The Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship Tournament was a championship event for NCAA Division III men's volleyball, founded in 1997 and operating through 2011. While the NCAA has sponsored an annual national championship for men's volleyball since 1970 (NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship), programs from all three divisions competed for just four berths in the yearly tournament. Through 2011, no Division III program had earned a berth or been selected to participate in the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship. Molten is the official volleyball of the NCAA championships.

The Molten Championship was discontinued after its 2011 edition when the NCAA announced it would start an official Division III championship in 2012.

Tournament results YearChampionRunner-upThird placeFourth placeScoreVenue2011NazarethNATIONAL CHAMPIONS! Springfield Carthage Baruch 3-1 Nazareth 2010SpringfieldOfficial website of Carthage College Athletics Department UC Santa Cruz Carthage Nazareth 3-1 Carthage 2009JuniataStevensUC Santa CruzRamapo ?Ramapo2008SpringfieldVassarUC Santa CruzJuniata ? Springfield2007JuniataCarthageSpringfieldStevens ?Juniata2006JuniataUC Santa CruzStevensRivier ?Stevens2005JuniataCarthageStevensMedaille ?Stevens2004JuniataMedailleUC Santa CruzEastern Mennonite?Eastern Mennonite2003SpringfieldJuniataLa VerneStevens 3-1Juniata2002SpringfieldLa VerneNYULehman 3-2NYU2001Springfield D'YouvilleClarkeVassar 3-1Springfield2000UC San DiegoNYUD'YouvilleStevens 3-0Stevens1999 La Verne D'Youville Clarke Juniata ? Clarke1998 Juniata La Verne Springfield Eastern Mennonite ? Springfield1997 Springfield New Jersey Tech Juniata College UC San Diego ? Juniata

Tournament final appearances 7 appearances: Juniata (1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) 6 appearances: Springfield (1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010) 3 appearances: La Verne (1998, 1999, 2002) 2 appearances: Carthage (2005, 2007) D'Youville (1999, 2001); UC Santa Cruz (2006, 2010) 1 appearance: Nazareth (2011) New Jersey Tech (1997) NYU (2000) Stevens (2009) UC San Diego (2000) Vassar (2008) Medaille (2004)

Tournament titles 6 titles: Juniata (1998, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) Springfield (1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010) 1 title: Nazareth (2011) La Verne (1999) UC San Diego (2000)

Tournament appearances 10 appearances: Juniata (1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) 8 appearances: Springfield (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010) 6 appearances: Stevens (2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) 5 appearances: UC Santa Cruz (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010) 4 appearances:

La Verne (1998, 1999, 2002, 2003)

Carthage (2005, 2007, 2010, 2011)

3 appearances:

D'Youville (1999, 2000, 2001)

2 appearances:

Clarke (1999, 2001)

Eastern Mennonite (1998, 2004)

Medaille (2004, 2005)

Nazareth (2010, 2011)

NYU (2000, 2002)

UC San Diego (1997, 2000)

Vassar (2001, 2008)

1 appearance:

Lehman (2002)

New Jersey Tech (1997)

Ramapo (2009)

Rivier (2006)

Championship committee In its final season, the Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship committee consisted of:

Kathy DeBoer (AVCA executive director) Doug Beal (USA Volleyball chief executive officer) Ivan Marquez (EIVA Commissioner/EIVA representative) Bob Newcomb (UC Irvine/at-large representative) John Speraw (UC Irvine/AVCA board of directors men’s representative) Jerry Matacotta (NECVA) Stuart Robinson (SUNY New Paltz athletics director/NECVA) Dan Harris (Milwaukee School of Engineering athletics director/Midwest-West representative).

See also NCAA men's volleyball tournament NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament, the replacement for the Molten Championship NECVA Championship Tournament

References