College Volleyball News and Notes

John Speraw and his Anteaters win their third title in just six years.

Tony Ciarelli is on his fourth and final chance to walk away with a national championship.

In the midst of massive forty-day road trip, the Stanford men's team has managed to put some very impressive W’s in their record. First came the two wins over former No. 1 BYU and last weekend came the very impressive 3-0 win over former No. 2 UCI.

I was able to discuss the pros and cons of Title IX with an outspoken opponent in Olympian and broadcaster Kevin Barnett and an outspoken opponent in AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. What I found out was that the two sides do have common ground, but we disagree when it comes to what to do next. These are my takeaways from that discussion.

It is time for the dialogue around Title IX to change. Men's volleyball

In a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2, UCI and BYU fought it out for the right to the top spot. Both teams are looking very solid very early. Can anyone knock them off?

UCLA turned a dismal end of the regular season into a brilliant tournament performance to take their first national championship in 20 years.

Deciding which conference was the toughest this year is a difficult task. The arguments are strong for the Big 10, the Pac 12 and the Big 12 in a post-season that has been impossible to predict. Here is how it played out. Who do you think comes out ahead?

2011 has been a crazy post-season. But as badly as the bracket seedings were this year, they are not to entirely to blame for the wild outcomes.

Check out the team profiles of the NCAA women's squad competing in the Sweet Sixteen.

Check out the top teams in the Midwestern Regional which will take place in Minneapolis, MN.

Check out the top teams in the Southern Regional which will take place in Gainesville, FL.

Check out the top teams in the Eastern Regional which will take place in Lexington, KY.

Check out the top teams in the Eastern Regional which will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Lauren Cook was allowed to play just 12 days after she was charged with a felony for leaving the scene of an injury accident. Nebraska missed a key opportunity here to show that winning isn't the only thing.

Lauren Cook's mistake may just go away according to

Women's NCAA volleyball is heating up with the top teams in head-to-head action this weekend. Check out an overview of what has happened so far and the matches to watch for this week.

Check out the match ups for the 2011 men's volleyball playoffs on the road to the NCAA title.

When it comes to top-level Division I women's volleyball, there is a shortage of women who have led their teams to national championships. Why is this?

In a improbable turn of events, the Penn State Nittany Lions walked away with a fourth straight title in a year when they entered the tournament ranked 9th in the nation. How's they do it?

Stanford's Men won the NCAA National Championship this weekend after steamrolling both Ohio State and Penn State in three sets.

Is the current men's volleyball playoff system working? What do you think?

A 2010 Team Profile for The Ohio State University men's volleyball team.

The men's Conference Tournaments will be played this weekend to determine three of the four teams that will head to next week's Final Four in Palo Alto. The fourth spot will go to an "at-large" bid team, a team determined to be the best of the rest. Here are the match-ups.

Check out the scheduled playoff matches -- who, when and where -- that are taking place starting April 24th. The MPSF, MIVA and EIVA conference match-ups can be found here as we follow the top teams to the NCAA Final Four

A 2010 Team Profile for Long Beach State men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for the University of Hawaii men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for Penn State men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for Pepperdine men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for UC Irvine men's volleyball

Check out the top teams for the 2010 NCAA men's volleyball season. Each of the teams listed has been in the top five of the national rankings at one point during the season.

A 2010 Team Profile for Stanford men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for Cal State Northridge men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for BYU men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for USC men's volleyball

A 2010 Team Profile for Cal State Northridge men's volleyball

A profile of #11 seed Nebraska

A profile of #3 seed Florida State

These four teams have been making their way up the rankings all season. While they are among the best, they have not been able to beat the top four. But in the playoffs, all bets are off and if one of these teams has a great post-season, we could easily see them in the Final Four.

A profile of #7 ranked Nebraska

A profile of #5 ranked Iowa State

A profile of #2 ranked Texas

A profile of #4 ranked Stanford

Scores and results on the road to the Final Four

These four teams have dominated the top spots on the AVCA Coaches Poll all season long. It is very likely that one of them will end up with the national title. The playoffs are here and it is time for these powerhouses to fight it out.

An NCAA Tournament profile for the University of Washington

An NCAA Tournament profile for University of Hawaii Volleyball

A profile of #2 ranked Texas

Penn State is the number one ranked team and two-time champs who are trying to become the first women's volleyball team to win three straight national championships.

Will the addition of college sand volleyball programs hurt the indoor game? What do you think?

The impetus to make sand volleyball an NCAA sport for women is gaining steam. Some believe that the addition will hurt indoor volleyball because great players will choose the sand. Others think this is a non-issue because the two games are so very different. What do you think?

A list of the NCAA Division I coaches who have won the National Coach of the Year Award.

A list of the NCAA Division I/II players who have won the National Player of the Year Award.

A list of the NCAA Division I coaches who have won the National Coach of the Year Award.

A list of the NCAA Division I players who have won the National Player of the Year Award.

A historical record of the Men's national champions since 1970.

A historical record of the women's national champions since 1981.

UCI beat USC in five games to win the national championship.

Results and scores on the road to the Final Four

An interview with John Speraw, head men's volleyball coach at #1 ranked UC Irvine.

USC stunned #1 UCI with a 3-0 victory in the MPSF semi and then edged out #2 Pepperdine 3-2 in dramatic fashion to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

UCI lost to USC in three games last week, but by virtue of winning the MPSF Conference they were given the at-large bid and will go into the Semi-Finals as the #1 seed.

Penn State will attempt to defend their NCAA title, taking on USC, the surprise MPSF champs, in the semis.

#4 Ohio State will take on #1 UCI on Thursday night in Provo, Utah.

UCI snaps Pepperdine's 10-game win streak and takes back the number one spot.

The low-down on how the NCAA men's tournament works, which teams and which conferences are included and links.

UCI improved its record to 22-4 overall with a win over Number 1 ranked Pepperdine. The Anteaters out-blocked the Waves 16 to 6.

Pepperdine takes the top spot in the NCAA rankings after improving their overall record to 18-2. Previous Number 1, UC Irvine drops to the second spot.

Collegiate programs could add Beach Volleyball as early as next year. But what will the women wear?

An NCAA Tournament profile of #4 seed Stanford

An NCAA Tournament profile for #1 seed Penn State

An NCAA Tournament profile for #2 seed Texas

An NCAA Tournament profile of the 2010 Florida Women's Volleyball Team

An NCAA Tournament profile of the 2010 California Women's Volleyball Team

An NCAA Tournament profile of the 2010 Hawaii Women's Volleyball Team

An NCAA Tournament profile of the 2010 USC Women's Volleyball Team

An NCAA Tournament profile of the 2010 UCLA Women's Volleyball Team

An NCAA Tournament profile of the 2010 Illinois Women's Volleyball Team

The pay for play debate in college athletics often centers around just the revenue producing sports of football and basketball. But if college athletes are to be legally paid, it would most likely include all athletes to be fair. So how does volleyball fit in to all this?

On Monday, March 19th 2012, the volleyball community lost one of the great ones. Greg "Gio" Giovanazzi died suddenly at the age of 54. Here's why he was my favorite coach of all time.