SPIKE! New England Collegiate Volleyball Division 3 Blog

Anna Maria College (Paxton, MA) is closing after 80 years in operation due to declining enrollment and underlying structural financial issues.  Anna Maria, which opened in 1946, will cease operations after the spring semester in 2026. Regis College, Worcester State, Springfield College and Fitchburg State will work to ease the transition for current students by offering transfers. With the closing, it also signifies the end for the Anna Maria volleyball program, which began in 1991. The AMCats, who competed as part of the GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference) from 2011-2024, managed two winning seasons during the program's history in 2015 and 2016. Despite the lack of team success, the program can boast some talented players, especially in the last decade. Rebecca Foti ('18) ranks as the AMCats all-time career leader in kills (1,131) and aces (207). Samantha Parker ('16) is the all-time leader in assists (2,374) and second in digs (886). Carolina Garcia is the all-time...

NCAA Division III institutions not only provide high-level competitive athletics but also an elite academic experience, and in order to maintain the goals associated with that mission, the New England Conferences would do well to realign.  The main reason behind this realignment would be a focus on saving dollars for the institutions whenever possible.  With the recent scheduled closings of Hampshire College and Anna Maria College, the focus must be on reigning in travel budgets with the end goal preserving more athletic programs and each institution's academics.  A way to save money is for the colleges and universities at the NCAA Division III level in New England to realign the conferences regionally. This would make the conference travel schedules more inexpensive and reduce the travel time for the student athletes but would not hinder elite programs with larger budgets from scheduling any team they wish during its non-conference schedule. The proposed hypothetical rea...