Roosevelt Men's Volleyball Joins Great Lakes Valley Conference As Associate Member

INDIANAPOLIS – Roosevelt University will become an affiliate member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in men's volleyball starting with the 2025-26 academic year, the league and school jointly announced Thursday.

The Lakers will be one of seven schools competing in the inaugural season of GLVC men's volleyball. The conference will include five full members of the GLVC – Maryville University, Missouri S&T, Quincy University, Rockhurst University and Southwest Baptist University – and Thomas More University joins Roosevelt as an affiliate member. Thomas More was approved as an affiliate member in October while Roosevelt's application was approved in May.

Men's volleyball is the only NCAA program at Roosevelt not sponsored by its member league, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Lakers men's volleyball program will compete as an independent during the 2024-25 season before joining the GLVC for its second year as an NCAA program.

"We are excited to be able to take this step into the NCAA by joining the GLVC," Roosevelt head coach Kelly Magliano said. "Not only is this amazing for our program, but it is great for men's volleyball at the collegiate level. Men's Volleyball is becoming more widely known and the addition of another conference at the NCAA level is a testament to that.

"The GLVC men's volleyball coaching staffs have already been helpful and welcoming of our membership. I believe our program will be highly competitive in the GLVC, and I am excited to see our program and men's volleyball at the collegiate level continue to grow."

Roosevelt began sponsoring men's volleyball after its integration with Robert Morris University Illinois in 2020, and has steadily improved in each season. Last year, the Lakers finished with a 9-17 record, a three-win improvement over the 2023 season. Roosevelt returns four student-athletes who had at least 100 kills last season as well as its top-six performers in blocks, as well as digs.

The Lakers are familiar with the future GLVC men's volleyball members, having played Maryville and Missouri S&T last season in St. Louis. Both programs had been independents since their programs began in 2022 and 2023, respectively, while Rockhurst and Southwest Baptist will respectively begin sponsoring the sport in 2024-25 and 2025-26. Quincy has been competing in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association since starting its program in 2011. Thomas More is also going through the NCAA reclassification process and competed in the Mid-South Conference as an NAIA member.

The inaugural GLVC Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament will take place March 23-25, 2026, as a four-team, single-elimination format at a site yet to be determined.