NJCAA Insider - October 2017

Start of NJCAA Volleyball | Fall 1974

Although the NJCAA did not officially have a women's division of play at the time, the organization sponsored three invitational women's tournaments in the sports of volleyball, basketball and softball during the 1974-75 season. In the spring of 1975 the association became the first of the three major national collegiate athletic associations to adopt women's athletics.....many years before the NAIA and NCAA. 

The 1974 NJCAA Volleyball Invitational Championship featured nine teams that battled through round-robin play before Alvin (TX) defeated host Catonsville (MD) 1-15, 15-4 and 15-10 in a best-of-three format. Other participating colleges included Broome (NY), Essex (NJ), Hesston (KS), Mayfair (IL), Northeast Nebraska, St. Louis-Meramec (MO) and Penn State - Beaver County. 

A year later, qualification for the tournament was added and the NJCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship became the first championship (non-invitational) held for women by a national coed collegiate organization. The NAIA would not have their first women’s championship until 1980, followed by the NCAA in 1981.