VBelo Daily: April 19, 2026

The regular season is in the books. 1 ticket was punched. Another is up for grabs today.

Why win one championship when you can win three? (Fort Valley State Athletics)

Number of the Day

12 - This has been the number on everyone’s mind this entire season. For the first time in NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball, the NCAA tournament will feature 12 teams. Currently, we know, without a doubt, that Fort Valley State will be one of those teams. I think we can be extremely confident in a couple more teams, but I will leave that for a conversation about bracketology. With so much on the line from this point on, every match has huge stakes.

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Yesterday’s Postseason Scores

🏆🎟️SIAC🎟️🏆

Fort Valley State (80%) def. Central State (20%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-19)

The Wildcats are headed back to the big dance! The model liked their odds from the start and they looked in control yesterday. This is a dangerous team and I am thrilled to find out where they get placed in the new 12-team tournament format.

🏆IVA Championship🏆

Lincoln Memorial (74%) def. Catawba (26%)
3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20)

8. Straight. Championships. Lincoln Memorial is the gold standard when it comes to the IVA. I desperately want to live in a world where the IVA gets an auto-bid.

Conference Carolinas Semifinals

#1 Belmont Abbey (91%) def. #4 North Greenville (9%)
3-0 (30-28, 25-18, 25-13)

#2 Mount Olive (76%) def. #3 Lees-McRae (24%)
3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-19)

MIVA Quarterfinals

Great matches in the MIVA. Did we expect anything less?

#4 McKendree (69%) def. #5 Ohio State (31%)
3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 15-12)

#6 Lewis (26%) def. #3 Lindenwood (74%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22)

#2 Loyola Chicago (87%) def. #7 Purdue Fort Wayne (13%)
3-1 (27-25, 25-20, 26-28, 25-16)

#1 Ball State (99%) def. #8 Northern Kentucky (1%)
3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-15)

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Yesterday’s Regular Season Scores

Big West

Long Beach (54%) def. UC Irvine (46%)
3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 20-25, 25-23)

UC Santa Barbara (51%) def. UC San Diego (49%)
3-2 (12-25, 31-29, 25-18, 24-26, 15-9)

This was the only Big West match with seeding implications. Ironically, the seedings didn’t really matter because regardless of the outcome, these two schools would meet next week in Irvine in the #4 vs #5 matchup.

Hawai’i (97%) def. CSUN (3%)
3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-14, 25-16)

ECC

Roberts Wesleyan (68%) def. St. Thomas Aquinas (32%)
3-2 (20-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-10)

Dominican (62%) def. American International (38%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-15)

EIVA

Penn State (79%) def. George Mason (21%)
3-2 (20-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-15, 15-13)

Kind of dramatic of Pav to finish the regular season like this, but I don’t hate it.

NJIT (91%) def. Sacred Heart (9%)
3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 15-25, 25-22)

Princeton (47%) def. Harvard (53%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-19)

Princeton channeled the Ivy League to earn the last spot in the EIVA tournament.

GLVC

When the dust settled on the GLVC mayhem, Maryville landed the top spot. They were followed by Rockhurst at #2, Missouri S&T at #3, and Roosevelt in the 4 spot. I am so excited for this tournament. This first year conference has an incredibly bright future.

Jamestown (42%) def. Thomas More (58%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-21)

Dear Thomas More, we will miss you. It is always a tragedy when a team is taken away.

Quincy (58%) def. Southwest Baptist (42%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-23)

Rockhurst (84%) def. Roosevelt (16%)
3-1 (25-20, 28-26, 25-27, 25-8)

Maryville (55%) def. Missouri S&T (45%)
3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-23, 13-25, 15-9)

MPSF

The MPSF Tournament committee will release the seedings today. I will be shocked if UCLA and Pepperdine are not #1 and #2, respectively. Looking at the standings for the MPSF, I think they could just go with that and call it a day. It will be interesting to see how they deviate from that though.

Stanford (97%) def. Menlo (3%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-13)

Pepperdine (80%) def. Southern California (20%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18)

UCLA (94%) def. BYU (6%)
3-1 (21-25, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25)

NEC

Long Island (95%) def. D’Youville (5%)
3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-19)

UMES (74%) def. Manhattan (26%)
3-1 (25-21, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17)

Saint Francis (77%) def. Fairleigh Dickinson (23%)
3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20)

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Today’s Postseason Match Projections

🏆🎟️Conference Carolinas Championship🎟️🏆

#2 Mount Olive (19%) vs #1 Belmont Abbey (81%)

Another ticket to the NCAA Tournament is on the line today. These two teams met last season in this same match. Will UMO avenge last year’s loss? Or will Belmont Abbey continue to flex their muscles in the Conference Carolinas?