Mike Placek Wins the 2020-21 AVCA Grant Burger Media Award

(Scroll down for regional/conference sports information honorees)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 28, 2021) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is proud to announce that Mike Placek from CollegeBeachVB.com has been selected as the recipient of the 2020-21 AVCA Grant Burger Media Award. The AVCA Grant Burger Media Award is an honor intended to recognize members of the media who have been involved in the advancement of the sport of volleyball through consist

ent coverage in all mediums. It is named in honor of Grant Burger, former Director of Sports Information and Associate Director of the AVCA (1988-92), whose hard work, innovative mind, knowledge and enthusiasm took the areas of media relations and publications at the AVCA to a higher level and increased awareness of the sport of volleyball nationwide.

Placek launched the website in 2017 as a way to bring attention and recognition to the sport of beach volleyball. He has since been able to showcase universities and student-athletes from all levels across the United States by providing coverage throughout the beach volleyball season. Most notably, Placek provides scores and news updates after every match across nearly every division.

“I am honored to receive the Grant Burger Media Award,” Placek said. “My goal with creating collegebeachvb.com was to make following college beach volleyball athletes and coaches more accessible to fans and families.”

CollegeBeachVB.com has been able to attract nearly 7,000 Instagram followers. Placek has incorporated student-athlete takeovers into the Instagram strategy to give access to fans that normally goes untouched. He has been able provided in-depth coverage of NCAA Championships on the app to go along with providing rankings and weekly awards throughout the season.

“I want to thank the AVCA for all of their support with the website, helping to bring attention and recognition to the much deserving athletes,” Placek said. “I have also been fortunate to have a team of folks working behind the scenes to make CollegeBeachVB.com possible. I am forever grateful for all that they do.

“I hope that CollegeBeachVB.com can continue to provide media coverage that showcases the incredible talent being displayed on the beach volleyball courts at colleges across the U.S.”

 

FINALISTS

 Sports Information Directors

Division I: Chris Shoals, University of Kentucky

• Lead contact for their women’s indoor team
• Managed social media accounts in Kentucky’s run to the NCAA National Championship
• Also lead contact for Kentucky’s softball team during the Spring 2021 volleyball season

University of Georgia Assistant Sports Communications Director Sean Stevenson…

“He is a prime example of professionalism and poise every SID should strive for. His coaches and student-athletes love and appreciate him for everything he does. Spring 2021 was taxing on everyone, but Chris powered through all the protocols and did a tremendous job promoting Kentucky volleyball on its National Championship season!”

Division II: Hugh Patton, Wingate University

• Sports information contact for their women’s indoor team
• Serves as PA announcer and statistician at home matches
• Has place Wingate at the top of the Southeast Region with over 15,500 Twitter followers

Wingate University Director of Public Relations and Student-Athlete Recognition David Sherwood…

“Hugh has covered the Bulldog volleyball team for 14 years. During this time, Wingate has hosted the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional tournament eight times. Opposing SIDs and teams know high-level coverage is very important to Patton and his staff. Patton handles all aspects of Wingate volleyball media relations. At home matches, Patton keeps statistics (by himself), serves as PA announcer and (sometimes) runs the music and takes action photos.”

Division III: Jenae Jones, Mississippi University for Woman

• Sports information contact for their women’s indoor team
• Restored historic volleyball record books after being reinstated in 2017
• Ensures that a live stream and live stats are working at every home match, including traveling to away matches when no stats are provided

Mississippi University for Woman Assistant Athletic Director & Head Volleyball Coach Brooke Carter…

“Jenae has always been consistent and provided high-quality coverage of all our volleyball events both home and away. She ensures that we always have live streaming and live stats at all home events and will travel to away venues that do not provide live stats. After each match she will have a story posted on the website and Facebook usually within 3 hours of the conclusion of the event. She always ensures that Owls Volleyball has coverage across all four of our athletic core values: academics, athletics, community, and life.”

NAIA: Alisha Alexander, Lewis-Clark State College

• Lead contact for all sports, including the women’s volleyball program
• Helped get first CoSIDA Academic All-American in program history
• Became first female to win Cascade Conference SID of the Year

Lewis-Clark State College Head Volleyball Coach Shaun Pohlman…

“Alisha has helped volleyball both on and off the court. Off-court, she has done numerous profile pieces on volleyball and we earned a CoSIDA Academic All-American for the first time in 17 years. On-court, we landed a top 10 spot on SportsCenter as well as NAIA top plays – both things she took a risk and submitted to those national bodies. Additionally, she helped us also earn a National Attacker of the Week in NAIA and a North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame nominee.”

Men: Purdue Fort Wayne Athletic Media Services

• Three SIDs and one video coordinator delivered 40th Anniversary content
• Adapted to COVID challenges to produce fresh and unique content

Purdue Fort Wayne Assistant Director of Media Services Aaron Johnson…

“The Purdue Fort Wayne Athletic Media Services department was tasked with celebrating the 40th anniversary of the IPFW/Purdue Fort Wayne men’s volleyball program in 2020-21. Between its three SIDs and one video coordinator, the Purdue Fort Wayne office delivered consistent content throughout the 2020-21 academic year to celebrate the anniversary of one of the best men’s programs in the country. The primary focus of the celebration was a deep dive into the history of the program, which saw them delve into newspaper clippings from more than 40 years ago to learn and report on the founding of the program, interview a head coach of 35 years, write a historical feature, and publish “Mastodon Moments” to celebrate some of the best moments in program history.”

Beach: Grant Kauvar, LSU

• Lead beach and indoor contact as a graduate assistant at LSU
• Runs all social media and provides live scores at home and away matches
• Has been able to secure interview opportunities with local and national media outlets

LSU Head Beach Coach Russell Brock…

“Grant has worked tirelessly to build and promote our program. He not only writes all of our recaps, but also writes thoughtful and excited feature pieces on our players and our program. He runs all of our social media platforms, even our live scores at home and on the road. Grant championed the efforts to have a LSU staff photographer and videographer at all of our home events and many of our away competitions. He also routinely secures interview opportunities for staff and players with local and national radio and print outlets. Our incredible digital presence is absolutely due to Grant’s vision and hard work.”

BROADCAST: DANIEL GILLMAN, PURDUE

• Served as Purdue volleyball radio play-by-play broadcaster with Learfield IMG College
• Conducted Zoom interviews with broadcasters from all 48 NCAA Tournament teams
• Produced Dig City, a podcast with Dave Shondell and other guests

Examples of Work

NCAA Tournament Preview
Dig City Podcast with Dave Shondell & Craig Skinner
Purdue Volleyball Highlights

Purdue University Head Volleyball Coach Dave Shondell…

“Daniel is a bright, talented, and hard-working broadcaster who is creative and driven to be successful. His play-by-play call for Purdue Volleyball is descriptive and exciting. He has tremendous natural skills to describe the game and the work-ethic to be more prepared than any broadcaster I have observed. His recent effort to zoom-interview a media representative from all 48 NCAA tournament teams prior to the start of the 2020 tournament and produce the conversations on social media platforms was an incredible accomplishment that has never been done before. Daniel received numerous compliments for his efforts.”

SOCIAL MEDIA: BIANCA MICELI, WISCONSIN

• Delivered high-quality social media coverage for the Wisconsin volleyball team
• Her videos and graphics have transformed volleyball coverage

Examples of Work

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube

University of Wisconsin Head Volleyball Coach Kelly Sheffield…

“Bianca has transformed the Wisconsin Volleyball social media to bring consistent, high-quality coverage of the sport throughout the season and off-season. She showcases the team’s talents both on and off the court, giving fans an inside look at the team’s energy and nature beyond the time on the court… Her contributions have improved the coverage of volleyball in Madison and the state of Wisconsin. Bianca is a class act and genuinely committed to the growth of volleyball coverage, which is reflected in the quality of work she puts out on a daily basis.”

WRITTEN JOURNALISM: RANDY SHARER, ILLPREPVB.COM

• Helps cover high school volleyball in central Illinois
• Helps promote boys and girls club volleyball in Illinois

Examples of Work

These Girls Go to Extreme Lengths (Mostly by Car) to Achieve Their Dreams
Tiny Emden’s Fearless Barry Packs a Big Punch in Her Not-So-Big Frame
Unbeaten Rochester Gets Monkey Off Back by Beating CS8 Rival U-High

Owner/Editor of Illprepvb.com and 2010 AVCA Grant Burger Media Award Winner Phil Brozynski…

“Randy is an outstanding journalist who has been writing for more than two decades covering high school sports in the Bloomington/Normal area of central Illinois. He has produced numerous stories of personal struggle and triumph during his long career and has helped Illprepvb.com promote boys and girls’ high school and club volleyball in Illinois through his human interest stories and game-day coverage.”

COLLEGE STUDENT REPORTER: ETV SPORTS (KYLE SMITH, JARRETT SOLTIS, RYAN GABLE, JAKE BOLDUC), EASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE

• Responsible for coverage of all sports at Eastern Connecticut State
• Broadcasted all matches and contributed to social media

Examples of Work

Eastern Connecticut State vs. UMass Dartmouth Stream
Eastern Connecticut State vs. Keene Stream

Eastern Connecticut State Head Volleyball Coach Megan Silver-Droesch…

“This group of students covered all sports during our modified spring season of competition. They prepared and maintained broadcasted games, prepared media day for all sports, and contributed to social media. All while still being full time students.”

AVCA SPORTS INFORMATION HONOREES

NCAA DIVISION I (AVCA AWARDS REGION)

East: Marquette
East Coast: Pittsburgh
Midwest: Kansas State
North: South Dakota, South Dakota State
Northeast: Wisconsin
Pacific North: Washington
Pacific South: UNLV
South: Western Kentucky
Southeast: UCF
Southwest: Texas

NCAA DIVISION II (AVCA AWARDS REGION)

Atlantic: Gannon
Central: Nebraska – Kearney
East: Concordia (New York)
Midwest: Southern Indiana
South: Palm Beach Atlantic
South Central: MSU Denver
Southeast: Lincoln Memorial
West: Alaska Anchorage

NCAA DIVISION III (AVCA AWARDS REGION)

Central: Webster
East: Catholic University
Great Lakes: Otterbein
Mid-Atlantic: Westminster (PA)
Midwest: Millikin
New England: Roger Williams
New York: Ithaca
Northeast: Montclair State
South: Averett
West: Colorado College

NAIA WOMEN’S (AVCA AWARDS REGION)

MidCentral: Indiana Kokomo
MidEast: Indiana Tech
Midwest: Missouri Baptist
North Central: Mayville State
Northeast: Reinhardt
Northwest: Oregon Tech
South Central: Mid-American Christian
Southeast: Lindsey Wilson
Southwest: Embry-Riddle
West Central: Ottawa (KS)

NCAA DIVISION I-II MEN (CONFERENCE)

Big West: Long Beach State
EIVA: George mason
MIVA: Loyola Chicago
MPSF: UCLA
Conference Carolinas: Belmont Abbey
Independent: Queens Charlotte

NCAA DIVISION III MEN (CONFERENCE)

CUNYAC: John Jay
CVC: Kean
GNAC: Wentworth
Independent: Springfield
MAC: Stevenson
MCVL: Fontbonne
NACC: Dominican
NECC: Endicott
NEAC: Wells
Skyline: New Jersey City
UVC: Vassar

NAIA MEN’S (CONFERENCE)

Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference: Saint Xavier
Golden State Athletic Conference: Ottawa (AZ)
Heart of America Athletic Conference: Grand View
Mid-South Conference: Campbellsville
Unaffiliated – AMC/GPAC/KCAC: Missouri Baptist
Unaffiliated – AII/WHAC: Indiana Tech

BEACH

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