USAV Grant Supports Increase in Men's DIII Teams

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 24, 2009) – It isn’t easy building a college men’s volleyball program from scratch. But more and more colleges, particularly at the NCAA Division III level, have been doing it.

With more than 50 DIII men’s teams either playing this season or preparing to debut next season, hopes are on the rise that an NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship could soon become a reality.

Most recently, Thiel College in Greenville, Pa., announced it will be adding a DIII men’s volleyball team for the 2010-11 season.

“I am excited to announce the addition of men’s volleyball to our athletics program at Thiel College,” said Thiel College President Troy VanAken. “This new program not only represents an outstanding opportunity to satisfy a demand that exists in our area, but also the type of positive growth we are striving for as an institution.”

The Sage Colleges in Troy, N.Y., will debut it new men’s volleyball team this spring with help from a grant from USA Volleyball designed to encourage colleges to establish men’s teams. Regis College in Westin, Mass., and the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati are two other DIII schools that have received USAV grants.

The Sage Colleges’ men’s head coach Andy Smith has learned what it takes to build a team from the ground up.

“This has definitely generated a lot of excitement in the area,” Smith said. “In the first few months, we got a lot of phone calls and e-mails. High school coaches were excited that there was going to be competitive NCAA volleyball in their area.”

While boys’ and men’s volleyball has been strong in the western part of New York, the eastern part is getting up to speed. Smith has been recruiting primarily from the Albany area, which has been bolstered by a stronger high school presence in recent years.

The hardest part of developing a team, Smith said, is finding the right players.

“I think the most difficult thing is finding players that are right for your program and building interest on a serious level,” he said. “We are trying to find athletes who could go other places, and make them realize that they can stay here.

“To help with that, we try to drive home that it can be special to be part of a new program.”

Sage will play in the Skyline Conference along with Bard (Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.), Mount St. Vincent (Riverdale, N.Y.), NYU Poly (Brooklyn, N.Y.), SUNY-Purchase and Yeshiva (New York) and is also part of the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association.

Smith hopes that one day all the colleges in the conference will be playing for spots in an NCAA Division III men’s volleyball tournament.

“The biggest thing an NCAA tournament would do is bring more interest,” Smith said. “It would make volleyball seem more real to a lot of people who might not be involved.”
This is something that USA Volleyball is working toward as well, said Jeff Mosher, USA Volleyball’s coordinator for boys' and men's development.

“The substantial growth witnessed in NCAA Division III men’s volleyball in the past few years is a testament to the efforts of all advocates for collegiate men’s volleyball throughout the country, and the desire by Division III institutions to compete for a prestigious NCAA National Championship title,” Mosher said.

“Conferences are now positioning themselves in an attempt to acquire an automatic bid to the tournament that will likely be created within the next few years.  Players are also positioning themselves to compete on teams likely to have a shot at participating in the newly formed NCAA National Championship. 

“It is truly a win-win situation for the institutions and the players.  All advocates of men’s volleyball look forward to the day when the NCAA announces the start of this new tournament.”

For more information on the USA Volleyball NCAA Men’s Collegiate Grant Program, please visit the Men’s and Boys’ Growth page of the USAV web site at http://usavolleyball.org/pages/3332.

 

Tags: college volleyball, men, NCAA