Indianapolis, Ind. – April 13, 2026 – For the first time since the 2022 season, Springfield College has been selected as one of four host sites for the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament, which is slated to take place in Blake Arena later this week, April 16-18.

Springfield, the top-ranked team in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III National Poll and the top-ranked team in the NCAA Power Index, will play the winner of Buffalo State University/New Jersey City University (NJCU) on Friday in the regional semifinal, while in the other match on Friday, New Paltz will take on conference rival NYU. The winners of both regional semifinals will play on Saturday at 5:00 pm with the victor advancing to the 2026 NCAA National Semifinal on April 23.

Springfield, one of seven at-large selections from across the country into the field of 21 teams, earned its 13th berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament and will enter this weekend with a record of 21-3. Springfield has appeared in 13 of the 14 NCAA Division III Championship Tournaments, has reached the national championship match ten times and has won the title five times (2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018).

Buffalo State University will enter the tournament at 28-4 after winning the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship, while NJCU will enter the regional at 20-9 and as champions of the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC). To date, Springfield has never faced Buffalo State and has only taken on NJCU one other time coming ten years ago during the 2016 campaign.

NYU (19-6) and New Paltz (22-7) earned at-large berths out of the United Volleyball Conference (UVC). Both squads are not only conference rivals but have a deep history with Springfield College. Springfield is 33-7 all-time against New Paltz and 27-22 against NYU should the two sides meet in the regional final on Saturday night. The Pride played New Paltz twice this season and split the series winning at home 3-1 on February 11 and losing on the road in five on March 5, while Springfield and NYU met in New York on February 21 with the Pride coming out with a 3-2 win.

On the other side of the bracket Stevens Institute of Technology will host a six team pod with 2025 national semifinalist California Lutheran, MIT, St. Joseph's Long Island, Endicott and Lancaster Bible. Meanwhile, Juniata will host Messiah, Randolph-Macon, Wentworth and Wittenberg and Carthage will host Southern Virginia, Loras, Dominican and Thiel.

The winner of each regional will advance to the national semifinal round which will take place on April 23 inside Springfield College's Blake Arena before a champion is crowned on April 25.

Springfield enters the tournament with the nation's most potent offense hitting at a .348 clip, 22 points higher than second-ranked Carthage College. The Pride also rank tenth in aces per set and assists per set as well as 11th in kills per set. 

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