Men's Volleyball | 8/19/2025 12:18:00 PM

The Empire 8 will fully sponsor men's volleyball as an NCAA Championship Automatic Qualifier sport starting with the 2026-27 season. The league will have seven members in 2026-27 and expand to eight members in 2027-28.

"Our member institutions have been early contributors to the growth of men's volleyball in the collegiate landscape," said Empire 8 Executive Director Chuck Mitrano, who enters his 25th season with the league. "It is exciting to see the growth reach the multi-sport conference level and we are primed for what will be a top-notch men's volleyball conference with teams that have consistently been nationally – it's going to be competitive which will make for a great student-athlete experience."
 
Currently, Empire 8 playing men's volleyball institutions compete in a single-sport conference (United Volleyball Conference, New England Volleyball Conference, Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference).
 
In 2026-27, the league will consist of full-time E8 members Elmira College, Hartwick College, Houghton University, Nazareth University, SUNY Poly, Russell Sage College, and St. John Fisher University. 
 
Nazareth won the 2011 Molten Division III Men's Volleyball Championship and advanced to the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship match. The Golden Flyers won the first three UVC Championships from 2011-13. St. John Fisher made back-to-back NCAA Championship Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023 and won the 2022 UVC title.
 
St. John Fisher and Nazareth were ranked in the top-20 of the AVCA Division III Men's Volleyball poll in 2025, while Elmira has been ranked inside the top-15 of the AVCA poll 66 times in program history.
 
The Empire 8 has 12 full-time member institutions and is set to sponsor 28 Division III sports as the 2025-26 season gets underway.