The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has released the seeds and initial bracket for the 2026 Division 3 fall volleyball state tournament, and the top of the 43-team field belongs to an undefeated squad. Bellingham, at 19-0, earned the No. 1 seed, ahead of Old Rochester Regional (17-2) at No. 2 and Lynnfield (19-1) at No. 3.
Joseph Case (16-4), Newburyport (17-3) and Weston (10-8) round out the top six seeds. The field includes programs with winning records such as Marlborough (14-4), Burncoat (14-4), Blackstone Valley RVT (15-3) and Salem (15-5), alongside teams that qualified despite losing records, including Medfield (9-11) at No. 16, Dennis-Yarmouth (8-11) at No. 26, Arlington Catholic (9-11) at No. 28, Dedham (8-12) at No. 29 and Tewksbury Memorial (5-15) at No. 27. The full 43-seed list runs from Bellingham through Pope Francis (10-10) at No. 43, and the MIAA has posted the initial PDF bracket alongside the seedings. Pembroke (14-6) holds No. 8, with Groton-Dunstable (14-5) at No. 10, Fairhaven (16-4) at No. 11, Lynn Classical (16-4) at No. 13 and Notre Dame (Worcester) (15-3) at No. 14.
Bellingham’s Undefeated Run Sets the Standard at No. 1
Bellingham stands alone at No. 1 as the only 19-0 team, atop a bracket that mixes dominant records with squads that have more losses than wins. Lynnfield (19-1) sits at No. 3, two spots behind No. 1, with Old Rochester Regional between them.
How the Rest of the 43-Team Field Shaped Up
Hanover (11-9), Belchertown (12-6), Greater New Bedford (12-8), Danvers (15-5), Ludlow (16-5) and East Longmeadow (16-5) all sit in the top 20, while Nantucket (11-6) and Taconic (13-7) are in the lower half. The MIAA’s initial PDF bracket, available on the association’s tournament page, lays out the full pairings for the 43 qualifiers. North Reading (8-9) is No. 20, with Dracut (10-10), Medway (9-10), Shawsheen Valley Tech (14-6) and Fontbonne (10-10), while Dighton-Rehoboth (9-10), Greater Lowell Tech (11-9), Swampscott (11-9), Whittier RVT (10-10), Gloucester (11-9) and Assabet Valley RVT (9-9) round out the list.
What remains unsettled is how the bracket will play out once the first-round matches begin, since the released material covers only the seedings and initial pairings, not any game results.
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