NAIA Championship field increases to 12 teams starting in 2021

Expansion has come to one college men’s volleyball national championship event.

The NAIA National Administrative Council recently voted to expand the men’s volleyball NAIA National Championship from eight to 12 teams starting in 2021.

This expansion comes a year after the inaugural championship tournament and coincides with the recent NAIA men’s volleyball growth throughout the country. There were 47 NAIA men’s volleyball programs in 2020 — a 14-team increase since 2018 — and there will be more than 50 teams next season.

The initial tournament field in 2019 featured six conference automatic berths and two at-large bids. With this latest expansion, there will now be up to six at-large bids competing the event.