Molten DIII Men's Championship Determines Field

AVCA Contact
Will Engle, Director of External Operations
Phone: 859-219-3557

USA Volleyball Contacts
B.J. Hoeptner Evans or Bill Kauffman
Managers, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 12, 2010) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and USA Volleyball (USAV), in conjunction with Molten U.S.A., Inc., are pleased to announce the Midwest/West Region at-large representative and seeding for the four-team 2010 Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship. This year’s tournament will be held April 16-17 at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis.

University of California, Santa Cruz has been named the Midwest/West Region at-large representative to the tournament for the third consecutive year. Other participants include Springfield College as the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Division III regular season champion, Nazareth College as winners of the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Tournament and Carthage College as this year’s tournament host.

Top-seed UC Santa Cruz (14-6) will face fourth-seed Nazareth (19-14) at 5 p.m. CDT on April 16 in the first semifinal match. Second-seed Springfield (17-10) will challenge third-seed Carthage (20-11) at 8 p.m. CDT on April 16 in the second semifinal. The consolation match will be played at 5 p.m. CDT on April 17, followed by the championship at 8 p.m. CDT. All four matches will be Webcast live and can be accessed on Carthage athletics’ Molten Championship Web page by clicking here.

UC Santa Cruz will be making its fifth appearance in the event highlighted by a best-ever second-place finish in 2006. Springfield, who has won the tournament five times, has earned a berth in eight of the 14 Molten Championships. Carthage is competing in its third Molten Championship and first since its runner-up finish in 2007. Nazareth has earned its first berth into the Molten Championship.

Now in its 14th year, the Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship was formed due to a need for a culminating event for NCAA Division III men’s volleyball. While the NCAA sponsors a national championship for men’s volleyball, programs from all three divisions compete for just four berths in the yearly tournament. In the 40-year history of the NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship, no Division III program has earned a berth or been selected to participate in the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship.

Both the selection of UC Santa Cruz and the seeding determinations were made via the Molten Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship committee on April 12 based on the established tournament criteria.

The Molten Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship selection committee consists of Doug Beal (USA Volleyball chief executive officer); Kathy DeBoer (AVCA executive director); Ivan Marquez (EIVA commissioner); Bob Newcomb (UC Irvine/at-large representative); Stuart Robinson (SUNY New Paltz athletics director/NECVA representative), Dan Harris (Milwaukee School of Engineering athletics director/midwest-west representative), John Speraw (UC Irvine men’s head coach/AVCA Board of Directors representative) and Jerry Matacotta (NECVA representative).

Molten U.S.A., Inc. is the “Official Volleyball of the Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship.” Sports Imports is the “Official Net System Supplier of the Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship.” Mizuno USA is the “Official Apparel & Shoe Sponsor of the Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship.”

Tournament History with Final Placing:
2009: 1. Juniata; 2. Stevens; 3. UC Santa Cruz; 4. Ramapo (hosted by Ramapo)
2008: 1. Springfield; 2. Vassar; 3. UC Santa Cruz; 4. Juniata (hosted by Springfield)
2007: 1. Juniata; 2. Carthage; 3. Springfield; 4. Stevens (hosted by Juniata)
2006: 1. Juniata; 2. UC Santa Cruz; 3. Stevens; 4. Rivier (hosted by Stevens)
2005: 1. Juniata; 2. Carthage; 3. Stevens; 4. Medaille (hosted by Stevens)
2004: 1. Juniata; 2. Medaille; 3. UC Santa Cruz; 4. Eastern Mennonite (hosted by Eastern Mennonite)
2003: 1. Springfield; 2. Juniata; 3. La Verne; 4. Stevens (hosted by Juniata)
2002: 1. Springfield; 2. La Verne; 3. NYU; 4. Lehman (hosted by NYU)
2001: 1. Springfield; 2. D’Youville; 3. Clarke; 4. Vassar (hosted by Springfield)
2000: 1. UC San Diego; 2. NYU; 3. D’Youville; 4. Stevens (hosted by Stevens)
1999: 1. La Verne; 2. D’Youville; 3. Clarke; 4. Juniata (hosted by Clarke)
1998: 1. Juniata; 2. La Verne; 3. Springfield; 4. Eastern Mennonite (hosted by Springfield)
1997: 1. Springfield; 2. NJIT; 3. Juniata; 4. UC San Diego (hosted by Juniata)

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