2025 NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Tournament Preview
The 2025 NCAA Men’s D3 Volleyball Tournament is set and this year 19 teams will be competing for the title. On Thursday, April 17th three play-in matches will take place; Buffalo St takes on Baruch, Randolph-Macon will go to battle against Nichols and St. Joseph’s (LI) faces Theil.
The first three rounds are hosted by four sites: NYU, Stevens, Southern Virginia and Carthage. All those teams won their respective conferences and rank in the top 5 of NCAA NPI, earning the luxury of playing on their home court.
A Deep 2025 Tournament Field:
There are many 2025 tournament contenders this year. NYU won the UVC, defeated 15 nationally ranked opponents, and remain undefeated in the 2025 season headed into the NCAA Tournament.
Southern Virginia has amassed a record of 31-1 with 30 sweeps, beaten numerous high ranked D III programs, and possess the physicality to beat anybody.
You can never count out Cal Lutheran, the 2024 NCAA champs. Kingsmen Michael Stahl can take over any match on the right side.
Springfield seems to be playing high level volleyball at the right time, big wins against Stevens and Southern Virginia. Coach Charlie Sullivan of Springfield has won multiple NCAA titles and has a lot of tournament experience.
Juniata earned an at-large bid to the tournament with 12 wins inside the Top 25 as a part of their rigorous schedule.
Stevens have impressive wins against Messiah and have the opportunity to host their regional pod and earn a trip to the Final Four for the 4th consecutive year. Coach Dan Buehring brought home a title to Stevens in 2023 and has a 2025 contenting squad.
Carthage has won two titles under Head Coach JW Kieckhefer and have the opportunity to play at home until the final four. Ben Heise and Owen Otto can do some damage on the pins for Carthage.
First time dancing:
Checkout the link to see the tournament bracket: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-men/d3/2025
Aurora – A perennial contender in the Midwest, Head Coach Dan Ames finally got the Spartans over the hump capturing the NACC title with a 3-2 win over MSOE. Led by All-Region selections, outside hitter Josh McClellan (aka Maple DeFalco) and libero Alex Nonhof – Aurora will look to dance late into the tournament as part of their debut.
Buffalo State – A second year program that has taken the AMCC by storm, Head Coach Dan Miranda and the Bengals punched their ticket with a 3-0 sweep over PSU Behrend. Led by AMCC Player of the Year Malachi Jackson, impact transfer Alex Vega, and a talented group of youngsters – Buffalo State fears no one and will make noise in their region,
Randolph-Macon – Year 7 was the lucky number for the Yellow Jackets as Head Coach Christian Taylor is taking RMC to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. After capturing the inaugural ODAC regular season championship, they followed it up with the tournament championship as well. Setter Kody Rogan was named ODAC Offensive Player of the Year and has a lot of size to distribute the ball to, highlighted by outside hitter Ian Wagenhauser.
Thiel – In their 15th year as a program, Head Coach Dylan Lasher has the Tomcats dancing for the first time in program history after winning the newly formed PAC. Frogjump All-Freshman selection Ezra Osterling received both Player and Rookie of the Year in leading Thiel to an undefeated slate of PAC play. Joined by middle blocker Kaleb Proudfoot- they will be a force to be reckoned with at the net.
How they got into the NCAA tournament:
Aurora: Won the NACC Conference Tournament.
Baruch: Won the CUNYAC Conference Tournament.
Buffalo State: Won the AMCC Conference Tournament.
Cal Lutheran: Earned an at large bid.
Carthage: Won the CCIW Conference Tournament.
Juniata: Earned an at large bid.
Lancaster Bible: Won the UEC Conference Tournament.
Messiah: Earned an at large bid.
Mount Union: Won the MCVL Conference Tournament.
Nichols: Won the NEVC Conference Tournament.
NYU: Won the UVC Conference Tournament.
Randolph-Macon: Won the ODAC Conference Tournament.
Southern Virginia: Won the CVC Conference Tournament.
Springfield: Earned an at large bid.
Stevens: Won the MAC Conference Tournament.
St. Joseph’s: Won the Skyline Conference Tournament.
Thiel: Won the PAC Conference Tournament.
Vassar: Earned an at large bid.
Wentworth: Won the GNAC Conference Tournament.
Final Four:
The Final Four will take place at The Cregger Center in Salem, Virginia on April 25th and the finals are set for April 27th. The matches will be live-streamed on NCAA.com.
Facts going into the tournament
- Springfield has 11 NCAA Titles and Coach Charlie Sullivan is in his 26th season of being the head coach.
- Carthage has won two NCAA Titles in 2021 and 2022.
- Juniata has won 6 NCAA Titles.
- Cal Lutheran won their first NCAA Title in 2024.
- Stevens has been crowned the NCAA Champion in 2015 and 2023.
- This tournament contains 7 of the top 10 All-Time wins leader among active coaches (Sullivan, Pina, Peterson, Brubaker, Giglio, Gary, Buehring)
Top players in the tournament:
– Juan Armando, Outside, Juniata
– Walter Birnbaum, Opposite, Vassar
– Michael Bowler, Middle, Mount Union
– Sam Candland, Opposite, Southern Virginia
– Jordan Cooper, Outside, Cal Lutheran
– Connor Foxwell, Middle, Wentworth
– Peter Gavroff, Outside, Baruch
– Ben Heise, Opposite, Carthage
– Luke Hoffman, Middle, Juniata
– Malachi Jackson, Opposite, Buffalo State
– Joshua Levandoske, Outside, Stevens
– Payne Lounsbery, Setter, Vassar
– Alex Kagoro, Outside, Messiah
– Zach Knudsen, Libero, NYU
– Josh McLellan, Outside, Aurora
– Jack McClue, Outside, Mount Union
– Luke McPherson, Outside, St. Joseph’s (LI)
– Dylan Mulvaney, Springfield
– Alex Nonhof, Libero, Aurora
– Jack Normandin, Outside, Nichols
– Lucas Osicki, Outside, NYU
– Ezra Osterling, Outside, Thiel
– Owen Otto, Outside, Carthage
– Noah Pak , Outside, Baruch
– Kaleb Proudfoot, Middle, Thiel
– Kody Rogan, Setter, Randolph-Macon
– Chris Rouleau, Middle, Springfield
– Tanner Soracco, Attacker, Nichols
– Tucker Shearn, Libero, Vassar
– Christian Sheaffer, Outside, Southern Virginia
– Koby Sherman, Opposite, Stevens
– Michael Stahl, Opposite, Cal Lutheran
– Gehrig Tolman, Setter, Southern Virginia
– Alex Vega, Libero, Buffalo State
– Jacob Waga, Opposite, Wentworth
– Ian Wagenhauser, Outside, Randolph-Macon
– Ben Weber, Outside, Cal Lutheran
– Jordan Yoder, Outside, Lancaster Bible
Coaches Comments:
On how competitive the tournament is this year.
“The 2025 NCAA tournament is the most competitive yet! I think the favorites are NYU and SVU, but there are a bunch of teams capable of getting hot in the moment and making a run. I believe Cal Lu and NYU are great examples of that from last year’s tournament. I’m excited about the additional 3 teams to the tournament this year. It will completely change the experience for a lot of teams for the better! Some exciting second round matchups for me are Carthage vs. Aurora, Vassar vs.. Cal Lu, and Juniata vs. Wentworth,” Head Coach Glenn D of Juniata.
“This is the most competitive NCAA D III Men’s Volleyball Tournament I can remember. There are more teams that can realistically win this championship than at any other time. Volleyball fans have a great championship tournament to look forward to,” Head Coach Jose Pina of NYU.
How Springfield, Carthage and Vassar are ready for the tournament.
“We have been tested a lot this season and had good results with an away win at Stevens and a home win vs Southern Virginia, their only loss of the season,” Head Coach Charlie Sullivan of Springfield.
“They say teams who face adversity in the regular season tend to have more resilience in the playoffs. And if that’s true, this season has gifted us with a lot of resilience,” Head Coach Richard Gary of Vassar.
“I think we are a super well-rounded team that can win in a number of ways. We have shown our ability to win with a balanced offense as well as with some defensive intensity and hustle in the back court. Aurora is a big and physical team. They represent the Midwest well with their depth of talent, size and physicality. Josh McClellan and SJ Nelson have scored a lot of points for them recently, but their middle blockers do a great job scoring, and their D Ball is one of the best back row balls in the country. Overall, I think this match is going to be one of the best matches of the tournament. We are looking forward to being back in the NCAA tournament and enjoying the moment,” Head Coach JW Kieckhefer of Carthage.
How the 2024 season has served Cal Lutheran well for the 2025 tournament.
“Last year I battle tested the guys… threw them to the wolves, and they got the job done. That’s what we have to do! Nobody travels more than us, plays more matches in a row… all that hard work, has to pay off, or at least give them a mental advantage against their opponent,” Head Coach Kevin Judd of Cal Lutheran.
Some great match-ups this weekend:
“We played Vassar last year in the Finals! They are a quality team that can play big when they need to. We will now travel again this Wednesday… to NYC, adjust to a 3 hour time difference… and try to put our best game forward,” Coach Kevin Judd of Cal Lutheran.
“A highlight for us is our consistency. This is the 4th straight GNAC championship for us and the 5th straight NCAA tournament appearance in a row. The guys graduating this year have only known playing in the NCAA tournament, which is no easy feat. Juniata is big, physical and talented. The last time we played in the NCAA tournament was 2017, a year that Wentworth went to the Final Four. I think Juniata has done a great job building a tough schedule and no doubt they will be prepared to compete at the highest level this week,” Head Coach Evin Giglo of Wentworth.
Special thanks to Rob Wingert, the Head Coach at Misericordia for lending a helping hand with this article. Wingert held multiple men’s volleyball NCAA leadership positions and has been the voice of the play-by-play announcing for NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championships.
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