The Continued Growth of Men's Volleyball
New programs, the future of men's collegiate volleyball, preseason conference polls, and more!
Welcome to the weekly VBelo Report focused on deeper dives, news from around the league, and other ramblings. As a reminder, scores and projections are sent out daily while this longer email comes out on Thursdays. You can subscribe to either or both of these types of posts. Thanks for reading!
Grow the Game
For years, the battle cry of men’s volleyball fans across the country has been “Grow the Game.” In spite of some unfortunate setbacks, like athletics departments being cancelled or entire schools being closed, volleyball has been on quite the growth spurt. This season, the men’s game has 7 new programs at the D-I/II level.1
In the past five years alone, we have added 20 teams! It has been no small undertaking and a lot of factors have been at play. Here are just a few of the big ones.
Increased access at the high school level
Riding the wave of women’s volleyball growth
More streaming of matches
The sport has seen rapid growth, but that does not necessarily mean that it has been smooth. One of the questions that keeps coming up is how conferences will manage this growth. It is easy when an entire conference decides to sponsor the sport (great job, SIAC!) But what happens when that is not the case?
When teams join from conferences that do not sponsor men’s volleyball (yet), tough decisions have to be made. Sometimes schools will be brought on as affiliate members of other conferences for this one sport. Sometimes, the addition coincides with a move in conference. And there is always the option of competing as an independent.2 This option has flexibility, but scheduling becomes significantly harder.
Charlie Wade, head coach for the University of Hawaii, had some thought-provoking words a few days ago about the challenges that conferences may face in the very near future (starting at 8:14).
Who are the new programs?
One way to help grow the game is by watching, following, and generally just knowing that these new programs exist. So, here are some things to know about the seven new schools this year.
Barry University
Location: Miami Shores, Florida
Mascot: Buccaneers (Bucky the Parrot)
Volleyball Conference: IVA (Independent)
School Conference: D-II, Sunshine State
Schedule
Next Match: 1/9 (today) vs Erskine
Catawba College
Location: Salisbury, North Carolina
Mascot: Indians
Volleyball Conference: IVA (Independent)
School Conference: D-II, South Atlantic Conference
Schedule
Next Match: 1/15 vs Belmont Abbey
1st victory EVER yesterday (1/8)!!!
LeMoyne-Owen College
Location: Memphis, Tennessee
Mascot: Magicians3
Volleyball Conference: SIAC
School Conference: D-II, SIAC
Schedule
Next Match: 1/31 vs Culver-Stockton (NAIA)
I couldn’t find any social media for the team. If you know of any, please let me know!
Menlo College
Location: Atherton, California
Mascot: Oaks
Volleyball Conference: MPSF
School Conference: D-II, PacWest (previously NAIA)
Schedule
Next Match: 1/9 (today) vs UC Irvine
Rockhurst University
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Mascot: Hawks
Volleyball Conference: IVA
School Conference: D-II, GLVC (men’s volleyball in 2026)
Schedule
Next Match: 1/10 vs Lindenwood
Roosevelt
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Mascot: Lakers
Volleyball Conference: IVA (Independent)
School Conference: D-II, GLIAC (previously NAIA)
Schedule
Next Match: 1/14 vs Lewis
Vanguard University
Location: Costa Mesa, California
Mascot: Lions
Volleyball Conference: MPSF
School Conference: D-II, PacWest (previously NAIA)
Schedule
Next Match: 1/9 (today) vs Merrimack
Preseason Conference Polls
With all of the hustle and bustle of the end of the year, it is easy to miss some of the preseason conference polls that came out. Not every conference has put a poll out, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look at what we do have.4
Big West
Conference Carolinas
ECC
EIVA
IVA
MIVA
MPSF
NEC
SIAC
No preseason poll has been released.
Odds & Ends
A section for all of the random things that don’t fit anywhere but belong somewhere.
McKendree may have the best bench energy in the country. I know the season is early, but Coach Sanlin continues to shape McKendree into something special. After the magic dust fingers5, top-tier intro handshakes, and backflips, it is hard to imagine a more fun program right now.
This
MPSF signed an exclusive media rights deal with B1G+. I can only guess that they loved the growth they saw on the women’s side this year and are jumping at the chance to get more volleyball money.
For those unfamiliar, D-I and D-II compete together for the same men’s volleyball national championship.
I love the IVA and would love to see a world where they also get an automatic bid to the national tournament. It’s not a hugely popular opinion, but I really like the idea.
I am 100% onboard with this mascot!
It would be my luck that the IVA and SIAC drop their polls the day this publishes.
Update: The IVA did release their poll the day this published!
No idea what to call this, but there is some magic going on at the beginning of matches and I am here for it.
Counterpoint to consider… While there are some new programs, many D1 schools are planning roster size reductions after 2025 season to accommodate athletic departments/ NIL agreements.
Maybe a future post on the uncertainty created by that change and impact to total men’s volleyball athlete opportunities? That change, plus an influx of overseas players, and the number of D1/D2 spots for American boys may actually be shrinking relative to recent years.
$90 for B1G+ is a big ask. Growth without access is not real growth, as wrestling has learned.