Concordia University Irvine (D2 CA) Adds Men's Lacrosse

IRVINE, Calif. – In a span of less than a month, a second club sport at Concordia University Irvine received the green light to move up to the NCAA DII level starting with the 2023-24 school year. The CUI men's lacrosse program has been approved to be a NCAA-sponsored sport next season and will be joining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) as an associate member.

The announcement comes just weeks after STUNT was approved to become a NCAA DII-sponsored sport in August of 2023 and scored a victory for female student-athletes across the country. With the addition of both men's lacrosse and STUNT as soon-to-be NCAA-recognized sports, this means that Concordia will now offer 21 NCAA sports. Even before these breakthroughs for men's lacrosse and STUNT, that number was already the most out of all NCAA DII West Region schools ranging from California to Hawaii and Alaska.

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Posted in: California,Conferences,Division II,MCLA

Lawrence University (D3 WI) Adds Lacrosse

APPLETON, Wis. -- Lawrence University announced the addition of two new athletics programs – women's and men's lacrosse. A national search for full-time head coaches is underway with the first season of competitive play scheduled for spring 2025. The addition of lacrosse follows the university's strategic plan to align Lawrence's athletics program with additional opportunities for student-athletes, according to Lawrence Director of Athletics Jason Imperati. Lawrence joins a growing list of NCAA Division III

institutions to offer lacrosse as an intercollegiate sport. More than 200 Division III schools around the nation sponsor intercollegiate lacrosse, including eight schools in Wisconsin. Men's lacrosse has 245 programs at the Division III level, and there are 288 women's teams competing in Division III. 

"The ever-growing popularity of lacrosse across the nation, particularly in the Midwest, extends opportunities for student-athletes who are looking to continue their playing careers while pursuing a quality degree at a leading liberal arts university," Imperati said. "While we have tremendous work ahead, we are excited for the future of both programs and what they will mean for the Lawrence experience and our greater community." "Bringing lacrosse to our university and region speaks to our commitment to our current and future student-athletes and we look forward to welcoming our coaches and these students to our campus," said Lawrence University President Laurie A. Carter. "I am proud of the hard work leading to the addition of these programs to our NCAA lineup of sports."

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Posted in: Division III,Wisconsin

Emory and Henry College (D2 VA) Add Lacrosse

EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics and Vice President for Athletics Dr.

Anne Crutchfield are excited to announce that the College will add women's lacrosse as a varsity sport for the 2023-24 academic year. E&H also has made plans to begin competition in men's lacrosse in the spring of 2025. The Wasps will compete in both sports as members of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC).

"We could not be more excited to add men's and women's lacrosse," said Crutchfield. "Lacrosse is currently one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States and interest in our region has increased exponentially. Given the SAC's reputation as one of the premier lacrosse conferences in NCAA Division II, now is the time for Emory & Henry to add lacrosse to our list of athletics offerings."

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Posted in: Division II,Virginia

Trevecca Nazarene University (D2 TN) Adds Women's Lacrosse

NASHVILLE – Trevecca Nazarene University athletic director Mark Elliott announced the addition of Women's Lacrosse as the 17th intercollegiate sport for the NCAA Division II program. "The addition of women's lacrosse continues our efforts to increase opportunities for more student-athletes to compete in the sports they love while pursuing their education here on the Hill as well as continuing our efforts to increase enrollment," Mark Elliott said. 

"We are excited with the growth and energy in our department, coaching staff, and student-athletes in recent weeks with the addition of the sport STUNT, our cheerleading team going to compete at Nationals for the first time next month." The search for the first coach to lead the new Trojan program is already underway. The new coach will spend the rest of the year recruiting for the first season in 2023-2024. Women's collegiate lacrosse is a spring sport giving the new coach a full year to recruit their first roster.

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Posted in: Division II,Tennessee

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point (D3) Adds Women's Lacrosse

STEVENS POINT, Wis. – UW-Stevens Point athletics will expand to 25 varsity sports with the addition of men's volleyball and women's lacrosse. Additionally, Philippe Abiad has been named head men's volleyball coach as the program will begin competition in the 2023-24 academic year. 

"Women's lacrosse and men's volleyball are natural next steps in the growth Pointers Athletics," stated UWSP Director of Athletics Brad Duckworth. "Chancellor Gibson has outlined increasing enrollment and growth as a strategic imperative. These additions fit firmly into Chancellor Gibson's imperative. Pointer student-athletes strive for competitive excellence, academic rigor and exploration, and community service and impact. We are all thrilled to provide the Pointer experience to even more student athletes with these additional sports." Abiad comes to UWSP after serving as club director for Wisconsin Flight and was the club director for One Wisconsin Volleyball Club from 2018 to 2022. 

Prior to that, Abiad spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach for the women's volleyball program at Cleveland State University. There, he helped CSU win five Horizon League Tournament and five Horizon League regular season titles. Under his tutelage, Abiad coached seven All-Americans while at Cleveland State. The Vikings had 13 all-region selections and 19 first-team all-conference selections.

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Posted in: Division III,Wisconsin