The NCAA welcomed women's sand volleyball to its ranks in 2012. Check out some info and news about the collegiate sand volleyball program along with men's and women's indoor volleyball.
As we celebrate 40 years of Title IX, it may be time to take a look at where women's volleyball is today. Though we've made huge strides in participation, we still struggle to find spectators or to draw a large television audience. AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer says it is time to change all that.
Though we've made huge strides in participation, we still struggle to find spectators or to draw a large television audience. AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer says it is time to change all that. Collegiate sand volleyball may make all the difference.
It seems a bit of a shame to call this one a sweep. Somehow, the NCAA men's final packed just about everything into just three sets – big leads, momentum changes, comebacks, long rallies, hot hands, questionable calls, alternating set points, pancakes and a crazy backhanded flipper. In the end, after nearly two hours of play in front of an unusually large crowd, UCI was the team celebrating wildly on the court as USC, the MPSF regular season champs, watched.
No one has run the numbers, but the probability of the UCLA Bruins winning the national championship after losing three out of their last five regular season matches must have been extremely low. Nevertheless, the Bruins won the school’s fourth title and the first in exactly 20 years over the weekend in San Antonio. In order to pull it off, they had to embrace change.
A historical record of the men's volleyball national champions since 1970.
A historical record of the women's volleyball national champions since 1981.
It has been a long time coming, but after 18 trips to the Final Four and four national title game appearances, The Ohio State Buckeyes are going home with the hardware. No matter how you slice it, this is an enormous victory for Midwest volleyball. The Buckeyes became the first Midwest team to win the title legally (Lewis won in 2003, but their title was vacated due to violations) and are only the second non-west coast team (Penn State won on two occasions) to win the national title in the sport's 41-year history.
We may never have had a team ranked 8th in the nation prior to the playoffs come out of the tournament with the national championship. This fact would be a surprise if the team in question wasn't Penn State, a squad that has done nothing but win for the last four years. In previous years, they've entered the Final Four with a talent level that was head and shoulders above the competition. Not so this year. But still they leave Kansas City with yet another NCAA title for the trophy case.
It seemed that Stanford setter Kawika Shoji had the NCAA Championship trophy in his hands even before outside hitter Brad Lawson had the chance to crush it for the final point. Shoji almost didn’t have to watch Lawson take that swing or hear the roar of the 6,535 fans on hand that night to know the match was over.
