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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 1, 2025) – We are set to begin the DI/II Men’s NCAA Tournament after some surprising upsets last week in the MPSF and Big West Conference Tournaments. In DIII, we crowned Southern Virginia as 2025 National Champion. The DI/DII, quarterfinal round through the championship round will take place in Columbus, Ohio. Stay tuned for our live coverage from the semifinals and final round of the tournament on our Instagram @usavolleyball.
(rankings source: AVCA.org)
There is no place like home for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors who earned the title of 2025 Big West Champions on home court. Hawaii went .500 in the month of April prior to the postseason but showed up in a big way when it came time to battle for the conference championship. Hawaii took a 3-1 win over UCI in the semifinals and a 3-1 win over Long Beach in the Championship.
Big West Final match leaders (Hawaii)
NTDP Athlete Performances
LBSU – Nato Dickinson: 21 kills, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 7 digs
LBSU – Isaiah Preuitt: 2 kills, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 1 dig
LBSU – DiAeris McRaven: 8 kills, 3 Blocks, 1 dig
Hawaii – Finn Kearney: 14 kills, 1 block, 4 digs
Hawaii – Justin Todd: 7 kills, 5 blocks, 2 digs
Hawaii – Tread Rosenthal: 5 kills, 42 assists
Like Hawaii, Pepperdine made the most of an opportunity to host the MPSF finals, pulling off not one but two upsets to claim the conference title. Outside Ryan Barnett was named AVCA Player of the Week. He averaged 4.75 kills per set in the tournament.
MPSF Final match leaders (Pepperdine)
NTDP Athlete Performances
Pepperdine – Cole Hartke: 8 kills, 3 aces, 3 blocks, 5 digs
Pepperdine – Gabe Dyer: 1 kill, 44 assists, 2 aces, 2 blocks, 4 digs
Pepperdine – Jacob Reilly: 3 assists, 12 digs
USC – Dillon Klein: 16 kills, 2 aces, 8 digs, 5 blocks
USC – Caleb Blanchette: 2 kills, 42 assists, 3 blocks
USC – Parker Tomkinson: 6 kills, 7 blocks, 1 dig
USC – Sterling Foley: 9 kills, 3 assists, 6 blocks, 9 digs
USC – Johnny Dykstra: 2 assists, 16 digs
Loyola Chicago put together three sweeps in the MIVA tournament over Queens, Lewis and Ohio State to take the tournament championship. It’s the first time since 2022 that a team won the MVIA tournament with three sweeps. Parker Van Buren was named tournament MVP.
MVIA Final match leaders (Loyola Chicago)
NTDP Athlete Performances
Loyola Chicago – Parker Van Buren: 22 kills, 1 ace, 1 block, 6 digs
Loyola Chicago – Nicodemus Meyer: 6 kills, 1 assist, 5 blocks, 1 dig
Ohio State – Kyle Teune: 5 kills, 1 ace, 2 blocks, 4 digs
Ohio State – Shane Wetzel: 8 kills, 1 block, 6 digs
View complete conference tournament results on NCAA.com
Hawaii will face the winner of Daemen vs. Penn State (5/2 at 4 p.m. PT) in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will face Belmont Abbey in the quarterfinal round (5/8 at 8 a.m. PT). Hawaii and UCLA are on the same side of the bracket, and would meet in the semifinals if both teams advance.
Long Beach earned an at-large selection and will begin the NCAA tournament vs. Ft. Valley State in the quarterfinal round (5/8 @ 2 p.m. PT). The Beach was ranked the No. 1 team by the AVCA for the last 13 consecutive weeks en-route to the team’s sixth Big West regular season championship in the last seven seasons.
Loyola Chicago and Pepperdine will square off in a battle of conference champions in the quarterfinal round (5/8 @ 4:30 p.m. PT). In an earlier meeting this season, The Ramblers and Wave went to five sets, with Loyola outlasting Pepperdine. It is the first NCAA Tournament berth for Loyola Chicago in a decade
Live streaming for all matches, as well as the complete tournament bracket can be found at NCAA.com
Southern Virginia is your 2025 NCAA Division III Champion. After a loss in the quarterfinals a season ago to eventual champion NYIU, the Knights earned redemption when they defeated Springfield 3-0 to capture the program’s first national championship. Southern Virginia’s star senior, Christian Sheaffer, was named all Most Outstanding Player and all-tournament team after already being named DIII National Player of the Year.
SVU was battle tested before reaching the final. The team was forced to go five sets with Juniata as the Eagles took the third and fourth sets before a fifth set rally from the Knights. Kristo Bianchin was a key reason SVU was able to punch a ticket to the final. The senior recorded a single match program record 11 blocks vs. Juniata.
On Monday, Grand Canyon University announced the discontinuation of its Men’s Volleyball Program at the conclusion of the season. The Lopes have had men’s volleyball for 17 seasons as a D1 program and made it to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 2024. The university said they would continue to offer men’s volleyball as a club sport going forward. As part of the reasoning in GCU’s official statement posted to the official athletics Instagram account, they state that the move will allow the university to focus on supporting its remaining 20 division 1 programs. The move to the Mountain West Division is also mentioned as a factor.
The move accompanies several changes across the NCAA landscape regarding volleyball’s place in DI athletics. Earlier this year, Saint Francis made the move to reclassify to DIII from DI and this week Utah also announced it was dropping its beach volleyball program.
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We are figuring out conference champions and wrapping up the DIII season this week in the men’s college roundup. Rankings remain the same as it's time for the teams and athletes we have followed all year to prove themselves on the biggest stage.
Hawaii up to No. 3, UCI up to No. 4, and USC down to No. 5 after three losses see the roundup hit a small reset as we enter the final weekend of regular season matches in DI/II. It’s tournament time in DIII, where Stevens and Springfield trade places at the conclusion of conference tournaments.
It was a strange weekend of men’s college volleyball with nearly all of your top five pairs having to put another mark in the L column. Whether the losses were a biproduct of spring break, a long season, or just good competition, it doesn’t shake up our rankings too much. This week, UCI and Hawaii flip-flop once more at No. 4 and 5. In DIII, Springfield and Southern Virginia trade places at No. 2 and No. 3 with the regular season at its conclusion.
