Volleyball Bracket Season
A new team on the horizon, the NCAA bracket, and a winning farewell to the NAIA. Can't forget RPI, KPI, and tons of rankings.
Welcome to this week’s VBelo Report! Here is the starting lineup for today’s issue:
New Team on the Horizon
Updated NCAA Bracket
A Farewell to the Cal Pac
Latest RPI & KPI
Rankings Updates (VBelo, AVCA, Media)
In’s & Out’s
*whistle for first serve*
New Team on the Horizon
Earlier this month, Newberry College announced the addition of Men’s Volleyball starting next season (2025-2026). It is always exciting to hear the new programs are being added around the country and this is no different.
Newberry is already a member of the Conference Carolinas so one would assume they would already have a conference to play in. The conference currently has 8 teams and an additional team would tie them with the MPSF and the MIVA for the most teams in a conference.
The Wolves will be coached by Kiko Santos who will coach both the men’s and women’s teams. It would be great to have a dedicated coach for each program so hopefully the program can grow into that in the near future.
Welcome Newberry Wolves! We are thrilled to have you join the sport and I can’t wait to see your growth and success.
Updated NCAA Bracket
Technically, there is not a public announcement of the exact format for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. That being said, we have a pretty good idea of what it will look like. I say that because the NCAA website has a blank bracket with the title “2025 NC Men's Volleyball Championship Official Bracket”. This feels pretty good to me.
Although there are no seeds listed, the shape implies that the #8 & #9 seeds will play to find out who takes on the #1 seed in the quarterfinals.1
This week, we learned the first guaranteed participant in the tournament: Fort Valley State. Congratulations to the Wildcats on returning to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. They are the only team to represent the SIAC in the tournament and I’m sure this is a badge of honor that they wear.
Fort Valley State currently sits in the middle of the pack, in terms of RPI (#25). While the common thought is that the SIAC will get the nine seed, I’m not as convinced. If you just look at RPI (which you should never do), there are a couple of teams that could make the tournament below them right now. This includes Long Island and Saint Francis, who are the two favorites to come out of the NEC.
Depending what happens in the EIVA, I think there is a non-zero possibility that the SIAC gets the #7 seed. This would be wildly impressive and we will just have to wait and see how much madness is left in March.
A Farewell to the Cal Pac
Since UC Merced has made it into multiple VBelo Reports the past few weeks, it felt only right to celebrate their recent milestone. In their final season competing in the NAIA, the Bobcats won the first California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship in team history. This also guarantees them a place in the NAIA tournament later this season, another program first.
Next season, UC Merced hopes to compete in the ever-growing MPSF. While that sounds nice, I’m not sure what will happen, given recent history with Jessup. It definitely helps their case that their program is finding ways to win during their exit. Only time will tell where they will end up next season, though.
Latest RPI & KPI
RPI
The latest RPI rankings for matches through Wednesday (4/16/25). Long Beach and Hawaii are still atop the charts, but UCLA has found their way into the third spot. If I were UC Irvine, I would be rooting for UCLA and Loyola to win their conference tournaments.
KPI
Rankings Update
VBelo Rankings
Coaches’ Poll
It is probably worth noting that these rankings mean nothing (technically), when it comes time to decide on the at-large bids. That doesn’t mean that the committee doesn’t have this in their mind, but it is not in the official criteria.
Media Poll
In’s & Out’s
A section for all of the random things that don’t fit anywhere but belong somewhere.
Moni-update: Hawaii is now the only team to keep Moni Nikolov ace-less. Coach Knipe said that Moni was fighting illness that weekend, but this is significant for his odds to set the record. It is far from a sure-thing at this point.
AVCA Player of the Week: Theo Snoey (Outside Hitter, Stanford)
Triple-Double Watch 2025: Can I offer a prize for the first person to do this? Is NIL okay with that?
I would be surprised if the committee actually gave seeds to every team. Even if they do not, it should be pretty clear who lands in which seed.
Newberry is NOT a Conference Carolinas member. They are a SAC member (like Lincoln Memorial, Tusculum and Catawba). Interestingly, Limestone and Coker who both previously had MVB teams are SAC members now. Could they revive their programs to get the SAC to 6 (and an eventual AQ)?