HARROGATE, TN - Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball will open the new year on the national radar, checking in at No. 20 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll released Monday. The Railsplitters earned 30 points in the ranking, which is topped by UCLA, followed by Hawai'i and Long Beach State in the top three.

LMU's placement comes on the heels of a record-setting 24–1 season and the program's seventh consecutive Independent Volleyball Association (IVA) championship. The Railsplitters now turn toward a 2026 slate designed to test them against multiple ranked opponents early and often. January opens with four home dates at Mary Mars Gymnasium before a two-night road series at Ohio State, which appears at No. 14 in the poll. February features a neutral-site weekend in Cambridge against BYU (No. 8) and Merrimack, followed by a West Coast swing to CSUN (No. 11), UC Santa Barbara (No. 17), and Pepperdine (No. 4).

The AVCA list includes UCLA (1), Hawai'i (2), Long Beach State (3), Pepperdine (4), Southern California (5), UC Irvine (6), Loyola Chicago (7), BYU (8), Stanford (9), UC San Diego (10), CSUN (11), Lewis (12), Penn State (13), Ohio State (14), McKendree (15), Ball State (16), UC Santa Barbara (17), Princeton (18), George Mason (19), Lincoln Memorial (20), with others receiving votes including Belmont Abbey, NJIT, Fort Valley State, Charleston, and Saint Francis (Pa.). The next poll is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2026.

With a national ranking in hand and a schedule packed with top-20 opponents, the Railsplitters enter January poised to build on last year's momentum and extend their championship standard. For schedule details, live stats, and streaming links, visit LMU Men's Volleyball online.