NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament

Last updated
NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament
NCAA logo.svg
Association NCAA
Sport College indoor volleyball
Founded2012;13 years ago (2012)
Division Division III
No. of teams14
CountryFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Most recent
champion(s)		 Cal Lutheran (1st)
Most titles Springfield (5)
Official website NCAA.com

The NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament is the annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the main governing body for U.S. college sports United States, to determine the national champions of collegiate indoor volleyball among its Division III members. It has been held every year since 2012, except for 2020 (this was the newest NCAA championship from 2012 to 2016, when a beach volleyball championship was ended. [1]

Contents

Springfield have been the most successful program, with five titles.

Cal Lutheran are the defending champions, winning their first championship in 2024.

History

The idea of a Division III championship was first floated by several figures in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in the late 1980s, but was long dormant because of NCAA participation rules—50 schools must sponsor a sport before a national championship tournament can be officially sanctioned. The main impetus for growth in Division III volleyball had been an unofficial D-III championship tournament known as the Molten Invitational, started in 1997. In 2010, the required number of programs was reached, leading to the creation of the D-III championship. [2]

Format

The Division III championship began in 2012 with nine teams and has steadily expanded with the growth of D-III men's volleyball. The most recent expansion came for the 2019 season, with the field going from 12 to 14 teams. [3] This differs from the top-level NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship, which involved four teams through the 2013 tournament and expanded to six teams for 2014 and seven for 2018. Like the National Collegiate Championship, the Division III championship is a knockout tournament, with best-of-5-set matches. The current tournament format features six first-round matches, with the winners joining the top two seeds in the quarterfinals. [4]

The tournament was not held in 2020 due to COVID-19, and with a significant number of schools opting out of competition in 2021 due to the still-ongoing pandemic, that year's field was reduced to 12 teams from the intended 14.

Results

YearNational ChampionScoreRunner-upCity and venueAttendance
Finals/Total		Host school/organization
2012 [5] Springfield (33–5)3–0 Carthage (29–6) Springfield, MA Blake Arena1,600
5,723		Springfield
2013 [6] Springfield (32–3) [7] 3–0 [8] Nazareth (36–2) [7] Pittsford, NY [a] Kidera Gymnasium1,000
2,676		Nazareth
2014 Springfield (27–8) [10] 3–0 [10] Juniata (29–5) [11] Huntingdon, PA Kennedy Sports Center [11] 816
3,022		Juniata
2015 Stevens (31–4) [12] 3–0 Springfield (25–7) [13] Hoboken, NJ Canavan Arena1,126
2,506		Stevens
2016 New Paltz (33–2)3–1 Springfield (28–4) Pittsford, NY Kidera Gymnasium914
3,364		Nazareth
2017 Springfield (33–5)3–1 New Paltz (27–9) Springfield, MA Blake Arena2,000
6,099		Springfield
2018 Springfield (31–2)3–0 Stevens (27–5) Kenosha, WI Tarble Arena550Carthage
2019 New Paltz (28–7)3–1 UC Santa Cruz (21–17) Union, NJ Harwood Arena322Kean
2020Canceled due to COVID-19 Dubuque, IA Athletic Wellness CenterN/ALoras
2021 Carthage (23–0) [14] 3–2 Benedictine (IL) (16-4) [15] Salem, VA [b] Salem Civic Center 250 Continental Volleyball Conference
2022 Carthage (24-3) [16] 3–1 [17] Springfield (29–2) [18] Kenosha, WI Tarble Arena2175 Carthage
2023 Stevens (35–3) [19] 3–1 [20] North Central (IL) (25–4) [21] Owings Mills, MD Owings Mills Gymnasium267Stevenson
2024 Cal Lutheran (26–5) [22] 3–0 Vassar (26–8) [23] Dubuque, IA Athletic Wellness Center275Loras
2025 Salem, VA Cregger Center Old Dominion Athletic Conference
2026 Springfield, MA Blake ArenaSpringfield

Champions

TeamTitlesYears
Springfield 52012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018
Stevens 22015, 2023
Carthage 22021, 2022
New Paltz 22016, 2019
Cal Lutheran 12024

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The championship was originally scheduled for the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was moved in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. [9]
  2. ↑ The championship was originally scheduled for Kidera Gymnasium at the campus of Nazareth College in Pittsford, New York. It was moved due to COVID-19 issues.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "DIVISION III MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS BOOK" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  2. ↑ Knox, Stephen (April 30, 2012). "Advocates of championship succeed". NCAA. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ "DIII committee proposes uses for new revenue" (Press release). NCAA. June 20, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ "DIII men's volleyball championship selection show set for Monday at 10 a.m. ET on NCAA.com". NCAA. April 13, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Springfield College Wins the Inaugural NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship" (Press release). Springfield College Athletics. April 29, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  6. ↑ "MIT replaces Stevens to host Div. III Men's Volleyball Championship" (Press release). NCAA. November 29, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Johnson, James (April 28, 2013). "Nazareth falls short in NCAA Division III men's volleyball championship". Democrat and Chronicle . Rochester, NY . Retrieved April 29, 2013. (soft paywall)
  8. ↑ Baker, Dick (April 28, 2013). "Springfield College men's volleyball repeats as NCAA Division III national champion". The Republican . Springfield, MA . Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Nazareth agrees to be new host for national championship in place of MIT" (Press release). NCAA. April 19, 2013. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Springfield College men clinch third straight volleyball national championship". The Republican . Springfield, MA. April 28, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Eagles Fall to No. 1 Springfield in National Championship" (Press release). Juniata College Sports. April 28, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Stevens' volleyball title marks first team championship in school history" (Press release). NCAA. April 27, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Men's Volleyball Falls In the NCAA national championship Match To Stevens" (Press release). Springfield College Pride. April 26, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Carthage wins 2021 DIII men's volleyball national championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  15. ↑ "Men's Volleyball Falls Just Short in National Title Pursuit". Benedictine University Athletics. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  16. ↑ NCAA.com. "Carthage wins 2022 DIII men's volleyball national championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  17. ↑ "Carthage Wins Back-to-Back National Championships Defeating Springfield 3-1". Carthage College Athletics. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  18. ↑ "Carthage Outlasts Men's Volleyball In NCAA Division III National Championship". 2022-04-23.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  19. ↑ "2023 Men's Volleyball Schedule". Stevens Ducks. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Stevens wins second DIII men's volleyball title in 4-set thriller". NCAA. April 30, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  21. ↑ "2023 Men's Volleyball Schedule". North Central Cardinals. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  22. ↑ "2024 Men's Volleyball Schedule". Cal Lutheran Athletics. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  23. ↑ "2024 Men's Volleyball Schedule". Vassar Brewers. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
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