FOREST, Va. --- The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Presidents Council approved a new addition to the conference's slate of sponsored sports. Men's volleyball will become the league's 26th offering when competition begins in the 2024-25 academic year. The decision was rendered at the ODAC's annual presidents meeting in conjunction with the yearly Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV) gathering.
"I am excited to add men's volleyball as the ODAC's 26th varsity sport," explained ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. "Three ODAC members have sponsored the sport for varying degrees of time, helping contribute to the growth we have witnessed in men's volleyball in our region. It was that growth and the sport's success that attracted other members of the conference to add it on their campuses. I look forward to watching our conference members thrive in this new championship environment."
The ODAC features seven core members that will have competing teams by the time play begins in January 2025. Eastern Mennonite University, Randolph-Macon College, and Roanoke College currently feature active programs that are members of the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC), a single-sport entity that features nine teams from Roanoke in Salem to Rutgers-Newark and Kean University in New Jersey. Averett University and Virginia Wesleyan University will open their inaugural seasons in January 2024 before playing in the ODAC's first campaign next year. Randolph College along with a recently announced program addition by the University of Lynchburg will begin play in 2024-25.
Scheduling for the conference's newest sport will be determined in meetings with league coaches and athletic directors. While classified officially as a spring sport by the NCAA, Division III men's volleyball spans the second half of the traditional winter season with most of the spring slate. Conference championships are generally conducted the second weekend of April.
Last season, 113 programs competed at the Division III level with steady growth continuing across the country. The 2023 NCAA Division III Championship field featured 16 total teams -- 10 automatic qualifiers (Pool A), two independent selections (Pool B), and four at-large choices (Pool B) by the Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Committee.
Barring any additions or subtractions, the ODAC will become the 11th Division III conference to sponsor the sport. In addition to Roanoke College's first season in 2022-23, the Roanoke Valley has already experienced championship play in Division III men's volleyball. During the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season, the City of Salem and the CVC partnered to host the entire (12 teams) Division III tournament at the Salem Civic Center.
All eyes will be on ODAC country in 2024-25 as Roanoke College and the City of Salem will host both the women's championship in December and the men's event in April. The ODAC and the CVC will co-host those events, respectively.