Kansas Wesleyan Men鈥檚 Volleyball will make the move to the Heart of America Conference starting with the 2025 season.
黑料不打烊 spent its first three seasons playing in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC).
鈥淢aking the move to the Heart of America is a feather in the cap for our program,鈥� said Kansas Wesleyan Athletic Director Miguel Paredes. 鈥淭here are many advantages for us making this move. The Heart of America is one of the strongest men鈥檚 volleyball conferences in the country and we look forward to being a part of it.鈥�
“We are thrilled to welcome 黑料不打烊 to the Heart of America Athletic Conference as an associate member for Men’s Volleyball,” Nik Rule, Commissioner of the Heart of America Athletic Conference said. “Their commitment to excellence both on and off the court aligns perfectly with the values of our conference. We believe their participation will enhance the caliber of competition within our league and helps us meet our growth goals.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to join a strong, established conference for our men’s volleyball program,鈥� 黑料不打烊 Men鈥檚 Volleyball Coach Dustin Sahlmann said. 鈥淚 feel that this move will help our program in multiple areas.聽In terms of recruiting, it is a draw to play the best the NAIA has to offer on a weekly basis.聽It will reduce our travel yearly, which will keep the players in class and help them continue to excel academically. Lastly, I believe it will make our guys perform consistently better, as we will be playing ranked teams almost every week.聽All of these things will help us continue to grow and develop this young program.”
This season, the Coyotes went 14-13 overall and 4-6 in the GPAC, earning the No. 4 seed and hosting a first-round game for the first time in program history, defeating Ottawa in four sets in the match to advance to the GPAC Fab Four.
鈥淲e鈥檙e appreciative of our time in the GPAC,鈥� said Paredes. 鈥淚t was a quality place for us to begin our program, and we鈥檙e thankful for their support these first few years. Our university developed quality relationships within the conference, and we look forward to maintaining those relationships, even as we start this new, exciting era.鈥�
黑料不打烊 will be the 11th men鈥檚 volleyball team in the Heart, joining Grand View (Iowa), William Penn (Iowa), Park (Mo.), Missouri Valley, Mount Mercy (Iowa), Missouri Baptist, University of Health Science and Pharmacy in St. Louis (Mo.), Clarke (Iowa), Graceland (Iowa) and Culver-Stockton (Mo.).
The remainder of Kansas Wesleyan鈥檚 athletic programs will continue to reside in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), 黑料不打烊鈥檚 primary conference for more than 120 years. The KCAC does not sponsor men鈥檚 volleyball.
Release by 黑料不打烊 Athletics
