By InsideHitter.com Staff | January 13, 2026
On January 12, 2026, Thomas More University announced the difficult decision to discontinue its men’s volleyball program following the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season. In an official statement, Vice President and Director of Athletics Terry Connor identified the primary drivers for the decision: “the challenges of conference affiliation as an NCAA sport and increased travel which results in more missed classes.”
The announcement raises a fair question: Is the problem truly a lack of viable competition, or is it specifically the geographic demands of Thomas More’s current conference affiliation? An examination of the regional landscape suggests that a change in divisional status, rather than outright program cancellation, could offer a sustainable path forward.
The Division II Distance Challenge
As Thomas More transitions to full NCAA Division II membership, the school competes in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) for most sports. However, because the G-MAC does not sponsor men’s volleyball, the Saints have operated as an associate member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) for the sport’s inaugural 2026 conference season.
This alignment has placed the program in a challenging geographic position. The GLVC’s men’s volleyball membership includes institutions scattered across a vast geographic footprint. Full members Maryville, Missouri S&T, Quincy, Rockhurst, and Southwest Baptist are all located in Missouri or Illinois. Associate members include Roosevelt University in Chicago and, notably, the University of Jamestown in North Dakota, roughly 1,100 miles from the Thomas More campus in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
For a university committed to academic excellence and the student-athlete experience, these logistical hurdles are a legitimate concern. Road trips to opponents in Missouri and Illinois require travel times ranging from five to nine hours one way. Jamestown requires nearly 17 hours. These distances necessitate multiple overnight hotel stays and significant time away from campus for student-athletes.
A Manageable Roster Transition
A unique factor in this situation is the current composition of the Saints’ roster. For the 2026 season, Thomas More carries a focused roster of nine student-athletes. Of these nine players, five are currently seniors: Dominic Rossi, Noah Smith-Trondle, Will Strasser, Will Busken, and Braden Hicks. Three are juniors: Tanner Stinnett, Blake Kibler, and Jacob Schurfranz. One, Maciej Kopacz, is a sophomore.
By completing the 2025-2026 season, the university honors its commitment to these seniors as they finish their collegiate careers. This specific roster dynamic means that the discontinuation of the program effectively impacts only four returning underclassmen. This small number suggests that a pivot to a different competitive model would be highly manageable from a personnel perspective. The university would only need to recruit a modest class of local talent to maintain a viable roster for a localized Division III or NAIA schedule.
The Premise: A Regional Realignment
While the Division II landscape is sparse in the immediate vicinity of Crestview Hills, the Division III and NAIA levels offer a high density of competition within a short drive. By shifting the program to NCAA Division III or exploring NAIA scheduling options, Thomas More could drastically reduce travel costs and eliminate the majority of missed class time.
The numbers tell a compelling story. Within the current GLVC arrangement, average one-way travel distances exceed 350 miles for most opponents, with extreme outliers like Jamestown pushing beyond 1,000 miles.
By contrast, consider the geographic clustering available at other levels:
Within 100 miles of Thomas More’s campus:
- Mount St. Joseph University (NCAA D3): Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, approximately 12 miles away
- Georgetown College (NAIA): Located in Georgetown, Kentucky, approximately 65 miles away
- Spalding University (NCAA D3, joining the MCVL in 2026): Located in Louisville, Kentucky, approximately 85 miles away
- Wittenberg University (NCAA D3): Located in Springfield, Ohio, approximately 96 miles away
Potential D3 Conference Home: The Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League
The MCVL currently includes 10 institutions for the 2026 season, with several located within reasonable driving distance of Northern Kentucky. In addition to Mount St. Joseph, Wittenberg, and incoming member Spalding, the conference features programs at Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana, approximately 143 miles), Trine University (Angola, Indiana, approximately 182 miles), and Baldwin Wallace University (Berea, Ohio, approximately 217 miles).
The average one-way travel distance to MCVL opponents would drop to approximately 160-180 miles, a significant reduction from the current GLVC footprint. Most conference road trips would involve a two-to-three-hour bus ride, allowing the program to operate on a commuter basis for the majority of its schedule. Student-athletes would be able to attend classes before departing for matches and return to campus the same night.
Potential NAIA Options: The Mid-South Conference
Thomas More has institutional history with the NAIA. The Saints competed in the Mid-South Conference before elevating to Division II, departing after the 2022-23 academic year. Existing relationships and local rivalries likely remain.
The Mid-South Conference continues to sponsor men’s volleyball with a strong Kentucky focus. Georgetown College is a full member, and other regional NAIA programs such as Campbellsville University (approximately 123 miles) and the University of the Cumberlands (approximately 159 miles) are within the conference footprint or nearby. Average one-way travel to NAIA opponents in the region would be approximately 130-150 miles, with many trips achievable as same-day round trips.
Operational and Financial Considerations
A move to Division III would eliminate the need for athletic scholarships. NCAA Division II allows up to 4.5 equivalency scholarships for men’s volleyball, while Division III prohibits athletic scholarships entirely. If Thomas More is currently funding scholarships, this shift could reallocate those funds to operations or other sports. Division III emphasizes the “student-athlete” model with a focus on academics and balanced competition. Thomas More, as a smaller private university serving approximately 2,300 students, fits well within this framework. Many MCVL institutions are similar in size and mission.
An NAIA alignment would preserve scholarship flexibility (the NAIA allows up to 8 equivalency scholarships) while offering ultra-local scheduling options. Even if remaining in the NCAA at the Division III level, Thomas More could schedule non-conference games against NAIA schools for regional tune-up matches.
The reclassification process is not instantaneous. Moving from Division II to Division III requires NCAA approval, including a multi-year provisional period (typically 3-4 years) and compliance adjustments. A full transition to the NAIA would be faster, often requiring only 1-2 years. Either path would require planning and commitment from university leadership, but neither is insurmountable.
Conclusion: A Program Worth Preserving
The administration at Thomas More is acting with the best interests of their student-athletes in mind by addressing the unsustainable nature of the current travel schedule. That commitment to academic priorities deserves acknowledgment and support.
However, the data indicates that the underlying problem is not a lack of available competition. The problem is specifically the geographic demands of the program’s current conference affiliation in Division II. Men’s volleyball at the Division III and NAIA levels offers a thriving regional ecosystem centered on the Ohio River Valley, with Cincinnati, Louisville, and Central Kentucky forming a natural cluster of programs.
By pivoting to a Division III model or a regionally-focused schedule, Thomas More could preserve opportunities for the four returning underclassmen while fulfilling the university’s institutional mission of fiscal and academic responsibility. This strategic realignment would transform the program from a geographic outlier in Division II into a central pillar of the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky volleyball community.
The question facing Thomas More is not whether men’s volleyball can survive. The question is whether the university is willing to explore a different competitive model to make it sustainable. The geographic solution is available. The roster transition is manageable. The only remaining variable is institutional will.
InsideHitter.com welcomes comment from Thomas More University and invites readers to share their perspectives on this developing story.