Twenty-Nine Teams Crowned Regular Season Champs

Twenty-one conferences wrapped up regular season action last weekend, bringing 29 teams conference titles. The Northeast Conference had a three-way tie atop the standings with Central Connecticut State, LIU Brooklyn and Bryant being crowned co-champions. The Conference USA saw Western Kentucky and North Texas earn a joint championship. Princeton and Yale tied atop the Ivy League, setting up a playoff match for the conference’s automatic NCAA berth.

The Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) crowned divisional champions with a tie atop the MAC east and the MEAC south.

The chart below includes links to when teams clinched their conference titles as well as a look at the upcoming tournament fields and brackets. After the chart, check out a little history lesson on each conference and how the crowns were won.

America East
2016 Regular Season Champ: New Hampshire
2016 Tournament Champ: New Hampshire
2017 Regular Season Champ: Albany (11-13, 11-1)
How It Happened: Albany stumbled just once during the conference season, and won the league title by more than three matches over the second place team. The Great Danes were edged in five sets by defending champion New Hampshire back on Sept. 29 and won 10 in a row to close out the season, including a sweep in the rematch with UNH on Oct. 29.

Atlantic 10
2016 Regular Season Champ: Dayton
2016 Tournament Champ: Dayton
2017 Regular Season Champ: VCU (28-2, 14-0)
How It Happened: The Rams ran the table on the A-10, ending with a perfect 14-0 mark. Dayton was waiting in the wings at 13-1. VCU ended the regular season on a 25-match win streak, and registered 11 sweeps in A-10 play. Dayton was the only team to take the Rams the distance, but VCU survived the five setter on Oct. 29.

Atlantic Sun
2016 Regular Season Champ: Lipscomb, Kennesaw State
2016 Tournament Champ: Lipscomb
2017 Regular Season Champ: Kennesaw State (19-4, 13-1)
How It Happened: KSU kicked off the conference season with a five-set win over the defending champions, Lipscomb, and survived another five-setter with the team on Oct. 20. The lone spot on the Owls’ record was an October 6 road loss at Jacksonville. Kennesaw State ended the season on a 10-match win streak.

Big Sky 
2016 Regular Season Champ: North Dakota
2016 Tournament Champ: North Dakota
2017 Regular Season Champ: Sacramento State (24-8, 15-1 South)
How It Happened: The Hornets won their first 10 Big Sky matches of the season, before falling to last year’s runnerup Northern Arizona in five sets on the road. Sac State rebounded to close out the season with five straight wins, including a pair of five-setters against Portland State and at Idaho State.

Big South
2016 Regular Season Champ: Radford
2016 Tournament Champ: High Point
2017 Regular Season Champ: High Point (23-6, 16-0)
How It Happened: The Panthers had a banner year in 2017, posting their highest ever league win total at 16-0. Twelve of the team’s matches were over in sweeps with the other four lasting just four stanzas. High Point enters the conference tournament on an 18-match win streak.

Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
2016 Regular Season Champ: James Madison
2016 Tournament Champ: James Madison
2017 Regular Season Champ: College of Charleston (26-4, 15-1)
How It Happened: The Cougars were on a roll after opening weekend of the CAA season, rebounding with 14 wins after suffering a four-set road loss at Northeastern. CofC had two scares in five setters against defending champ James Madison and in the regular season finale against William & Mary, but survived to cruise into the league tournament.

Conference USA
2016 Regular Season Champ: James Madison
2016 Tournament Champ: James Madison
2017 Regular Season Champs: Western Kentucky (27-3, 13-1); North Texas (26-2, 13-1)
How It Happened: Western Kentucky clinched a share of the title back on Nov. 6 and boasted a 13-0 league mark heading into its final match against North Texas. The Mean Green outlasted the Lady Toppers in five sets to give themselves a shot at earning part of the title with a win against Middle Tennessee on Saturday. North Texas won via sweep to give the league co-champions. UNT’s lone conference loss came in five sets in its league opener at Southern Miss.

Horizon League
2016 Regular Season Champ: Cleveland State
2016 Tournament Champ: Cleveland State
2017 Regular Season Champ: Cleveland State (20-7, 13-3)
How It Happened: The Vikings won their third straight regular season title and the fifth in program history with a one-game lead over second place Oakland. The team’s three conference conference losses came on the first three weekends of league action with UIC, Wright State and Oakland registering four set wins. Cleveland State rebounded to win 10 straight en route to the title.

Metro Atlantic (MAAC)
2016 Regular Season Champ: Fairfield
2016 Tournament Champ: Fairfield
2017 Regular Season Champ: Fairfield (23-6, 18-0)
How It Happened: The Stags were wire to wire leaders in MAAC action, cruising to an 18-0 mark. The two-time defending regular season and  tournament champs were challenged twice in five setters against Iona (9/16) and Niagara (10/1). Fairfield ended the season with five straight sweeps.

Mid-American (MAC)
2016 Regular Season Champ: West: Northern Illinois; East: Miami (Ohio)
2016 Tournament Champ: Northern Illinois
2017 Regular Season Champ: West: Ball State (19-10, 11-5); East: Miami (Ohio) (21-8, 13-3), Bowling Green (17-10, 13-3)
How It Happened: Ball State won its first league title since 2010 and eighth overall, wrapping the season on a five-match win streak . The Cardinals even won their final two matches as rookie setter Ali Finch made her collegiate debut in the team’s Nov. 11 match against defending champion Northern Illinois. The rookie guided BSU to wins over NIU (3-1) and Western Michigan (3-2) to close out the regular season.

Miami (Ohio) won its second straight MAC title with a sweep of Akron in the regular season finale, capping a five-match win streak. It came down to the wire for the top spot in the East as both Miami and Bowling Green had a shot at the title on the final weekend. Knowing that the Redhawks had won earlier in the day, the pressure was on the Falcons to match the effort. BGSU came through with a four-set win over Buffalo to clinch its share of the title.

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)
2016 Regular Season Champ: North: Howard; South: Florida A&M
2016 Tournament Champ: Howard
2017 Regular Season Champ: UMES (26-7, 12-0 North); Florida A&M (13-11, 9-1 South), Bethune-Cookman (12-13, 9-1 South)
How It Happened: UMES clinched their sixth MEAC Northern Division title and first since 2012 on Nov. 5. The Hawks ended the season on a five-match win streak, rebounding after dropping a non-conference five-setter to LaSalle.

Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman tied for the MEAC South championship with identical 9-1 marks. The Rattlers closed out the year on a six-match win streak, including a four-set win over Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 5 which evened the season series. The Wildcats, which bested Florida A&M on Oct. 6, still managed a share of the title with a 9-1 south division mark and will earn the division’s No. 1 seed in the conference tournament due to a tie breaker of sets won head to head (4-3).

Northeast Conference 
2016 Regular Season Champ: Sacred Heart
2016 Tournament Champ: LIU Brooklyn 
2017 Regular Season Champs: Central Connecticut State (18-7, 11-3), LIU Brooklyn (18-9, 11-3), Bryant (21-11, 11-3)
How It Happened: LIU Brooklyn claimed its share of the title with a sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, earning its 10th NEC championship since 2005. Bryant secured its first regular season crown with a four-set win at Saint Francis on Saturday. CCSU, which will be the third seed in the conference tournament via tiebreaker, closed out the regular season with a five-set win over Robert Morris.

Ohio Valley (OVC)
2016 Regular Season Champ: Murray State
2016 Tournament Champ: Murray State
2017 Regular Season Champ: Austin Peay (27-5, 14-2)
How It Happened: The Governors claimed the outright title with a sweep at Morehead State on Saturday. With the win, APSU put the champion just out of reach for runnerup SIUE, and got back on the winning track of having its nine-match win streak ended at Murray State on Wednesday. Austin Peay, which has posted a school regular season record 27 victories, earned its first conference crown since 1992.

Patriot League
2016 Regular Season Champ: American
2016 Tournament Champ: American
2017 Regular Season Champ: American (24-7, 15-1)
How It Happened: The Eagles clinched the regular season crown with two matches remaining. American won those last two matches – against Colgate and Bucknell – via sweep for good measure, extending its current win streak to 15 matches. The lone blemish on the team’s conference slate was a four-set loss to Navy in the opener (Sept. 26). The Eagles avenged the loss with a five-set victory on Oct. 20, and won 11 Patriot League matches via sweep en route to their fifth straight league title.

Southern (SoCon)
2016 Regular Season Champ: East Tennessee State
2016 Tournament Champ: Samford
2017 Regular Season Champ: Furman
How It Happened: The SoCon race came down to the final day, but a Furman win over Mercer was the final nail in securing the Paladins their fourth regular season crown and first since 2014. Furman capped the season with a three-match win streak and a perfect 9-0 mark at home.

Southland
2016 Regular Season Champ: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
2016 Tournament Champ: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
2017 Regular Season Champ: Stephen F. Austin (26-6, 14-2)
How It Happened: The Ladyjacks had already earned a share of the conference title heading into Saturday’s final day of play, but claimed the crown outright with a sweep of Lamar. The victory moved the Ladyjacks to 14-2 in league action and secured SFA its ninth regular season championship. Stephen F. Austin, which ended the season on a three-match win streak, suffered losses to Houston Baptist (9/30) and defending champ Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (10/31).

Southwestern (SWAC)
2016 Regular Season Champ: Alabama State
2016 Tournament Champ: Alabama State
2017 Regular Season Champ: Alabama State (25-10, 18-0)
How It Happened: The Lady Hornets wrapped up the conference title, their fourth in the last five years, back on Oct. 30, and then closed out a perfect league campaign with two more victories. Alabama State was challenged to five sets by Southern (9/22) and Texas Southern (10/22) but won 14 of the remaining 15 conference matches via sweep. ASU took on Florida A&M in a non-conference matchup Nov. 8 to close out the regular season, falling in five sets to end its nine-match win streak.

Sun Belt
2016 Regular Season Champ: East: Coastal Carolina; West: Arkansas State
2016 Tournament Champ: Coastal Carolina
2017 Regular Season Champ: Coastal Carolina (18-7, 15-1)
How It Happened: Although it is CCU’s second straight East Division title, 2017 marks the first time that the Chanticleers will be the league tournament’s No. 1 seed. A 3-1 win over Troy secured the title. The Chants ended the regular season on a 12-match win streak after suffering its lone league loss to Texas State (10/1).

Summit League
2016 Regular Season Champ: Denver/South Dakota
2016 Tournament Champ: Denver
2017 Regular Season Champ: Denver (21-5, 12-2)
How It Happened: Denver secured its fourth straight Summit League crown with a 12-2 mark, however it is just the second outright title for the Pioneers in the span, following a 2015 solo championship. Denver’s two conference losses came in the first three weeks of the league slate (9/29 at North Dakota State; 10/7 at Oral Roberts). The Pioneers wrapped up the regular season with nine straight victories, five via sweep, including two which avenged the earlier losses.

Western Athletic Conference (WAC)
2016 Regular Season Champ: New Mexico State
2016 Tournament Champ:
2017 Regular Season Champ: New Mexico State (21-7, 12-2)
How It Happened: The Aggies clinched their third-straight WAC title Nov. 9 outlasting Grand Canyon in five sets. NMSU then added a sweep of Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday for good measure to extend its current win streak to 10 matches. Both of New Mexico State’s conference losses came in five sets: at UT Rio Grande Valley (9/23) and at Utah Valley (10/7). The team avenged both with a four-set win over UTRGV (10/21) and a sweep of Utah Valley (11/2).