Thiel will add men’s volleyball as a varsity sport during 2010-11, helping boost sponsorship of the sport in Division III beyond the 50 schools required to establish a new Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship.

Thiel will join 51 Division III schools currently listed as sponsoring men’s volleyball as a varsity sport. It will become the school’s 19th varsity sport.

“This new program not only represents an outstanding opportunity to satisfy a demand that exists in our area but also the type of positive growth we are striving for as an institution,” said Thiel President Troy VanAken.

Current Thiel women’s volleyball coach Steve Brewer also will coach the men’s team.

“With only about 50 other Division III programs in the country, I feel that Thiel has a unique opportunity to become competitive on a high level immediately,” Brewer said.

The creation of a Division III championship for men requires membership legislation. A vote to create a championship would not occur before the 2011 Convention, meaning that spring 2012 is the first season in which a Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship could be staged.

Thiel will become the fourth Division III institution in Pennsylvania to sponsor men’s volleyball, joining Juniata, Lancaster Bible and Philadelphia Biblical.

Nearly half of the Division III institutions sponsoring the sport (23) are located in New York.