BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's volleyball team, led by sixth-year head coach
Kyle Mars, has been voted No. 15 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Preseason Poll and second in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League Preseason Coaches Poll.
AVCA
The Yellow Jackets ranked as high as No. 12 in the 2025 season after only receiving votes in the 2025 preseason poll. That was their highest ranking in program history. BW will start this season ranked ahead of every MCVL team. However, the Jackets will face six ranked non-conference opponents before they begin conference play; No. 17 St. John Fisher (N.Y.), No. 13 UC Santa Cruz (Calif.), No. 20 Misericordia (Pa.), No. 3 Juniata (Pa.), No. 5 Messiah (Pa.), and No. 16 Hobart (N.Y.).
MCVL
BW was ranked first in the preseason poll for the 2024 and 2025 seasons after winning the MCVL title in 2023 and losing in the MCVL postseason to the champion in 2024. The 2025 Yellow Jackets fell to the Mount Union Purple Raiders in the MCVL Championship 2-3. Mount Union is ranked first with 75 points and five first-place votes, and BW came in very closely behind with 74 points and three first-place votes. Wittenberg also received first-place votes with two while getting 68 points for third place. The Brown and Gold finished runner-up in the MCVL Championship with a 19-11 regular season record and 6-2 conference record in 2025.
2026 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League Preseason Coaches Poll
| Place |
Team |
Points (1st-Place Votes) |
| 1. |
Mount Union |
75 (5) |
| 2. |
Baldwin Wallace |
74 (3) |
| 3. |
Wittenberg |
68 (2) |
| 4. |
Trine (Ind.) |
55 |
| 5. |
Wabash (Ind.) |
49 |
| 6. |
Adrian (Mich.) |
39 |
| 7. |
Calvin (Mich.) |
31 |
| 8. |
Mount St. Joseph |
30 |
| 9. |
Olivet (Mich.) |
18 |
| 10. |
Spalding (Ky.) |
11 |
Up Next
- Men's volleyball will kick off their season at the Grove City (Pa.) College Tri-Match against Grove City and Elizabethtown (Pa.) in a double-header on Saturday, January 17.
