NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament

The NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament is a championship event officially sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the main governing body for U.S. college sports. Open only to schools in Division III of the NCAA, a group of schools that are not allowed to award athletic scholarships, the championship was established in 2012. The tournament would be followed as the newest NCAA championship event by a single all-divisions championship in women's beach volleyball which began in 2016.

NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament

Sport	College indoor volleyball
Founded	2012
No. of teams	14
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Cal Lutheran
Most titles	Springfield (5)
Official website	NCAA.com

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.^[1]

Format

See also: List of NCAA men's volleyball programs

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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

Source = ^[4]

Year	National Champion	Score	Runner-up	City and venue		Attendance Finals/Total	Host school/organization
2012[5]	Springfield (33–5)	3–0	Carthage (29–6)	Springfield, MA	Blake Arena	1,600 5,723	Springfield
2013[6]	Springfield (32–3)[7]	3–0[8]	Nazareth (36–2)[7]	Pittsford, NY[a]	Kidera Gymnasium	1,000 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 Arena	1,126 2,506	Stevens
2016	New Paltz (33–2)	3–1	Springfield (28–4)	Pittsford, NY	Kidera Gymnasium	914 3,364	Nazareth
2017	Springfield (33–5)	3–1	New Paltz (27–9)	Springfield, MA	Blake Arena	2,000 6,099	Springfield
2018	Springfield (31–2)	3–0	Stevens (27–5)	Kenosha, WI	Tarble Arena	550	Carthage
2019	New Paltz (28–7)	3–1	UC Santa Cruz (21–17)	Union, NJ	Harwood Arena	322	Kean
2020	Canceled due to COVID-19			Dubuque, IA	Athletic Wellness Center	N/A	Loras
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 Arena	2175	Carthage
2023	Stevens (35–3)[19]	3–1[20]	North Central (IL) (25–4)[21]	Owings Mills, MD	Owings Mills Gymnasium	267	Stevenson
2024	Cal Lutheran (26–5)[22]	3–0	Vassar (26–8)[23]	Dubuque, IA	Athletic Wellness Center	275	Loras
2025				Salem, VA	Cregger Center		Old Dominion Athletic Conference
2026				Springfield, MA	Blake Arena		Springfield

Champions

Team	Titles	Years
Springfield	5	2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018
Stevens	2	2015, 2023
Carthage	2	2021, 2022
New Paltz	2	2016, 2019
Cal Lutheran	1	2024

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

• NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships (Divisions I and II)
• NAIA Men's Volleyball Championship

References

1. Knox, Stephen (April 30, 2012). "Advocates of championship succeed". NCAA. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
2. "DIII committee proposes uses for new revenue" (Press release). NCAA. June 20, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
3. "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.
4. "Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
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. 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. "Springfield College men clinch third straight volleyball national championship". The Republican. Springfield, MA. April 28, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
11. "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.