United Volleyball Conference

United Volleyball Conference
AssociationNCAA
FoundedAugust 31, 2010
Folded2026
CommissionerChuck Mitrano (since 2010)
Sports fielded
  • 1
DivisionDivision III
No. of teams8
HeadquartersRochester, New York
WebsiteTheUVC.org

The United Volleyball Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III men's volleyball conference located in the northeastern United States.[1] Formed in August 2010 with play starting in January 2011, the conference operated out of the same offices as the all-sports Empire 8 league, though the two remained separate entities.[2]

The UVC disbanded following the 2026 season as part of an agreement between it, the New England Volleyball Conference (NEVC; an offshoot of the former all-sports New England Collegiate Conference), and three all-sports conferences—the Conference of New England (CNE),[3] Empire 8,[4] and New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).[5] CNE and NEWMAC started sponsoring men's volleyball in the spring 2027 season, and the Empire 8 elevated the sport to full NCAA championship status at that time. Of the final UVC members, three moved men's volleyball to the Empire 8 (all being full members of that conference), four joined NEWMAC men's volleyball (one as a full member and three as affiliates), and Hobart became a men's volleyball affiliate of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.[6]

Teams

Final members

The league had 8 members in its final 2026 season.

Note that because NCAA men's volleyball is a spring sport, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season of competition.

Institution Location Founded Joined Type Enrollment[a] Nickname Primary
conference		 Current
volleyball
conference
Elmira College Elmira, New York 1855 2010 Private 1,170 Soaring Eagles Empire 8
Hobart College Geneva, New York 1797 2024 Episcopal 905 Statesmen Liberty AMCC
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 1861 2013 Private 4,602 Engineers NEWMAC
Nazareth University Pittsford, New York 1924 2010 Private 2,034 Golden Flyers Empire 8
State University of New York at New Paltz (New Paltz) New Paltz, New York 1828 2010 Public 6,717 Hawks SUNYAC NEWMAC
New York University (NYU) New York, New York 1831 2010 Private 26,733 Violets UAA NEWMAC
St. John Fisher University Rochester, New York 1948 2017 Private 2,700 Cardinals Empire 8
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, New York 1861 2010 Private 2,450 Brewers Liberty NEWMAC
  1. ↑ Undergraduate enrollment.

Other former members

Institution Location Joined Left Type Nickname Current
volleyball conference
Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 1860 2010 Private Raptors CNE
D'Youville College[a] Buffalo, New York 2010 2014 Private Spartans[b] NEC[c]
Hilbert College Hamburg, New York 2010 2014 Private Hawks AMCC
Medaille College Buffalo, New York 2010 2014 Private Mavericks None[d]
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (Penn State Behrend) Erie, Pennsylvania 2011 2017 Public–private hybrid Lions AMCC
The Sage Colleges (Sage)[e] Albany, New York[f] 2017 2020 Private Gators Empire 8
Stevens Institute of Technology (Stevens) Hoboken, New Jersey 2010 2019 Private Ducks MAC
State University of New York Institute of Technology (SUNY IT)[g] Marcy, New York 2010 2013 Public Wildcats CNE
  1. ↑ Known as D'Youville University since 2022.
  2. ↑ Nickname changed to Saints in 2020.
  3. ↑ Division I conference that competes in the National Collegiate division of men's volleyball (combined Divisions I and II).
  4. ↑ Medaille closed in August 2023.
  5. ↑ The Sage Colleges, which were recognized by the UVC, NCAA, and the state of New York as a single institution, consolidated its three colleges as one and rebranded as Russell Sage College in July 2020. Russell Sage consisted of three components—the formerly women-only namesake college, the coeducational Sage College of Albany (SCA), and the Sage Graduate Schools. During its UVC tenure, Russell Sage's team consisted predominantly of former SCA students, since SCA was the only RSC component that enrolled male undergraduates.
  6. ↑ Russell Sage has campuses in both Albany and Troy, New York, but the former SCA operated only in Albany.
  7. ↑ Merged into the SUNY Polytechnic Institute, aka SUNY Poly, in 2014. SUNY Poly inherited the former SUNY IT athletic program.

Championship history

Season Regular season Tournament
2011 Stevens (East)
Nazareth (West)[a]		 Nazareth
2012 NYU (East)[a]
Medaille (West)		 Nazareth
2013 Nazareth Nazareth
2014 Nazareth New Paltz
2015 Stevens Stevens
2016 New Paltz New Paltz
2017 Vassar NYU
2018 Stevens,[a] New Paltz Stevens
2019 Stevens,[a] New Paltz New Paltz
2020 None Canceled
2021 New Paltz Vassar
2022 New Paltz St. John Fisher
2023 Vassar Vassar
2024 Vassar NYU
2025 NYU NYU
2026 New Paltz MIT
  1. 1 2 3 4 Top seed in conference tournament.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "United Volleyball Conference". United Volleyball Conference. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  2. ↑ "United Volleyball Conference Forms; Begins Competition This Season" (PDF) (Press release). United Volleyball Conference. August 31, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  3. ↑ "CNE to Add Men's Volleyball as 22nd Sport in 2026-27" (Press release). Conference of New England. August 19, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Empire 8 To Fully Sponsor Men's Volleyball as NCAA Division III Championship Sport in 2026-27" (Press release). Empire 8. August 19, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  5. ↑ "NEWMAC Announces the Addition of Men's Volleyball to its Roster of Sports" (Press release). New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. August 19, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Hobart Men's Volleyball to Join AMCC as Affiliate Member" (Press release). Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. December 19, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
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