Division III men's volleyball to have tourney for title

This weekend Juniata College will host the inaugural Molten Division III Men's Invitational Championship. It is the first time the elite volleyball teams in Div. III will compete on the court for the division title.

Until this year the only championship was the all-encompassing NCAA tournament, which has been dominated by Div. I programs like Penn State and UCLA. But now the smaller schools will have a shot at some glory.

Juniata was chosen to host the tournament because of its strong volleyball tradition. Not only are the Eagles ranked No. 1 in Div. III, they also have excellent fan support, making Juniata a prime locale for such an event.

Representing the West/Midwest Region will be No. 2 California-San Diego (5-12), and No. 5 New Jersey Institute of Technology (11-8) will represent the Eastern/Southern Region.

The at-large bid went to traditional Div. III power Springfield (Mass.). California-San Diego will take on No. 3 Springfield (11-5) at 5:30 p.m., followed by a game between Juniata and NJIT at 8 Friday night.

The consensus is that Juniata and UC-San Diego will face each other in the championship match at 8 Saturday night.

Eagle coach Ryan Patton sees the Tritons as a very legitimate threat, despite their losing record.

UC-San Diego plays in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, in which nationally ranked volleyball teams are abundant, and wins are difficult to come by.

"San Diego is certainly is the most battle-tested," Juniata coach Ryan Patton said. "This will almost be a break for them."

While it may seem that crowning the top Div. III team is the goal of the championship, it is hoped the tournament will have greater ramifications off the court.

The tournament was started by USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association in hopes it would be a catalyst for new programs.

Men's volleyball has faced problems finding its niche in today's competitive sports market. USA Volleyball is a proactive organization that has started many programs to promote growth in the sport.

"We feel this will stimulate more Div. III schools to start men's volleyball programs," USA Volleyball's Jim Coleman said. "Once we get enough Div. III schools that we feel that it is a viable-healthy organization, we hope the NCAA will sponsor the championship."

That will take some time, though. There are currently 36 Div. III schools sponsoring volleyball, well short of the 50 needed for the NCAA to sponsor an official championship.

"They're looking for more sponsorship," the NCCA's Carl Daniels said. "And if enough people sponsor the sport at a varsity level, we will represent them with a championship."

Although having a strictly Div. III NCAA championship may seem like a big improvement, not all coaches want one. The current system, in which all teams are eligible for the NCAA Final Four, would vanish.

That means highly talented teams such as Juniata would lose their opportunities to win the NCAA title. In theory, the Eagles could win the Div. III title this weekend, and then upset Penn State at the EIVA playoffs and compete in the Final Four with the big boys of Div. I.

"Right now, we have the best of both worlds. We have this weekend and EIVAs next week," Patton said. "To be honest, I hope we never have Div. III NCAA championships."