The America East Conference will add Providence as an associate member in women’s volleyball beginning with the 2010 season. Providence had been competing as an independent in volleyball since 2003.

America East will have seven teams in volleyball. The Friars will compete against Albany, Binghamton, Hartford, UMBC, New Hampshire and Stony Brook in a double round-robin format. The top four teams qualify for the single-elimination conference championship.

“The addition of Providence to our women’s volleyball league is a perfect alignment of academics, athletics and leadership values between our conference and a prestigious institution which carries a lot of history,” said Commissioner Patrick Nero. “The school’s location in the heart of our footprint and regularly competing against our member institutions in multiple sports makes Providence a great fit.”