FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason has been awarded the 2023 National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, which will take place May 4-6 at EagleBank Arena, the NCAA announced today.
 
Mason was prepared to host the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship in May before the NCAA canceled its 2020 spring championships due to the COVID-19 virus.

It will mark 33 years since Mason last hosted the NCAA Championship in the respective sport. In 1990 the Patriots hosted Long Beach State, USC, Rutgers-Newark, and Ball State.

"2020 has been such a challenge for everyone, so to have this opportunity to show the country again why George Mason and the local Fairfax community is a great place to host a national championship is huge," said head coach Jay Hosack. "We appreciate not only the NCAA for giving us this opportunity again, but to our administration, and more importantly our athletic department lead by Brad Edwards, for believing in our ability to put on a fantastic event. This is no easy task, but they are all going above and beyond for this to become a reality.
 
"We are excited to once again show the country that we can put on a top-notch event."

This is the third time for this specific NCAA championship bid process, which created the largest host site announcement ever, spanning 86 championships across a four-year cycle. Previously, selection announcements varied by sport. This process now gives the NCAA and host sites more time to plan each championship experience.
 
Bidding for 86 of 90 NCAA championships began in August 2019 and more than 3,000 bid applications were ultimately submitted. Each sport committee, per division, selected the host sites it believed would provide the ultimate experience for the respective student-athletes, resulting in more than 450 total championship event sites being awarded. More than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships each year. The four championships not included in the process due to preexisting site arrangements are: Division I baseball, Division I football, Division I softball and Division III women's ice hockey.

In addition to Mason, the NCAA announced three additional institutions that will host the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship in the years to come. Those include Long Beach State (2024), Ohio State (2025), which will host this season (May 6-8, 2021), and UCLA, which will host for a record 16th time in 2026. The Bruins will host in 2022 as well.

Mason has hosted several NCAA first-round and second-round events on campus in its 50-year history but the only NCAA Championship other than the 1990 men's volleyball one was in women's soccer. In 1985, the Patriots claimed the national women's soccer title on its home turf at George Mason Stadium.