Men's intercollegiate volleyball is getting a boost from a new television network devoted entirely to college sports.

College Sports Television (CSTV) premiered its CSTV Spikes men's college volleyball schedule last month. It is believed to be the first time men's games, beyond the championships, have been shown on national television.

"Our national exposure has pretty much been limited to the NCAA championships, when both the semifinals and final have been on, but to have the national exposure for regular-season competition is something very new," said Bob Krimmel, assistant athletics director at Pennsylvania State University and chair of the NCAA Men's Volleyball Committee. "I think it can show people how exciting men's volleyball is, the explosiveness of it, the emotion of it and the athleticism that's involved, which I think is critical."

While ESPN does broadcast the men's volleyball championship, the all-sports network does not show any regular-season games, a spokesman said.

In addition to CSTV Spikes, CSTV covers men's volleyball within its CSTV Primetime and CSTV Scoreboard live studio shows, according to the network. CSTV, which launched last April, is a 24-hour network devoted entirely to college sports and is available to more than 15 million homes nationally on cable and satellite.

The 2004 CSTV Spikes schedule includes seven regular-season games and three men's volleyball conference championships -- the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Those three championships help determine the four teams that will make up the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship field.

Top TV draws

The CSTV games will feature some of the top teams in men's volleyball, such as the University of California, Los Angeles; Brigham Young University; and defending national champion Lewis University -- the first non-Division I school to win the title.

"Similar to our women's college volleyball coverage last fall, our goal this spring is to provide unparalleled national television exposure for the best of the best of men's college volleyball," said Tim Pernetti, vice-president of programming for CSTV. "This schedule is indicative of that commitment."

The CSTV Spikes schedule of men's volleyball games premiered February 21 with a match-up between Stanford University and Brigham Young. Remaining games for the season are: Brigham Young vs. University of Hawaii, Manoa, March 25; Lewis vs. Brigham Young, March 26; University of California, Irvine, vs. Pepperdine University, April 1; and UC Irvine vs. Hawaii, April 15.

The EIVA, MIVA and MPSF championships are all scheduled for broadcast on May 1.

"It's great that we're getting it on TV," said Joe Wortmann, who represents men's coaches on the American Volleyball Coaches Association's board of directors and is head men's volleyball coach at the University of the Pacific (California). "I certainly hope that people take a look at it. I think if they watch it for a little bit, some people will get hooked and say, 'Wow, this is pretty fun, this is exciting.' "

Wortmann said the AVCA has been behind the effort to get men's volleyball more national exposure and he hopes the trend will continue.

"I think one of the raps that we've taken in the past is that men's volleyball is too fast or it's too powerful, but with the rules changes in the last few years, with the libero as a designated defensive player, men's volleyball has certainly become a better defensive game and the passing is so much better, so there are good rallies and it is exciting," he said.

"Any chance to expose the country to men's volleyball is a definite plus for the sport because it really is one of the great college sports that the NCAA has to offer," said Bill Shumard, executive director of athletics at Long Beach State University and a member of the Men's Volleyball Committee. "Men's volleyball, while it is not played nearly at the magnitude of women's volleyball in the NCAA, is a very exciting and competitive sports. A lot of our future USA team members play in it."

Exposure leads to growth

Krimmel said the expanded exposure is not only good for current collegiate players, but also for those young men looking to participate in volleyball in college.

"It provides a forum for high-school and club players, where the sport is growing by leaps and bounds, to see that yes, there is college volleyball," he said. "They begin to have those role models that they would like to aspire to be like that we have in other prominent sports."

For example, Krimmel said, a junior high or high-school athlete interested in basketball can watch sports on television and see schools where they might one day like to play that sport. The new programming on CSTV provides the same examples for young men's volleyball players.

Wortmann noted that the upcoming summer Olympics also may help build upon the momentum created by the exposure on CSTV. Both the men's and women's volleyball teams, he said, have qualified for the Athens games and will be seeded well.

"Hopefully this just leads into a successful run for our national programs," he said.

Krimmel acknowledged that to this point, women's volleyball seems to get more national exposure than the men's game, but he's hoping that will turn around in time.

According to the latest NCAA figures, there are more than 950 women's volleyball teams in all three divisions. That compares with slightly more than 80 men's collegiate volleyball teams in all three div- isions.

The men's championship includes four teams coming from all three divisions, whereas the women's championships are divided into three divisions, featuring 64 teams in the Division I championship and 48 teams for the tournaments in Divisions II and III.

"Women's volleyball helps men's volleyball. I know it does at Penn State in the sense that they have a tremendous following there and have great crowds, and we've been able to build through that knowledge that those fans have gained to make them fans of men's volleyball," Krimmel said.

He noted that at his school, the number of fans coming to men's volleyball matches has increased and there is more interest in bringing teams from the Midwest and West to Penn State. Also, he said, attendance at the championships has been increasing each year and has sold out.

"You have a product that people want to come see," he said.

College Sports Television's regular-season package for collegiate men's volleyball matches has been welcomed by players, coaches and fans.