Somerset, NJ -- Saint Francis University men's volleyball is coming to the Northeast Conference. The conference announced on Thursday. 

With support from the First Point Volleyball Foundation, NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris unveiled the plan to grant championship sport status to men's volleyball for the 2022-23 academic year.

"We are thrilled to announce the addition of men's volleyball as the 25th sport sponsored by the Northeast Conference," said Morris. "With four core NEC institutions recently adding men's volleyball to their lists of sport offerings, it made perfect sense for us to offer support from the conference level. We are excited to bring the six NEC men's volleyball teams under the league's umbrella for the inaugural 2022-23 season and provide those student-athletes with the services that nearly 5,000 NEC student-athletes already enjoy." 

Six NEC core member institutions – Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island University, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn and Saint Francis U -- will compete for the inaugural Northeast Conference crown in 2023 as men's volleyball becomes the league's 25th championship sport.

Head Coach Mike Rumbaugh said, "We are very excited for the Northeast Conference to sponsor men's volleyball. This decision and commitment is a positive sign of added interest in our sport and I am excited to see further growth within the NEC footprint. The NEC will now be the second all-sport conference in NCAA Division I to sponsor men's volleyball, which will hopefully encourage additional conferences and institutions to look at sponsoring the exciting and growing sport of men's volleyball".

In terms of the national landscape, the Northeast Conference joins the Big West as the lone multi-sport NCAA Division I conferences who sponsor men's volleyball competition.

"Thanks to the many donors to First Point Volleyball Foundation we are proud of being part of the recent expansion of NCAA DI men's volleyball," said Marin Gjaja, Vice Chairman and President of First Point's Board Executive Committee. "Having the NEC join the Big West as NCAA DI multi-sport conferences officially sponsoring men's volleyball is meaningful for our sport."

Along with the NEC's sport sponsorship announcement, Morris also welcomed First Point Volleyball Foundation as an official corporate partner in the presentation of NEC men's volleyball through the 2024-25 season. 

"To make this announcement even more exciting, we are thrilled to add First Point Foundation as an official NEC corporate partner, as well as the presenting sponsor of the NEC Men's Volleyball Championship. This partnership will be a win-win for the support and growth of men's volleyball at the collegiate level."

The First Point/NEC partnership includes:

• First Point will be recognized as presenting sponsor of NEC Men's Volleyball Tournament
• NEC weekly awards for men's volleyball will be designated: First Point/NEC Men's Volleyball Player of the Week and First Point/NEC Men's Volleyball Rookie of the Week
• First Point and NEC will partner for social media content, league webcasts on NEC Front Row, and other content focused on the growth of boys' volleyball and the prominent roles First Point and the NEC has played in the collegiate growth of men's volleyball
• NEC institutions who sponsor the sport will serve as First Point's partners in growing the game in their respective campus communities.

"Congrats to Commissioner Morris and her NEC Presidents and ADs!" exclaimed First Point Volleyball co-founder John Speraw, who also serves as head coach of the USA Men's National Team and UCLA Men's Volleyball.  "All of us here at USA Volleyball are excited to have four NCAA DI schools add men's volleyball in the last few years. And a multi-sport DI league sponsoring the sport is truly a great moment. We certainly look to D1 programs for Team USA's talent pipeline. It would not surprise me at all to have an NEC athlete be an Olympian in future Olympic Games." 

Initial meetings between Morris and First Point's Co-Founder Wade Garard date back to 2017. Later that year, First Point awarded a grant to St. Francis Brooklyn as the College announced its men's volleyball sponsorship. SFBK is now in its second year of intercollegiate competition.

St. Francis Brooklyn AD Irma Garcia subsequently introduced First Point to other athletics administrators in the NEC and strongly encouraged her colleagues to consider adding the sport. In February 2020, First Point awarded a grant to Fairleigh Dickinson when FDU AD Brad Hurlbut announced the Knights were adding the sport starting in the 2021-22 academic year. 

With more advocacy by Morris followed by discussion among NEC Presidents and administrators, LIU and Merrimack announced the formation of their new men's volleyball programs soon thereafter. The four newly-established programs join long-time NEC core members Sacred Heart and Saint Francis U, which have sponsored the sport for more than two decades, to comprise the Division I league.