This Boise State sport is going to a Power Four conference next spring
Life just keeps getting better for the Boise State beach volleyball program.
After enjoying its most successful season to date in 2025, the program announced Wednesday afternoon that it would be joining the Big 12 Conference for the 2026 spring season.
Florida State and South Carolina will accompany Boise State as new Big 12 members, joining existing programs TCU, Arizona and Arizona State. Utah, a former member, disbanded its beach volleyball program earlier this year.
“It’s just a huge step, it’s another big goal for us,” Boise State head coach Alex Venardos said. “I think it’s also a huge testament to how far we’ve come.”
Venardos became the women’s program’s third head coach in July, taking the reins from Allison Voigt, who had led the Broncos since 2016 and ushered them into national prominence. In her final season, Boise State won the Southland Conference and made the NCAA national championship tournament for the first time, losing to Stanford in the first round.
Venardos was part of Voigt’s staff as an assistant coach for several years, after being a practice player for both the beach and indoor volleyball teams before graduating in 2018. He became a full-time assistant in 2019.
“(Voigt) laid the foundation,” Venardos said. “We would not be here with the returning cast we have if it weren’t for the culture and the efforts of Coach Voigt.”
Now, Venardos has the chance to guide the Broncos into their next chapter.
Boise State has played many of its future conference opponents
Boise State is not unfamiliar with its new conference rivals. The Broncos played all but South Carolina last year and enjoyed mixed results — a 5-0 loss at the hands of eventual national champions TCU was accompanied by a pair of victories over Arizona (3-2, 3-2), and one loss apiece against Arizona State (3-2) and Florida State (4-1).
“I think we’re in the mix. We’re knocking on the door,” Venardos said. “I think we’re a better team than we were even last year, when all those battles went down.”
Venardos also said he expects the pedigree of the Big 12 to help bring better recruits to the Gem State.
As part of the Southland Conference, Boise State’s main competitor was Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Other conference opponents included San Jose State, McNeese and Nicholls State. The only chance Boise State had of making the NCAA tournament was by winning its conference, and the chances of playing top-tier schools were limited.
“People care about going to the show, the NCAA tournament, and being in the top 20,” Venardos said. “And I think we’re positioning ourselves well for both of those things.”
Beach volleyball fans will have to wait until the spring to see the Broncos in Big 12 action, but there is a fall season as well, and it’s approaching quickly.
Although the Broncos’ planned home tournament fell through — partly because Utah was set to play in it — Boise State will compete in some bid tournaments in October to try to qualify for the women’s pairs championship tournament in Alabama in November.
Boise State’s full fall schedule will be released later this month, with the first weekend of the season set for Oct. 4.
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
