Memorial will discontinue its men’s varsity volleyball program effective immediately.

The Department of Varsity Athletics notified the returning student-athletes and the coaching staff today.

‘Disappointing outcome’

Dr. Karen Murphy, director of athletics at Memorial, says the difficult decision was the result of a budget reduction in her department.

“We understand that this will be a disappointing outcome for players and coaches in our men’s volleyball program as well as our volleyball alumni and the provincial volleyball community,” said Dr. Murphy. “We are forced to make hard decisions to maintain the integrity of our department and institution in difficult fiscal times.

“We will continue to work towards our goal of developing competitive teams in our remaining varsity programs within the region and across the country.”

Largest travel budget

Because of the nature of the men’s volleyball league and the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) interlock agreement with RSEQ (Quebec’s university sport conference), men’s volleyball required the largest AUS league travel budget of all varsity teams at Memorial.

Memorial will honour its commitment to current men’s volleyball student-athletes who hold athletic financial awards as long as eligibility requirements are met. The Department of Varsity Athletics will assist any student-athlete who wishes to transfer to another institution.