ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – No. 11 Griffon Volleyball returns to St. Joseph this week for its 2026 home debut, hosting the Fairfield Inn Griffon Volleyball Classic Sept. 3-5 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse at Looney Complex.

MoWest (4-0) opens its home slate Thursday, Sept. 3, at 6 p.m. against No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State. The Griffons return to the court twice Friday, facing Northern State at 2 p.m. before taking on Oklahoma Christian at 7 p.m. MoWest closes the three-day event Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against Rockhurst.

Home sweet home

The Fairfield Inn Volleyball Classic begins an extended stretch at the MWSU Fieldhouse for the Griffons. Starting with the Sept. 3 home opener against No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State, MoWest will play 10 consecutive matches at home through Sept. 25.

The home stretch begins with four matches during the Fairfield Inn Volleyball Classic from Sept. 3-5 and keeps the Griffons in St. Joseph for nearly the entire month before returning to the road.

Griffons return home unbeaten

MoWest enters the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record after sweeping its trip to the Bahama House Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Griffons earned victories over St. Edward's, host Embry-Riddle, Florida Southern and Florida Tech while dropping just two sets across the four matches.

The unbeaten opening weekend propelled the Griffons five spots up the latest AVCA-Taraflex Division II Women's Volleyball Poll. MoWest moved from a tie for No. 16 to a program-best tie for No. 11, marking the highest AVCA national ranking in program history.

Roush rolls through opening weekend

Tanith Roush made an immediate impact in her first weekend as a Griffon, helping power MoWest to a perfect 4-0 start at the Bahama House Classic.

The redshirt sophomore finished the weekend with 54 kills across 14 sets, averaging 3.86 kills per set while hitting .415. She also totaled 13 blocks over the four matches.

Roush delivered her biggest performance in the tournament finale against Florida Tech, exploding for a career-high 25 kills on 38 attacks with just two errors for a .605 hitting percentage. She also added three blocks as MoWest earned a four-set victory to complete its undefeated weekend.

She also recorded 15 kills while hitting .353 with six blocks in the Griffons' four-set win over host Embry-Riddle.

Milestones in Daytona

The opening weekend also featured a pair of career milestones for the Griffons. Senior Taylor Russell recorded her 1,000th career kill in MoWest's straight-set victory over Florida Southern, while senior Anna Weberg moved into second place in program history in career digs.

Weberg enters the home-opening weekend with 1,792 career digs, just three away from surpassing Sarah Faubel's program record of 1,794, set from 2002-05.

Top-15 showdown opens home slate

Thursday's home opener brings an early nationally ranked matchup to the Looney Complex as No. 11 MoWest squares off with No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State.

The Griffons entered 2026 picked third in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing 21-8 overall and 13-3 in conference play last season. MoWest earned a share of the 2025 MIAA Regular Season Championship, advanced to the NCAA Central Regional and finished No. 17 in the final AVCA Division II Poll.

Fairfield Inn Griffon Volleyball Classic

The three-day event features six teams and 11 total matches inside the Looney Complex. Along with MoWest, the field includes Northern State, Northwest Missouri State, Oklahoma Christian, Rockhurst and Southwest Minnesota State.

All match times are Central and approximate, with each match receiving a guaranteed 30-minute warm-up period.

Thursday, Sept. 3
6 p.m. – No. 11 MoWest vs. No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State

Friday, Sept. 4
9 a.m. – Northern State vs. Oklahoma Christian
11:30 a.m. – Rockhurst vs. No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State
2 p.m. – No. 11 MoWest vs. Northern State
4:30 p.m. – Northwest Missouri State vs. No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State
7 p.m. – No. 11 MoWest vs. Oklahoma Christian

Saturday, Sept. 5
9 a.m. – Northwest Missouri State vs. Northern State
11:30 a.m. – No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State vs. Oklahoma Christian
1:30 p.m. – Rockhurst vs. Northern State
4 p.m. – Northwest Missouri State vs. Oklahoma Christian
6:30 p.m. – No. 11 MoWest vs. Rockhurst