Recommended DIII contest minimums now official

The Division III Administrative Committee approved today the Championship Committee’s recommendation to reduce by 33 percent the minimum number of contests required for championship selection in 2020-21.

DIII women’s volleyball will now require 11 minimum contests (down from 17) in order to be eligible for this year’s postseason. The release also stated: “The intention right now is to conduct fall championships as scheduled.”

The revised contest minimums in effect for other sports during the 2020-21 academic year:
Men’s/Women’s cross country: 3
Field hockey: 8
Football: 5
Men’s/Women’s soccer: 9
Men’s/Women’s basketball: 12
Men’s/Women’s ice hockey: 12
Men’s/Women’s swimming and diving: 5
Men’s/Women’s indoor track and field: 3
Wrestling: 5
Baseball: 17
Men’s/Women’s golf: 4
Men’s/Women’s lacrosse: 7
Rowing: 5
Softball: 16
Men’s/Women’s tennis: 7
Men’s/Women’s outdoor track and field: 4
Men’s volleyball: 11

-Ricky Nelson

Shuffling continues; St. Scholastica to join MIAC

St. Scholastica has accepted an invitation to join the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Saints, who will compete in 20 MIAC sports beginning in 2021-22, will remain in the Upper Midwest Conference until making the move.

-Ricky Nelson

Finlandia, Mount Mary to join new conference

The six remaining members of the American Collegiate Athletic Association, including Finlandia and Mount Mary, will join the five remaining members of the Capital Athletic Conference under the CAC umbrella, beginning June 15. Both the ACAA and CAC published releases on the conference reshuffling, which has been in the works for months.

The new conference “is expected to be rebranded with a new name and logo over the coming months,” according to the releases. The former CAC was in danger of losing its automatic bid to NCAA championships due to falling below the required seven teams. The ACAA, formed in 2017, never qualified for automatic access to championships. The new conference is also expected to retain the CAC’s automatic berths to Division III championships.

The 11-team conference will feature teams from California (Mills, UC Santa Cruz); Maryland (St. Mary’s, Salisbury); Massachusetts (Pine Manor); Michigan (Finlandia); New York (Pratt); Virginia (Christopher Newport, Mary Washington, Southern Virginia); and Wisconsin (Mount Mary). Pratt is scheduled to become a full DIII member in 2023-24.

Pine Manor, a now-former ACAA member, will not compete in the new conference in women’s volleyball, according to the releases. Pine Manor’s membership in Division III is pending after next season due to its entering a partnership with Boston College. The ACAA’s Valley Forge and the CAC’s York (Pa.) are set to join other conferences in 2020-21.

The new conference will be comprised of eight institutions after next season as Pine Manor is perhaps gone from the division, and both St. Mary’s (NEAC) and Southern Virginia (USA South) join the leagues they were previously committed to.

Not related to women’s volleyball, but UW-Whitewater men’s soccer, a former ACAA affiliate, will remain an affiliate in the new conference.

Got all that? D3vbwest has a post about what the move means for the West Region members of the ACAA.

If you do not have all that down, the “All DIII Teams, Conferences” page typically has any pending conference and membership moves accounted for.

-Ricky Nelson

Committee recommends reduction in minimum contests

The NCAA Division III Championships Committee is recommending a 33 percent reduction in the minimum contests requirement across all sports for 2020-21. In women’s volleyball a one-third reduction would mean going from a minimum of 17 contests (the current threshold) to 11 or 12 matches, depending on whether the number is rounded up or truncated.

The recommendation, which is obviously in response to the novel coronavirus, pertains to eligibility for NCAA postseason play. Actual changes to minimum contest requirements are under the purview of the Management Committee, not the Championships Committee.

In its recommendation the Championships Committee mentioned the Division III Philosophy, which emphasizes conference and regional competition as a core tenet.

The recommendation also says the Championship Committee would still be open to considering waivers for schools that are unable to meet any new minimum standards.

-Ricky Nelson

Lady Blues name new head coach

Alicia Wood was announced as the new head coach at Illinois College today. Wood was most recently an assistant coach at DePauw.

-Ricky Nelson

Proposed regional realignment

The NCAA has provided a look into the proposed regional realignment. The matter has not yet been settled by all committees, but these are the preliminary 10 regions for women’s volleyball.

I (39 Teams)
GNAC
NAC
NESCAC
LEC

II (38)
CCC
MASCAC
NECC
NEWMAC
[Brandeis & Pine Manor]

III (39)
E8
Liberty
Skyline
SUNYAC
[U Rochester]

IV (38)
CUNYAC
MAC Freedom
NJAC
NEAC
[NYU]

V (47)
AEC
Centennial
CSAC
Landmark
MAC Commonwealth
[Carnegie Mellon, Trinity (D.C.) & Valley Forge]

VI (43)
CAC
ODAC
SAA
USA South
[Emory]

VII (49)
AMCC
MIAA
NCAC
OAC
PAC
[Case]

VIII (53)
CCIW
HCAC
NACC
SLIAC
WIAC
[Chicago, Mount Mary & WashU]

IX (41)
ARC
MIAC
MWC
UMAC
[Finlandia]

X (39)
ASC
NWC
SCAC
SCIAC
[Mills & Santa Cruz]

Surely no one could find competitive-balance inequities in this proposal … and I don’t think Maranatha was accounted for.

-Ricky Nelson

MacMurray College, founded in 1846, to close in May

MacMurray College will close its doors in May 2020 after being founded 174 years ago in Jacksonville, Ill.

The college, comprised of 527 full-time students and 101 faculty/staff, has reportedly entered into transfer agreements with Division III institutions Blackburn, Eureka, Greenville, Illinois College, Millikin and Monmouth in addition to Division II member McKendree.

In volleyball terms, 2019 SLIAC Coach of the Year Joana Ramsey guided the Highlanders to the conference tournament title match last season and an 18-16 overall record — the program’s first winning season since 2005, which was the final year of Ramsey’s prior stint at the college.

Eight Division III schools have now been forced to close in the past three years:
Daniel Webster
Green Mountain (left D III after 2017-18, closed in 2019)
MacMurray
Mount Ida
Newbury
New Rochelle
Southern Vermont
Wheelock

-Ricky Nelson