The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) is an NCAADivision III men's volleyball and esports college athletic conference based in the Northeastern United States. The NECC was formerly an all-sports conference from 2008 to 2023. The conference rebranded as the New England Volleyball Conference (NEVC), starting in the 2023–24 school year after becoming a men's volleyball-only conference.
Locations of NECC members, 2021-2022 full and associate
In June 2007, nine colleges from New England announced the creation of a new athletic conference under the same NECC name.
The conference, which began operations July 1, 2008, in Division III, currently includes Lesley University (Cambridge), Mitchell College (New London, Connecticut), Eastern Nazarene College (Quincy) and New England College (Henniker, New Hampshire) as members. Their indicated locations are in Massachusetts unless otherwise noted.
Southern Vermont and Newbury both announced they would cease operations after the 2018–19 academic year,[1][2] and founding member Becker College announced the same after the 2020–21 school year.[3] Elms College joined the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, where it had competed as a swimming and diving affiliate since 2008, in the 2021-22 academic year.[4] In July 2021, original member Bay Path was admitted to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA),[5] implicitly leaving the conference and the NCAA. Also, the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) and the State University of New York at Potsdam (SUNY Potsdam) joined the NECC as associate members for men's volleyball, beginning almost immediately within the 2022 spring season.[6]
Within the past year, there have been changes. Bard College joined the NECC for men's volleyball as an associate member beginning the spring of 2023.[7] Lesley received and accepted an invitation to join the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), while Mitchell and New England College both accepted an invitation to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), all beginning the 2023-24 season.[8] In 2023 it was announced that Eastern Nazarene College would also be joining the NAC. [9]
The NECC may remain in operation for men's volleyball and the non-NCAA sport of esports. The conference has nine men's volleyball members in the current 2023 season, and the NCAA's official membership database lists all nine NECC men's volleyball teams as being members of the "New England Volleyball Conference".[10] Over 25 schools are affiliate members in esports.
Massachusetts Tech (MIT) left the NECC as an associate member for men's golf as the school dropped the sport (due to budget cuts) after the 2008–09 academic year.
Babson College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's golf in the 2009 fall season (2009–10 academic year).
2011:
Regis College joined the NECC in the 2011–12 academic year.
Endicott College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2012 spring season (2011–12 academic year).
2016 – Eastern Nazarene College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2017 spring season (2016–17 academic year).
2017:
Two institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2016–17 academic year:
Dean left the NECC to join the GNAC after the 2019–20 academic year.
Russell Sage College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2021 spring season (2020–21 academic year).
2021:
Three institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2020–21 academic year; thus leaving the conference with four institutions to compete in the 2021–22 school year:
Manhattanville left the NECC as an associate member for field hockey to join the Atlantic East Conference (AEC) for that sport after the 2021 fall season (2021–22 academic year).
Bard College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year).
2023:
Three institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2022–23 academic year:
and Mitchell and New England College (NEC) to join the GNAC
Eastern Nazarene left the NECC to join the NAC after the 2022–23 academic year. This effectively ended the NECC as an all-sports conference. However, Eastern Nazarene remained as an associate member in men's volleyball, thus the rebranding of the NECC as the New England Volleyball Conference (NEVC).
2024 – Eastern Nazarene left the NEVC after the 2024 spring season (2023–24 academic year) due to ceasing operations, consequently the school left as a men's volleyball-only member.
Member schools
Final full members
The NECC had four full members when it disbanded as an all-sports conference, all were private schools.
↑ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑ The Sage Colleges, which were recognized by the NECC, NCAA, and the state of New York as a single institution, rebranded as Russell Sage College in July 2020 after consolidating the three components Sage previously consisted of—the women-only Russell Sage, the coeducational Sage College of Albany (SCA), and the Sage Graduate Schools. In the context of the NECC, Russell Sage's team consists mostly of former SCA students, since SCA was the only Sage component that enrolled male undergraduates.
↑ Russell Sage has campuses in both Albany and Troy, New York, but the former SCA operated only in Albany.
↑ The Sage Colleges dated their history to the establishment of Russell Sage College in 1916. SCA was established in 1949 and adopted its historical name in 2002.
↑ Reflects Russell Sage's overall undergraduate enrollment. Enrollment in the former SCA, the only Sage component from which men's volleyball drew players, was about 850.
↑ "Membership Directory". NCAA. Retrieved February 1, 2023. Select "Men's Volleyball" from the "Sport" menu and "Division III" from the "Division" menu. Hovering over any dot on the map corresponding to an NECC men's volleyball member will show the conference as "New England Volleyball Conference".
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