U Sports men's volleyball

To prepare for the season, teams will typically play a series of exhibition games against conference and non-conference opponents.[14] These games are usually played in September and/or October before the regular season and in December and/or January during the holiday break.[15] In 2019, the Can Am Volleyball Holiday Showcase was created which featured eight teams from across North America, including those competing in the NCAA.[16] The 2019 tournament featured four U Sports teams and four NCAA teams, including the defending U Sports national champion Trinity Western Spartans and the NCAA national champion Long Beach State Beach.[17]

The Laval Rouge et Or against the Montreal Carabins at PEPS in 2013.

As of the 2019–20 season, the Canada West and RSEQ regular seasons begin on the third weekend of October while the OUA schedule begins on the following weekend. All regular season games are in-conference and the schedule ends in approximately mid-February.[14][18][19]

In the RSEQ conference, the five teams play against each opponent four times (twice home and twice away) for a total of 16 regular season games.[19] In the OUA, the 13 teams are divided into two divisions with six teams in the West Division and seven teams in the East Division.[20] Each team plays home-and-home matches against teams in their own division and plays one game against each team in the opposite division. This results in each OUA East team playing 18 games and each OUA West team playing 17 games.[20] In Canada West, there were 12 teams in one conference that played two matches against every opponent resulting in 22 total games played.[18] However, this format will change with the addition of the UFV Cascades beginning play for the 2020–21 season.[21]

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the best player in U Sports Men's volleyball is given the Player of the Year Award.[22] An award is also given to the Rookie of the Year and the Dale Iwanoczko Award is given to the best well-rounded student (volleyball, academics and community involvement). An award was also given for the Libero of the Year, but it was discontinued after the 2014–15 season.[23]

The York Lions hosting the Brock Badgers in 2019.

After the regular season, playoff games and series are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the RSEQ, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs and play a best-of-three series in the semi-finals and in the conference championship.[19] In Canada West, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs and play best-of-three series in playoff brackets in the quarterfinals.[24] The winners of these series play in best-of-three semifinals until two teams remain where they play in a single elimination conference championship game.[24]

The OUA is the only conference that features a single elimination format in all playoff games.[20] The top four teams from each of the two divisions qualify and play an inter-divisional format. This means the first-seeded team in the East Division plays the fourth-seeded team in the West Division and the second-seeded team in the East Division plays the third-seeded team in the West Division (and vice versa).[20] The winners of these games play semi-final games at the site of the highest remaining seed over one weekend (highest west seed in even-numbered years, highest east seed in odd-numbered years). The conference bronze medal game and gold medal game (Forsyth Cup) are played at the same site on the same weekend.[25]

The U Sports men's volleyball championship was introduced for the 1966–67 season to determine a national champion for the CIAU.[8][9] A predetermined host university stages the eight-team tournament over three days and finals games are played on the last day to award gold, silver, and bronze medals.[26] The host team is automatically qualified for the tournament, as are each of the conference champions. Four other teams are entered based on the strength of their conferences and their post-season finishes.[26] The Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Wesmen have won the most championships with 10 gold medals won apiece, although the Bisons have won the most medals overall (24 for Manitoba and 15 for Winnipeg).[8][10] Quebec City has hosted the most championships with 12 which were all hosted by Université Laval (most recently in 2019).[8] The national championship has historically been dominated by the Canada West conference with those teams winning 46 of the 53 championship matches as of the 2019–20 season.[8][10] The OUA and AUS have never had a national men's volleyball champion. The 2020 championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27]

The AUS conference had featured three teams following the exit of the Moncton Aigles Bleus in 2006 and featured inter-conference matches with the RSEQ.[28] The RSEQ had also been reduced to three teams in 2011 after McGill disbanded their men's program.[29][30] The Memorial Sea-Hawks folded their program after the 2016–17 season, leaving the AUS with one team short of the three-team minimum for a varsity league.[12] However, the AUS allowed Dalhousie and UNB to play a transitional season before joining the RSEQ as full members for the 2018–19 season.[13]

Conversely, the Canada West conference added teams with the UBCO Heat joining in 2011–12, Mount Royal Cougars in 2012–13, and MacEwan Griffins in 2014–15.[31][32] While the Regina Cougars program was cut following the 2017–18 season, the Fraser Valley Cascades volleyball program joined for the 2020–21 season.[33][21]

There were 30 teams that had participated in the 2019–20 Men's volleyball season. 31 teams are scheduled to compete in a 2020–21 season if one is played.[34]

Thunderbirds

Spartans

Cascades

WolfPack

Heat

Griffins

Golden Bears

Dinos

Cougars

Huskies

Bobcats

Wesmen

Bisons

Lancers

Mustangs

Gryphons

Warriors

Marauders

Badgers

Lions

Blues

Rams

Lakers

Excalibur

Gaels

Paladins

Carabins

Rouge et Or

Vert et Or

Reds

Tigers

• Note: Conference titles won by teams in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972-73 season to 2000–01 season) are not included in the above table due to lack of information on this conference.[3]

• Note: The UNB Reds and Dalhousie Tigers moved from the AUS to the RSEQ starting with the 2018–19 season.[13]