Penguins Slated Sixth in 2026 Horizon League Preseason Volleyball Poll
8/25/2026 3:02:00 PM | Volleyball
Youngstown State was selected to finish sixth in the Horizon League this season in a preseason poll of the conference's 11 head coaches. The League office announced the 2026 Under Armour #HLVB preseason poll on Tuesday.
The Penguins received 68 points in the poll, which was just eight points behind fourth-place Milwaukee in a tight grouping in the top half of the poll. Wright State, which won the 2025 Horizon League Volleyball Championship, was tabbed first with 117 points, and Northern Kentucky, last year's regular-season champion, was second with 114 points.
IU Indianapolis was slated third with 91 points, and Milwaukee (76), Green Bay (73) and Youngstown State (68) were within eight points of one another in the fourth through sixth spots. Those same six teams were the top six finishers in the final standings in 2025.
Northern Illinois, a newcomer to the Horizon League after placing eighth in the Mid-American Conference in 2025, was seventh with 57 points, and Cleveland State was eighth with 48 points. Oakland (38), Robert Morris (26) and Purdue Fort Wayne (18) were slated ninth through 11th in the poll.
The Horizon League Volleyball Championship field is expanding from six to eight teams this season, and the fifth through eighth seeds will begin the first round on Thursday, Nov. 19, at the site of the No. 1 seed. The winners from those matches will advance to play the third and fourth seeds on Nov. 20, and the top two seeds will receive byes to the semifinal round on Nov. 21. The championship match will be at 2 p.m. on Nov. 22.
