Men’s volleyball qualifies for the East Coast Championship tournament and U.S.-wide National Championships.
The Gee-Gees Men’s Volleyball team captured the Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association’s (ECVA) North Division title for the second consecutive time on Feb. 28.
An undefeated performance in the Divisional championship tournament also booked the Gee-Gees’ spot in the East Coast (Conference) Championship tournament and in the U.S.-wide National Championships.
While the Gee-Gees went 5-0 on the day en route to the North Division title, it was hardly a cakewalk. Four of their five matches went to a deciding third set, but the battle-tested squad emerged victorious in each instance. Ottawa defeated host team Syracuse (2-1) and Buffalo (2-1) in pool play, followed by playoff wins over RPI (2-0), RIT (2-1) and Syracuse again (2-1) in the playoffs.
The victories over Syracuse extended the Gee-Gees winning streak against the Orange to three games, having also defeated them in last year’s final thanks to a 2-0 sweep.
Despite their flawless record, there wasn’t a single Gee-Gee named to the North Division’s All-Star team. However, setter Will MacCuspic, libero Xavier Bouffard and outside hitters Zach Shewan and Alex Teichmann were listed as Honourable Mentions.
Looking ahead
The Gee-Gees will be attending the East Coast Championships (hosted by the University of Maryland) on March 21st; impressively, Ottawa has qualified to the event in each of their first four seasons in the league. The 16-team event, comprising the top-four finishers from each of the ECVA’s divisions, will feature some of the best American clubs. Beyond the defending champions – #8 Penn State – the teams in attendance include nationally ranked squads in #2 Virginia Tech, #14 Liberty, #15 Clemson, #19 Alabama.
Ottawa will face off against #10 Maryland, #23 NC State, and unranked Virginia in the round robin, needing a top-2 finish in their pool to advance to the quarter-finals. Ottawa’s best-ever finish at the event was a bronze medal in 2024, which included a 3-set pool play win over NC State.
Following their conference championships, the Gee-Gees will travel to Kansas City, Mo. for the 2026 National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF) Championships. The NCVF, which oversees university club volleyball across the United States (including the ECVA and several other conferences) hosts the National Championship tournament every year.
While the Gee-Gees have assured their spot, their performance at the East Coast Championships will determine whether or not they qualify for the top division – reserved for the 48 best teams by national ranking.
The Gee-Gees (as a Canadian team who largely compete in exhibitions and tournaments against fellow Canadian teams) are at a heavy disadvantage when it comes to earning points towards their ranking. Since they only play teams within the NCVF a handful of times, they have far fewer opportunities to prove themselves – a problem they’ve sought to remedy by traveling to East Lansing, Mi. each November to compete in the Hardwood Classic at Michigan State University.
Unfortunately, the Hardwood Classic was recently re-classified as a pre-season event, so the Gee-Gees’ only meaningful games come during Divisional play or the East Coast Championships. Those are pretty slim pickings, with no margin for error and a relatively weak set of opponents within the North Division that don’t give the ranking committee a reason to respect them (think about how the NCAA treated 31-1 Miami of Ohio in college basketball!).
Interestingly, the Men’s Volleyball team is not the only Gee-Gees Varsity Grey program to face ranking adversity within an American league – uOttawa’s Men’s Ultimate team has had similar issues in qualifying for the top flights in USA Ultimate due to a lack of U.S.-based competitions.
Nevertheless, the Gee-Gees head to Maryland in about a week’s time and will have to fight for every inch, hoping that their performance is enough to get them into the top flight where they feel they belong. Should they fail to do so, they’ll have to be content with an appearance in Div-II; still a worthy competition, but playing for 49th in the country just isn’t the same as fighting for 1st.
You can keep up with the Gee-Gees on their quest for a Conference and National Championship via Instagram, @geegeesmvb.
