Issue date: 4/6/07 Section: Sports

The Stevens Institute of Technology's men's volleyball team won the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association title for the third time in five years and received the conference's automatic bid to the 2007 Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship, which will be hosted by Juniata College on April 13-14. Stevens previously won the NECVA title in 2003 and 2005 and hosted the Molten Championship in 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Carthage College was selected as the Midwest/West Region representative and holds a 24-7 overall record this season, and a 15-1 mark in NCAA Division III play. The Red Men, ranked third in last week's CSTV/AVCA Division III Men's Top 15 Coaches Poll, won the Division III Midwest Invitational last weekend. Carthage holds a 12-match win streak heading into the Molten Championship. Carthage will make its second appearance in the championship. The Red Men finished runner-up to Juniata in the 2005 event.

As the host institution, Juniata College received an automatic berth into the four-team field. Since Juniata gained entrance in the Molten as the host institution, Springfield College will also represent the EIVA in Huntingdon, regardless of the outcome of the EIVA Division III Championship match. Juniata is the three-time defending champion of the Molten. The Eagles will try to become the first team to win the event four consecutive years.

Now in its 11th year, the Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship was formed due to a need for a culminating event for NCAA Division III men's volleyball. While the NCAA sponsors a national championship for men's volleyball, programs from all three divisions compete for just four berths in the yearly tournament. In the 34-year history of the men's tournament, no Division III program has earned a berth or been selected to participate in the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship.

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