VBelo Offseason: November 2, 2022
Two shiny new teams for 2023
It was a great weekend for preseason exhibitions and tournaments. Teams all over the country were getting some reps in against players that they don’t see everyday (a novel concept this time of year). As I mentioned before, it is still too early to draw any conclusions, but it is never too early to be a fan and enjoy watching volleyball!
Last week, I also mentioned that we were close to having 50% of matches for the 2023 season revealed, and this week we crossed the 50% line (and then some)! For those keeping track at home, we know of at least 433 matches from 20 teams’ schedules which represents about 58% of the 2023 season.1 From what we know, we are just 64 days from our opening match where Pepperdine will host Lincoln Memorial.2
Before we get to the actual season though, we need to look at two exciting additions to the slate of teams for the 2023 season: Merrimack College and Missouri S&T.
I had the chance to sit down with Coach Ray Lewis from Merrimack College. It was a great view into what it takes to start a brand new program (from someone that has done it twice!) Link to the video is below.
What’s New?
This year Men’s Volleyball will see the addition of two programs, bringing the total up to 57 D-I/II programs in the country. It is always exciting to see the sport grow and adding new teams is evidence of the continued growth and support that volleyball is having at both the high school and professional levels. So who are these new teams?
Merrimack College
Located in beautiful (especially this time of year) North Andover, MA, Merrimack is a private university with an enrollment just over 5,000 students. The Merrimack Warriors are in their final year of transitioning to NCAA D-I and will be full members in the 2023-2024 season. This year, Merrimack is adding three sports: Men’s Volleyball, Women’s Bowling, & Men’s Golf. Fun fact: Merrimack is one of only two Augustinian Catholic universities in the United States, along with Villanova.3
Merrimack are members of the NEC (more on that conference below) and will be coached by Ray Lewis. Lewis is the former coach at Central State, where he coached both the women’s and men’s teams. In his one season coaching the men, he lead them to the inaugural SIAC championship. Not to mention the NAIA championship he won with Benedictine University Mesa in 2019. Lewis also has experience at basically every level of volleyball and has seen incredible success, so it seems clear that the Warriors are in good hands.
I was able to sit down and chat with Coach Lewis about this upcoming season. It was a great look into his coaching style, where he sees the Merrimack program going, and his feelings on Dunkin Donuts now that he lives in New England.
While their schedule is not out yet, Coach Lewis did mention (in the video above) that they will open their season against Penn State. Their non-conference matches will mostly be around the New England area but will include a trip down to the Conference Carolinas.
To help bring some experience to this new program, Coach Lewis has brought in a handful of transfers from around the Men’s Volleyball landscape. They include Zyshonne Lang (Central State), Matthew Motes (Benedictine), Anthony Clapp (Erskine), Miles Dewhirst (San Diego Miramar College), Sage Gatling (Long Island), and Antonio Barraza (Central State).
This will be a fascinating team to watch as they find their identity in a brand new conference surrounded by teams not in their first year. Definitely keep an eye out for Merrimack this year and in years to come.
Missouri S&T
Missouri University of Science and Technology, located halfway between St. Louis and Springfield, will also be joining the world of Men’s Volleyball. With over 7,000 students, this public research university is known for its strong engineering programs. The Miners compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) as part of NCAA D-II for all sports except Men’s Swimming and now Men’s Volleyball. (It is worth noting that other GLVC teams include Lewis, Maryville, McKendree, and Quincy. All of these schools have Men’s Volleyball teams and since the GLVC does not sponsor Men’s Volleyball, they compete mostly in the MIVA.)
Taking over the reigns for this brand new program will be Coach Andy Halaz, who also serves as the coach for the Women’s Volleyball program at Missouri S&T. In his three years coaching the women’s team, Halaz has a 50-32 record, led the team to the GLVC tournament finals, and had the program’s first ever national ranking. Coach Halaz also was on staff this spring for the US Women’s National Team Open Program. I’m no expert, but it seems like he knows what he is doing.
For the 2023 season, the Miners will feature a roster of 15 freshman (eligibility wise).4 The team features players with significant success at the high school and club level so the talent is definitely there. The big question will be what the team chemistry will look like.
The Miners will compete as an Independent team this year and released an inaugural schedule of 19 matches, including 8 home matches. In addition to other Independent teams like Maryville and Alderson Broaddus, Missouri S&T will face 7 of the 8 teams in the MIVA.5 There are also some matches against a few SIAC teams and a few difficult D-III teams near the end of the season. Overall, this is a good first schedule that has a wide variety of opponents for the Miners to challenge.
The addition of Missouri S&T to the Men’s Volleyball world definitely creates some intrigue. With 5 GLVC teams now having Men’s Volleyball (and a sixth school in 2025!), we may be on the verge of another new conference sponsoring the Men’s Volleyball at the D-I/II level. Obviously, there would be a lot to figure out (especially for the MIVA), but with more and more teams, we are surely going to see more conference-wide support for the Men’s Volleyball. Speaking of conferences…
Another Conference?
That is right! As mentioned above, there will be a new conference in Men’s Volleyball this season: Northeast Conference (NEC). I will break down the conferences a little later in the year, but for now here are the 8 teams making up the NEC this season.
Fairleigh Dickinson - 2nd year program, formerly Independent
Long Island - 2nd year program, formerly Independent
Merrimack - 1st year program
Sacred Heart - previously competed in EIVA
St. Francis Brooklyn - EIVA in 2022, Independent prior to that
Saint Francis - previously competed in EIVA
Daemen - Associate member of NEC for MVB, formerly Independent
D’Youville - Associate member of NEC for MVB, formerly Independent
It is worth noting that the NEC will not have an automatic bid to the national tournament in 2023. Who knows what the future will hold, though?
This is based on my assumption that there will be around 750 regular season matches this year. Last year there were 724, so this feels like a fair estimate.
This is subject to change if another team schedules a match earlier than this, or in an earlier time zone.
This means that Merrimack is the first and only Augustinian university with Men’s Volleyball. They deserve a plaque or something!
The press release from Missouri S&T says the Jacob Williams is a transfer, but does not say from where. He is also listed on the roster as a freshman and a previous school is not mentioned.
If they can find a way to schedule Ball State, I think they get a patch to wear on their jerseys and a discount at all MIVA concession stands.
Loved the Coach Ray Lewis interview!👍🏼