season, but set a 2 p.m. reminder on match day. Our ROC Pass guide explains the priority system in more detail.
UVU students are not eligible for the ROC Pass, BYU says, so they buy public tickets like everyone else.
Getting there and a good first night
Address. Google lists the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse at Provo, UT 84604, on the west side of campus. BYU's athletics offices list their mailing address as 30 Smith Fieldhouse.
Parking and the walk. Campus parking rules apply on weekday evenings, and nights with another event on campus are busier. Our BYU campus visitor guide covers visitor parking and the walk in, and the BYU football parking guide explains how campus lots work on event nights.
What to pick. For a first match, choose a weekend against an MPSF name, the opponents that drew the Fieldhouse's biggest crowds in the record list. UCLA, Stanford, Pepperdine and Long Beach State all appear in BYU's top-20 attendance table. A Friday gives you the option to come back Saturday if you like it.
Watching instead. BYU's 2026 schedule posted the broadcast with each match, with BYUtv (some matches on demand only) listed for home matches.
If you want more volleyball in the valley
The women's team plays the fall season in the same building, and UVU's women's program joined the Big West in 2026; see our UVU women's volleyball guide. For watching away matches with a crowd, our where to watch sports in Provo guide lists the rooms that put college games on.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources
The facts in this guide were checked against these sources. Hours, fees and rules change, so confirm anything time-sensitive with the source before you go. How we make Provo.com.
- 2026 Men's Volleyball Schedule, BYU Athletics. Checked October 20, 2026.
- BYU Men's Volleyball Quick Facts, BYU Athletics. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Men's Volleyball Attendance Records, BYU Athletics. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Volleyball Facilities (Smith Fieldhouse), BYU Athletics. Checked October 20, 2026.
- BYU Men's Volleyball Ticket Information, BYU Tickets. Checked October 20, 2026.
- BYU Student Section (ROC) Ticket Information, 2026-27, BYU Tickets. Checked October 20, 2026.
- BYU Men's Volleyball home page and news (U23 Pan American Cup; Mike Rogers hire), BYU Athletics. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Shawn Olmstead coach biography, BYU Athletics. Checked October 20, 2026.
- George Albert Smith Fieldhouse (Google Places listing), Google Places. Checked October 20, 2026.
