(06-14-2022 04:43 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  There are several D2 schools who are independent in beach volleyball in the area that could be an affiliate to the Southland Conference like Texas A&M-Kingsville. Since there are no D2 or D3 championships for that sport? Adding Kingsville, Colorado Mesa, Nebraska, Lincoln Memorial, Spring Hill, Wayne State-Nebraska, Hendrix, Huntingdon, and Mary Hardin Baylor could help in scheduling for the Southland.

They already do. Mary Hardin-Baylor played most of the Southland schools plus those that had left such as SFA and Central Arkansas. They appear to have trouble getting schools to come to Belton and have to start picking up NAIA teams.

Colorado Mesa hosted an event that included Utah and Salt Lake Community College.

At the Beach Volleyball committee meeting last August they sort of discussed AQ's, but concluded they couldn't do anything with an 8-team field. The Competition Oversight Committee that meets monthly would every so often review the situation, and would allow for 16 teams. Then they agreed to have 5 AQ conferences, and a method for choosing AL teams. Then they decided to add the OVC and Southland as AQ. In the actual tournament they had 8 AQ.

I could see more conferences forming now that AQ are being formed.