NEC Volleyball Race in 2026 Characterized by Changed Landscape

Under HC Sarah Spielvogel, the SFU Red Flash- sorry, Red Wolves- had become a force and one of the best teams in coference. Now, they’ll have to settle for possibly becoming one of the best teams in Division 3. The Frankies are no longer in the NEC, or Division I as a whole.

With how strong they’d been in volleyball the past two seasons, that leaves a big hole in the lineup for the league that someone is going to have to fill. Who will it be?

That’s the big question heading into this year.

Long Island is going to remain the favorite with Coach Trifonov at the helm and strong returning players like Bella Correia, Miabella Musignac, and Sara Van Gisteren.

FDU will likely be the favorite in most circles as the runner up. Coach Martinez, formerly of LIU, will lose some key players but has historically been one of the stronger coaches in the league although he has a tall task with replacing Coach Nguyen.

The third and fourth spots are very intriguing as there is fierce competition here to see who will make the league tournament and have a chance to punch their ticket to the big dance. CCSU finished fifth last year and have had improvement each year under Coach Broccoli. Le Moyne has a home field advantage (all wins came at home) that could further improve in 2026 as the team moves forward in Coach Cunningham’s second year. Mercyhurst was an NEC tournament team a year ago, and New Haven received a vote for first place in the preseason poll. Chicago State remains just one year from going to the NCAA Tournament and taking on Louisville. Stonehill will look for continued growth as well.

I’ll follow volleyball as closely as I can, and work is in progress to give the coaches a chance to talk about their programs- as well as the people they produce on and off the court.