On April 18, Ball State University men's volleyball lost to Lindenwood in the semifinals of the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) tournament. With this loss, the Cardinals won their second consecutive MIVA regular season title, but were unable to capitalize on their right to the top seed in the league tournament.
The team was shaken by this setback. Even after Lindenwood secured match point, members of the red and white remained around Worthen Arena for a long time, with players hugging and exchanging emotional words.
The atmosphere on the court was somber, but one onlooker in the stands didn't share the attitude. The next day, I talked to a family who had come to see Ball State lose to Lindenwood. She said while she was disappointed that the Red-Whites didn't win a conference title, she was optimistic that their season would continue in the NCAA Tournament.
After all, it's reasonable to assume that the winner of a conference that includes six of the top 20 programs in the country will be considering a spot in the national tournament. Despite the success, my description of Ball State's bleak postseason prospects shocked Cardinals die-hard supporters.
The tournament field for national college men's volleyball (a class made up of both Division I and Division II programs) is limited to just eight spots (only two of which are open to large teams), and the Cardinals You'll be on your way to the sport's premier event. By 2024, it will almost no longer exist.
The NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship was held last week in Long Beach, California. As I expected, Ball State did not play in the event, and the Cardinals weren't the only top-ranked team to miss out on an unnecessarily exclusive club invite.
UCLA and UC Irvine win two coveted At-Large bids, No. 5 Hawaii (team that has appeared in the last four national title games), No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 BYU, and much more history He left behind a program. Sitting at home while other teams fight for championships.
In its current format, the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Tournament is too restrictive and doesn't reward most of the teams that earn the right to compete for the national title. No other college sport has programs eliminated at such a high rate in national rankings, and unlike the men's basketball tournament, where college sports' top decision-makers are unfortunately focused on expansion negotiations, men's volleyball The sector needs to grow.
Before digging deeper into my logic, you should realize why the tournament field size is so small. Because of the regional nature of U.S. men's volleyball, there have historically been few men's volleyball programs at the collegiate level, and the sport has long had one of the lowest memberships among NCAA-supervised competitions. .
Only 62 teams competed at the national collegiate level in 2024, a number that pales in comparison to the 334 Division I programs that took the court in women's volleyball last fall. While 62 may seem low when compared to sponsors in more popular sports, this number is on the rise.
According to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), five programs will debut in the national collegiate ranks in 2024, and 10 more schools plan to develop men's volleyball teams at this level over the next two years. The AVCA expanded its national poll rankings from 15 to 20 teams this season, likely to account for this growth. It stands to reason that the NCAA would do the same at the national tournament.
The influx of new teams into the men's volleyball world can probably be attributed to the growing trend of men's volleyball nationwide. In late April, the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) approved boys' volleyball as a fully sponsored sport, showing that volleyball is growing in areas where young men have rarely played the sport before.
Regional factors that have long hindered the growth of men's volleyball are becoming less important. As a result, the NCAA can support this positive development by expanding tournaments in growing youth volleyball regions, including the home of Ball State University, to inspire future generations of the sport.
More teams participating in the national tournament means more exposure for the sport, but also more money in the NCAA's wallet. The inclusion of well-supported brands, such as Hawaii and his BYU, for example, would generate huge revenue for the governing body.
Hawaii's men's volleyball program averaged nearly 6,300 fans at home games this season and more than 2,700 fans on the road, according to university reports. Excluding the Rainbow Warriors from the national tournament was certainly a financial loss for the NCAA.
It's not just money and name recognition, but the nature of the sport that justifies change. Upsets and inconsistency are common in men's college volleyball, and this factor must be considered when determining the number of teams in the national tournament.
This phenomenon was seen up and down the national rankings this season. In the final poll for 2024, 13 of the top 20 teams had total losses of double digits, and three of those teams held losing records (a sport where losing seasons draw national attention). Is there anything else?) That's easy. As fluke and parity reign in men's volleyball, a good team's season shouldn't, and often does, be defined by a single loss in the postseason tournament.
At the end of the day, when I look back and think about Ball State's 2024 season, my opposition to the Cardinals' exclusion from the NCAA Tournament comes down to the Cardinals' MIVA regular season title, ranked teams (exactly is not a resume of victory against 6 teams). In fact, what motivated me most to advocate for expansion of the tournament was a scene from the last game of the year.
I was on the court as the Cardinals were coming to terms with the reality that their season was over. I saw raw emotion and disbelief. It's a shame that teams like Ball State University and the University of Hawaii had to manage this crushing emotion, as ideally this heartbreak would have been postponed.
In an ideal men's volleyball environment, deserving teams would be able to experience the thrill of competing for a national title, and their accomplished season wouldn't come to a sudden, screeching halt.
The NCAA has the power to modify the structure of sports for the better, and should use that position to its advantage. A field of 10, 12, or 16 teams would be more appropriate than what is currently in place and would greatly benefit the future of boys and men's volleyball.
Contact Adam Altobella with your comments on X @AltobellaAdam or by email. aaltobella@bsu.edu.