Former BYU national title-winning coach has his current team a win away from an NCAA championship

The head coach from the BYU men’s volleyball national championship-winning team in 2004 has his current squad on the verge of a title.

Tom Peterson, who led the Cougars program from 2003-06 and won Division I national championships at Penn State and BYU, will coach Southern Virginia as it plays Springfield College for the Division III national title Monday night at 5 p.m. MDT.

The Knights, who started their men’s volleyball program in 2017, are 34-1 on the season. That included a five-set thriller against Juniata College in the national semifinals to advance to Monday’s championship match.

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There are four Utahns on the roster for the school that aligns itself with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Southern Virginia University is a private, faith-based institution of higher education aligned with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” the school says in describing itself on the university website.

Peterson has been the Knights’ head coach since the school first began competing in men’s volleyball in 2017.

Southern Virginia is making its sixth NCAA appearance — and fifth straight — though the Knights have never advanced this far.

In 2021, Southern Virginia made the national semifinals.

The past two seasons, the Knights reached the quarterfinals, only to fall short. Last season, that quarterfinal loss was Southern Virginia’s only defeat of the year.

If Southern Virginia wins the title Monday, it will be the first NCAA national championship in school history.

The Knights’ only loss this season came against Springfield at the Springfield Tri-Match at the end of March.

Springfield is the powerhouse program of Division III men’s volleyball.

Since the NCAA first began awarding D-III national championships in 2012, the Pride have won five national titles in the sport, though their last national championship came in 2018.

This will be Springfield’s ninth appearance in the Division III national championship match.

The men’s volleyball Division III national championship begins at 5 p.m. MDT. The match can be watched live on the NCAA.com website.