Men's Volleyball Slated to Finish 7th in Preseason Poll; Opening Weekend Recap
OXFORD, Ohio - The Tigers of Campbellsville University are the preseason favorites for the second River States Conference men's volleyball championship, as the Tigers finished first in the 2026 RSC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The poll, announced Thursday by the River States Conference office, saw each of the conference's nine head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish. The Bearcats were slated in at #7 this season.
OXFORD, Ohio - The Tigers of Campbellsville University are the preseason favorites for the second River States Conference men's volleyball championship, as the Tigers finished first in the 2026 RSC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The poll, announced Thursday by the River States Conference office, saw each of the conference's nine head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish. The Bearcats were slated in at #7 this season.
The second year of River States Conference volleyball will consist of the same nine schools that battled for the first title in 2025. The league will consist of six RSC members - Brescia, IU East, Midway, Oakland City, Rio Grande, and St. Mary-of-the-Woods - as well as three affiliate members - Campbellsville University, Cumberland University, and Georgetown College.
2026 RSC PRESEASON MEN'S VOLLEYBALL COACHES POLL
1. Campbellsville (61 points, 5 first place votes)
2. Georgetown (60 points, 4 first place vote)
t3. Cumberland (43 points)
t3. Oakland City (43 points)
5. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (38 points)
6. Rio Grande (25 points)
7. Brescia (24 points)
8. IU East (22 points)
9. Midway (8 points)
The Bearcats finished the 2025 season 10-13 overall and 7-9 in River States Conference play. Eleven players returned from last year's roster including seniors, Tuna Konukcu and Mustafa Yildiz. Coach Jerry Forbes added the same number of newcomers as his returners with 10 freshmen.
BU opened their season at the RSC/ACC Challenge hosted by Campbellsville this past Friday. Brescia went 1-1 on the day facing St. Thomas and Truett McConnell. St. Thomas swept BU in three sets with final scores of 26-24, 25-14, and 25-17. The Bearcats earned their first win against Truett McConnell three sets to one with final scores of 28-26, 25-20, 19-25, and 25-22. Newcomer, Ben Zerwes, led Brescia with 10 kills.
Weather permitting, the Bearcats will travel to Missouri Baptist University for the HOA Challenge on the 30th and 31st.