Vanderbilt Plans To Add Varsity Women’s Volleyball Team

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Vanderbilt vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director Candice Lee. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

With the Vandy United campaign continuing to grow, Vanderbilt University has announced its commitment to adding a varsity women’s volleyball program as its 17th varsity sport.

The sport will begin competition in the 2025–26 academic year. The Commodores were previously the only SEC school to not have a varsity volleyball team.

“Today’s announcement has been a long time coming. For some it’s one that people have been waiting to hear for more than four decades,” said Candice Lee, vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director in a press conference. “I’ve said from the beginning that Vandy United is about transforming and reimagining our athletics department. That includes sports sponsorship. It is with great excitement, pride and optimism that I say volleyball is back.”

After conducting a study, Vandy believes a 36-month timeline for implementation offers the program the best chance for sustainable and competitive success. They feel this particularly in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which will now sponsor 16 varsity volleyball programs starting in 2025 with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas. This allows the university sufficient time to build the infrastructure and resources necessary to support the sport at a championship level.

“As we approach the 150th anniversary of Vanderbilt’s founding, we remain committed to the mission of helping student-athletes realize their full potential,” says Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. “To fully serve this purpose, the university must itself never stop growing and seeking new opportunities for excellence. Today’s announcement of volleyball as our 17th varsity sport serves as further proof that we are writing a new chapter for Vanderbilt Athletics. Youth participation rates make clear that the sport has strong roots in Tennessee, and we look forward to bringing elite collegiate volleyball to our community.”

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, volleyball has the second-most participants nationally among girls in high school sports and is the second-most popular high school sport for girls in Tennessee, with nearly 7,000 participants. At the NCAA level, nearly 350 schools currently sponsor Division I varsity programs, now including all 14 members of the SEC. Last season’s NCAA Division I championship match between Nebraska and Wisconsin drew a record 1.19 million viewers on ESPN.

Vanderbilt Athletics fielded a varsity-level volleyball team once before from 1979 to 1980. That team went 23-16 in its inaugural season, beat Sewanee for its first-ever win, beat Georgia for its first victory against an SEC opponent and placed second in the Division III state championship played at Maryville College.

The master architectural firm Populous, plan to include a renovation of the current basketball offices in Memorial Gymnasium for occupation by the volleyball program, as well as the addition of a volleyball locker room.

Steven Boero
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