Southern Virginia Knights | |
---|---|
University | Southern Virginia University |
Conference | USA South (primary) CVC (men's volleyball) ODAC (men’s wrestling) |
NCAA | Division III |
Athletic director | Deidra Dryden |
Location | Buena Vista, Virginia |
Varsity teams | 30 (14 men's, 13 women's, 3 co-ed) [1] |
Football stadium | Knight Stadium |
Basketball arena | Knight Sports Arena |
Baseball stadium | Parry McCluer HS |
Softball stadium | Harvey-Dryden Field |
Soccer stadium | Knight Stadium |
Other venues | Stoddard Center |
Nickname | Knights |
Colors | Crimson and White |
Website | knightathletics |
The Southern Virginia Knights are the athletic teams that represent Southern Virginia University, located in Buena Vista, Virginia, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the USA South Athletic Conference for most of its sports since the 2021–22 academic year; while its men's volleyball team competes in the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC).
The school's athletics programs historically competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and also competed in national tournaments of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). Southern Virginia began its athletic program in the fall of 1997, one year after it became a four-year liberal arts college with an LDS environment. In 1998, the Knights joined the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. The 2012–13 school year was SVU's first year as a provisional NCAA Division III member; it joined the Capital Athletic Conference (now known as the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference) on July 1, 2013, and became eligible for conference championships in 2014–15. [2] Since the C2C never offered football under either of its names, Southern Virginia joined the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football effective July 2014. After four successful provisional years, the Knights became a full NCAA Division III member on September 1, 2016. On August 9, 2017 Southern Virginia University officially changed its school colors from green and white back to its original colors of crimson and white. Two months later, on October 16, 2017, Southern Virginia University announced its football program would switch to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference starting in the 2019–20 season. On February 20, 2018, the men's volleyball team became the first Southern Virginia program to be nationally ranked, ranking in at number eight in the AVCA and NCAA D-III poll. [3] On July 12, 2018, Southern Virginia announced women's field hockey as a varsity sport becoming the 23rd varsity sport offered at the school. [4] On April 4, 2019 Southern Virginia added men's rugby as a varsity sport to be offered. [5] One week after announcing the addition of men's rugby, on April 11, 2019, Southern Virginia announced the addition of men's and women's swimming and diving. [6] On December 11, 2019, Southern Virginia announced it would join the USA South Athletic Conference, effective beginning in the 2021–22 academic year. [7] Southern Virginia University officially joined the USA South Athletic Conference on July 1, 2021. [8] The newest sport added to Southern Virginia University was announced on August 16, 2022 with the addition of women’s wrestling. [9]
Classifications | |
Year | Division |
---|---|
1998–99 to 2012–13: | USCAA |
2013–14 to present: | NCAA Division III |
Conference Memberships | |
Year | Conference |
---|---|
1998–99 to 2012–13: | USCAA Independent |
2013–14 to 2020–21: | Capital Athletic Conference [lower-alpha 1] |
2021–22 to present | USA South Athletic Conference |
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Cross country |
Cross country | Field hockey |
Football | Golf |
Golf | Lacrosse |
Lacrosse | Soccer |
Rugby | Softball |
Soccer | Swimming & diving |
Swimming & diving | Tennis |
Tennis | Track & field† |
Track & field† | Volleyball |
Volleyball | Wrestling |
Wrestling | |
Co-ed sports | |
Cheer | |
Dance | |
Esports | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor |
A member of the USA South Athletic Conference, Southern Virginia University sponsors teams in fourteen men's, thirteen women's, and three co-ed varsity sports.
The Southern Virginia women’s basketball team won the 2021–22 USA South Athletic Conference tournament championship. [10] In their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament the Knights advanced to the Round of 32, where they fell to the Transylvania Pioneers 55–77.
In 2021, the Southern Virginia men's cross country team won the USA South Athletic Conference Championship, beating runner up Berea College. Southern Virginia placed five runners in the top twenty individually. This was Southern Virginia's first ever conference championship as a member of the USA South Athletic Conference. Runner Dylan May won the individual conference championship for men and was named Runner of the Year, Rookie Runner of the Year, and First Team All-Conference. Head coach Kyle Chandler was named coach of the year. [11]
Once again in 2022, the Southern Virginia men's cross country team won the USA South Athletic Conference Championship and runner Dylan May won the individual conference championship with runner Quin Meyer also earning a First Team All-Conference spot. Kyle Chandler was once again named coach of the year. [12]
In 2021, the Southern Virginia women's cross country team also won the USA South Athletic Conference Championship.
In the 2020–21 season, the men's tennis team won their first ever conference championship as a member of the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference. [13] The men's tennis team then went on to advance to the NCAA Final 8 before being eliminated. [14]
The Southern Virginia University men's and women's track team both won the USA South Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on April 21, 2022.
For the second year in a row, both the men's and women's track team won the 2023 USA South Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. [15]
On March 30, 2019 the Southern Virginia Men's Volleyball team clinched the CVC regular season championship for the 2018–19 season. This was Southern Virginia's first ever conference championship as an NCAA Division III member. [16] [17] On April 13, 2019, Southern Virginia's men's volleyball program captured the University's first conference tournament title and first NCAA DIII Tournament appearance after defeating Juniata College in five sets. [18]
On April 23, 2021, the Southern Virginia men's volleyball team lost in the NCAA Division III Final Four to Benedictine in five sets. This marks the longest a Southern Virginia team has lasted in the school's Division III era. [19]
On April 15, 2022, the Southern Virginia men’s volleyball team lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament to Stevens Institute of Technology.
On April 22, 2023, the Southern Virginia men’s volleyball team lost in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament to Vassar College.
On November 6, 2021 the Southern Virginia Women's Volleyball team won the USA South Athletic Conference tournament championship for the 2021–22 season. This was Southern Virginia's first ever women’s volleyball conference championship. [20] In their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III women's volleyball tournament, the Southern Virginia Women's Volleyball team lost 0–3 to Emory in the first round.
For the second year in a row the Southern Virginia Women's Volleyball team won the USA South Athletic Conference tournament championship for the 2022–23 season. They once again lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III women's volleyball tournament, this time too Carnegie Mellon.
In 2017–18 Nico Ramirez became the first NCAA National Qualifier in Southern Virginia's school history and made it to the second round of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. [21] Starting in the 2022–23 season, the wrestling program began competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
Team | ||
Year | Athletic Association | Sport |
---|---|---|
1998 | NSCAA | Women's Soccer |
1998 | Women's Cross Country | |
1998 | Men's Cross Country | |
1999 | Softball | |
1999 | Women's Soccer | |
1999 | Women's Cross Country | |
2000 | Men's Soccer | |
2000 | Men's Basketball | |
2001 | Women's Cross Country | |
2001 | USCAA | Men's Soccer |
2002 | Women's Cross Country | |
2002 | Women's Volleyball | |
2002 | Women's Track & Field | |
2002 | Men's Track & Field | |
2002 | Women's Basketball | |
2003 | Women's Cross Country | |
2003 | Women's Track & Field | |
2004 | Women's Track & Field | |
2004 | Women's Volleyball | |
2004 | Women's Cross Country | |
2005 | Women's Track & Field | |
2005 | Women's Soccer | |
2005 | Women's Cross Country | |
2006 | Women's Basketball | |
2006 | Women's Soccer | |
2006 | Women's Cross Country | |
2007 | Women's Cross Country | |
2008 | Women's Soccer | |
2011 | Men's Basketball | |
2011 | Women's Cross Country | |
2012 | Women's Cross Country | |
— (NCSAA) National Small College Athletic Association
— (USCAA) United States Collegiate Athletic Association
Individual | |||
Year | Individual | Athletic Association | Sport |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Nate Casperson | NCWA | Wrestling (149lbs) |
2001 | Jessyca Barker | USCAA | Cross Country |
2003 | Kim Anderson | Cross Country | |
2005 | Kim Anderson | Cross Country | |
2007 | Grant Dean | Golf | |
2008 | Peter Rose | NWCA | Wrestling (157lbs) |
2009 | |||
2010 | |||
For baseball, Southern Virginia plays at local high school Parry McCluer High School. And for track and field and swimming Southern Virginia uses Washington and Lee University facilities. [22]
The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The 14 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed across the Southern United States.
The NCAA men's volleyball tournament, officially titled the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, is an annual competition that determines the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in American college men's volleyball. It had been the only NCAA championship in the sport from 1970 until 2012, when the NCAA launched a Division III championship.
The Tulane Green Wave are the athletic teams that represent Tulane University, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the American Athletic Conference. There are 14 Green Wave intercollegiate programs, two of which compete outside The American. Beach volleyball and bowling, women's sports that are not sponsored by The American, compete in Conference USA (C-USA).
The Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) is a college athletic conference whose member schools compete in men's volleyball. Its member institutions are located in the Northeast United States.
Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Rice was a member of the Southwest Conference until its breakup in 1996. Rice then joined the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA, until joining the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023. The women's swimming team moved to The American in 2022 after C-USA dropped women's swimming & diving. Rice is the fifth-smallest school competing in NCAA Division I FBS football measured by undergraduate enrollment, just above the University of Tulsa's 2,756 and the three FBS United States service academies's approximate 4,500. Rice's rivals include the cross-town Houston Cougars.
The South Florida Bulls are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, a non-NCAA sanctioned sport which competes in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association within the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association. The current athletic director is Michael Kelly, who has held the job since 2018. The school colors are green and gold and the mascot is Rocky D. Bull.
College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL), while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and programs in Japan.
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Division II level. It is also considered as one of the seven Division I conferences for men's volleyball. Originally formed in 1930, the league reached its modern incarnation in 1994. Member institutions are located in the southeastern United States in the states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The Conference Carolinas membership currently consists of 14 small colleges or universities, 12 private and two public.
The UTSA Roadrunners is a collegiate athletic program that represents the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The UTSA Roadrunners are also commonly referred to as "UTSA", "Roadrunners", or "Runners", and are represented by the mascot Rowdy. The origin of Rowdy dates back to 1977, when the Roadrunner was chosen as the university's mascot by student election.
The UC Davis Aggies are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis.
The Carleton Knights are the athletic teams that represent Carleton College, located in Northfield, Minnesota, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division III ranks, primarily competing in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) since the 1983–84 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1920–21 to 1924–25. The Knights previously competed in the Midwest Conference (MWC) from 1925–26 to 1982–83; although Carleton had dual conference membership with the MWC and the MIAC between 1921–22 and 1924–25.
The Roanoke Maroons are the athletic teams that represent Roanoke College, located in Salem, Virginia, a suburban independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia.
The Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets are the athletic teams that represent Randolph–Macon College, located in Ashland, Virginia, in NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports. The Yellow Jackets compete as members of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Altogether, Randolph–Macon sponsors 18 sports, with 9 teams for each gender. The school's newest sport of men's volleyball, introduced for the 2019 season, is the only team that does not compete in the ODAC, instead competing in the Continental Volleyball Conference.
The Christopher Newport Captains are the athletic teams that represent Christopher Newport University, located in Newport News, Virginia, in NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports. The Captains compete as members of the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) for the majority of varsity sports except for football, which plays in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and men's lacrosse, which plays in the Coastal Lacrosse Conference. The football team remains a NJAC associate member because C2C does not sponsor football.
The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as the American, is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 14 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, with its football teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.
The Continental Volleyball Conference is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the NCAA's Division III.