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NCVF National Rankings Released
Posted: 2/1/2010
The NCVF released its first set of national rankings for men's Division I today. The initial poll features several EIVA teams, including the Virginia Tech Hokies, who enter the regular season as the nation's top team. It marks the first time in recent memory that an EIVA team has held the top spot. The Hokies proved they deserve consideration as the nation's best by winning the Back to the Hardwood Classic at Michigan State, the country's largest preseason tournament that features many of America's top teams. Virginia Tech's South Division rival, James Madison, appears at the #5 spot, after winning the Derrick Beckner Memorial tournament and the Messiah College tournament. A second place finish at the Hardwood Classic was enough to earn Penn State a #7 ranking in the initial poll. Buffalo enjoys one of its best rankings in recent years at the #13 spot, and despite losing last year's EIVA MVP Austin Lanteigne, Navy has proven it still is a team to be reckoned with and comes in at the #22 spot. The poll is sponsored by Mizuno and scheduled to be released every two weeks.

NCVF National Championship Tournament Registration Now Open
Posted: 1/7/2010
Registration is now open for the 2010 NCVF Collegiate Club Volleyball Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. Team captains can now register their teams online by clicking the "Register Team" link on the NCVF website (www.ncvfvolleyball.org). The Official Tournament Manual is also available. Given the number of teams that have endorsed the event, we anticipate high demand for entry into each division. We encourage teams to register as soon as possible. Registration will be open through midnight, February 26, 2010.

Hokies Win Hardwood, Other EIVA Teams Impress
Posted: 11/18/2009
The two time reigning EIVA champions look poised for a three-peat. Virginia Tech made serious waves on the national radar by winning the Back to the Hardwood Classic this past weekend at Michigan State. It was an all EIVA final, as the Hokies defeated Penn State 2-0 (25-23, 25-17) to claim the biggest tournament win in the country so far this pre-season. It was the first time that two EIVA teams advanced to the finals in Hardwood history. Penn State had beaten Virginia Tech 2-1 (26-24, 25-27, 15-13) earlier in the challenge round, only to fall to the Hokies later in the championship match. EIVA North powerhouse SUNY-Buffalo also made the trip to East Lansing and faired well, finishing second in their pool to Miami (OH) and advancing to the gold bracket, where they were knocked out by Penn State. The Nittany Lions also recorded wins over Dayton, Purdue, Cincinnati, and DuPage. Virginia Tech posted big wins over Wisconsin, Illinois State, Illinois, and Ball State. CEO of USA Volleyball, Doug Beal, was in attendance to watch the action. Several other EIVA teams have also performed well this pre-season. James Madison defeated Virginia Tech in the South's first Divisional Play Date on October 31st and also won the Messiah College tournament last weekend in Grantham, PA. Rutgers proved they will be a force this season by beating Boston College in the finals of the Maryland Terrapin Invitational. Action will continue to heat up this Fall and Winter as teams get more active in upcoming events.

EIVA Growing Fast, as New Teams Join
Posted: 9/21/2009

The EIVA has experienced a steady growth in the number of teams participating in recent years. Temple University, Richmond University, and SUNY-Oneonta were among the new teams in 2008-09. This year, there is projected to be an even bigger boom, as the Pittsburgh Panthers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights have committed to join the D-I Central and several other schools have expressed their intent to join what is already the largest collegiate volleyball conference in the country.

"The EIVA offers better competition for a school of our size," said Alex Hinsey, President of Pitt's team. "The EIVA gives us an opportunity to make ourselves better players, and a better team."

The Panthers are coming off a strong showing at the I-AA level in last year's national championships and are hoping to keep improving. "The EIVA offers us better exposure on the national level. Our goal this year is to make it into Division I-A. We know that if we can put up a good showing in a highly regarded conference like the EIVA it will increase our chances of getting in. We are also looking at playing in bigger tournaments with better competition to help our chances."

"Our impression of the conference is that it is the best conference in the Northeast. We know that the teams in the conference are very strong teams from top to bottom. Some of the teams are nationally ranked and we know that one of the teams won nationals last year. We are excited to go up against teams that we know can compete with from across the country. It will give our team a chance to see where we stand."

Pitt returns ten players from last year's squad and will be led at the Libero position by senior captain Mike Platt, a four year starter. Middles Russ Hoburg and Mike Krieg will carry the offense. Hoburg was an Honorable Mention at the national championships a season ago.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are coming off of a championship season in the MACVC and hope to continue their winning ways in the EIVA this year. Rutgers was a long time pillar of the EIVA for decades and was dominant on the national scene throughout the 90's. Unfortunately, the program fell off the radar and eventually dropped out of the EIVA in 2005. In the past three years, however, there has been a great resurgence in the level of talent and organization for Rutgers, who now has four teams training on campus. The A team destroyed its Division II and III opponents in the MACVC last year and completed an undefeated season before making a strong showing in Division I-A at the national championships. The Scarlet Knights turned heads in Kansas City by challenging eventual champion Fresno State in a hard fought pool play loss.

This year, despite being without the leadership of last year's Setter Greg Hunter, Head Coach Jamie Hor is looking forward to continued success. "We're really looking foward to this season with the EIVA and we're hoping to do well and stay competitive with the other EIVA teams," Hor said. "We'll be running a whole new offense with two new setters."

Both Pitt and Rutgers will join the already loaded Central Division. Other schools expected to join the EIVA ranks this year include Marist College (NY), Virginia Commonwealth University, St. John Fischer (NY), Monroe Community College (NY), American University (DC), George Washington University, and Christopher Newport University (VA).

NCVF Partners with USA Volleyball to Host 2010 National Championships
Posted: 7/13/2009
The National CollegiateVolleyball Federation (NCVF) in cooperation with USA Volleyball will be hosting the 2010 NCVF National Collegiate Club Championship Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky on April 1- 3, 2010.

Click here to view the official press release.

Cortland Wins Division II National Championship
Posted: 4/12/2009
With their gold medals around their necks, the Cortland Red Dragons stood triumphantly on the stage of Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium and then posed for team pictures, realizing that they will forever be remembered as national champions. In heart pounding fashion, Cortland defeated Eastern Illinois 2-1 (27-25, 25-21, 18-16) to capture the 2009 NCVF Division II Championship. Each game went back and forth, as the two teams traded momentum. Thanks to a punishing barrage of kills by Middle Hitter Bryan Patterson, Cortland controlled much of the first game, maintaining as much as a four point lead before Eastern Illinois closed the gap down the stretch. In game two, however, Cortland got stuck in a bad rotation while Patterson was on the bench, and Eastern Illinois took advantage of the opportunity to smother the Red Dragons' offensive attack. Eastern Illinois seized the lead halfway through the game and never looked back. In the third and final game, Cortland once again relied on Patterson's thunderous arm to jump out to an early lead, but with a 14-12 advantage, Patterson was subbed out of the back row and had to watch from the bench as Setter Steven Strollo put his other hitters in position to seal the win. Eastern Illinois clamped down defensively and stopped the Red Dragons for three straight points and the lead. In the ensuing moments, Libero Eric Buggs stepped up and made multiple match-saving digs to keep Cortland alive. When Opposite Hitter Jason Aldrich's next attack found its way through the block and hit the floor, the team erupted into celebration as players and fans stormed the court. The win marks Cortland's first ever national championship. Bryan Patterson was voted the 2009 Division II Most Valuable Player. Strollo and Buggs both earned First Team All-Tournament status, and Aldrich was named to the Second Team.

Hokies Repeat as EIVA Champions, Brockport Claims D-II Crown
Posted: 4/5/2009
The Virginia Tech Hokies have won back to back EIVA East Coast Championships. In a thrilling day of collegiate volleyball at Maryland's Reckord Armory, the EIVA's best teams battled back and forth for nearly twelve straight hours, until there was only one team left standing.

Led by 2008 NCVF Coach of the Year, Sean Callahan, and a team of talented giants, Virginia Tech pummeled Maryland and Syracuse 2-0 in pool play. The Hokies were then stifled by the U.S. Naval Academy in a heart pounding three game match that ultimately went Navy's way (23-25, 25-20, 15-12). In other pool play action, the Penn State Nittany Lions went undefeated, not dropping a single game against Virginia, Cortland, and Pennsylvania. James Madison overcame Buffalo, Delaware, and Army to win their pool.

The quarterfinals saw Virginia Tech dispatch Buffalo 2-0, and Navy defeat Pennsylvania 2-1. The semifinals were highlighted by a clash of the titans, when Virginia Tech took on Penn State in a rematch of last year's EIVA Championship finals. Once again, the Hokie onslaught was too overpowering for the Nittany Lions. The Virginia Tech blockers controlled the net, and Setter Casey Doyle fed his horde of monster hitters set after set until Outside Hitter TJ Purcell put the final nail in the coffin (25-21, 25-19). In the other semifinal match, Navy's Opposite Greg Reichel and EIVA Conference MVP Austin Lanteigne were too much for James Madison to handle. The two teams traded blows until a Navy block sealed the Dukes' fate in game three (26-24, 22-25, 15-11).

The final match featured a rare showcase of talent and a rematch of what was perhaps the most exciting match of the day, when Navy defeated Virginia Tech 2-1 in pool play. This time, though, the Hokies were determined to exact their revenge. Reichel and Lanteigne did all they could to beat the Hokies, but the Midshipmen were ultimately frustrated by a relentless Virginia Tech attack. Game 1 went back and forth until the Hokies prevailed 33-31, despite Lanteigne's heroic effort to save a ball from going out of bounds. Virginia Tech had less trouble in the second game, as Libero Chris Hazell made one athletic play after another in the back row, and Opposite Bob Hoke hammered home three of the Hokies' last five points to win the game 25-21.

With the win, Virginia Tech earned the right to be called the EIVA East Coast Champions for the second consecutive year. Virginia Tech, Navy, Penn State, James Madison, Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Syracuse, and Cortland will all represent the EIVA at next week's NCVF National Championships in Kansas City, MO.

In Division II, SUNY-Brockport's Timothy Price and Terry Brogan led their team to victory over Liberty University in the championship match 2-1 (23-25, 25-20, 15-12). Brockport earned a tough 2-1 win over Virginia Tech B (20-25, 25-22, 15-8) in the semifinals, while Liberty defeated James Madison B 2-1 (25-16, 20-15, 15-8). Price took home the Division II Most Valuable Player award.

The tournament All-Star team consisted of the following players from each division:

Division I
Austin Lanteigne MVP	#10	OH	Navy
Chris Hazell	#5	L	Virginia Tech
Casey Doyle	#4	S	Virginia Tech
TJ Purcell	#16	OH	Virginia Tech
Greg Reichel	#15	OPP	Navy
Patrick Vandenberg	#12	S	Penn State
Randy Jones	#6	L	James Madison
Division II
Timothy Price MVP	#1	S	Brockport
Johnathan Willis	#14	OH	Liberty
Sam Ahn	#5	S	Liberty
Mark Farrel	#3	OH	Liberty
Terry Brogan	#18	MH	Brockport
Andrew Wagner	#18	MH	James Madison B
Brian Pine	#4	OPP	Virginia Tech B

2009 EIVA East Coast Championships
Posted: 4/3/2009
The field of teams has been set for the 2009 EIVA East Coast Championships. Doors at Maryland's Reckord Armory will open Saturday at 8:00 am. Admission is free for all spectators. Competition will begin at 9:00. The pools are listed below.

Division I

Pool A

1. Buffalo

2. James Madison

3. Delaware

4. Army

Pool B

1. Penn State

2. Cortland

3. Virginia

4. Pennsylvania

Pool C

1. Virginia Tech

2. Navy

3. Syracuse

4. Maryland

Division II

Pool A

1. Virginia Tech B

2. Salisbury

3. Fredonia

4. Liberty

5. Syracuse B

Pool B

1. James Madison B

2. Brockport

3. Georgetown

4. UMBC

5. Radford