Nominations for the 2026 AVCA Girls High School All-America Awards, AVCA Best and Brightest, and AVCA Girls High School Coach of the Year are now OPEN. Nominations will remain open from October 9 – October 19, 2026.

On November 16th, the AVCA will announce three teams of AVCA High School All-Americans. The AVCA All-America First Team will be comprised of 24 athletes, with 48 athletes named AVCA Second Team All-America and 48 athletes named Third Team All-America. An additional 120 athletes will be named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, for a total of 240 athletes selected. Nominations for the All-America Awards are open to Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen in high school. New for 2026: all 24 AVCA First Team All-Americans will be invited to attend and be celebrated at the 2026 All-America Banquet at the AVCA Convention in San Antonio, TX!

Click here for FAQs and a step-by-step visual guide to the nomination portal: 2026 AVCA High School Awards 

Are you a high school head coach, but not an AVCA member? Join today(opens in new tab) so you and your athletes are eligible!

AVCA All-America Nominations: Click Here to Nominate

AVCA Best and Brightest Nominations: Click Here to Nominate

AVCA Coach of the Year: Click Here to Nominate

 

AVCA High School Player of the Year 

This November, the AVCA will name four AVCA High School Player of the Year Finalists. Those four Finalists will be invited to and be honored at the 2026 AVCA All-America Banquet in San Antonio, TX, on December 18th. During the banquet, all four Finalists will be honored and the AVCA Player of the Year, powered by Nike Volleyball, will be announced. Hotel and travel will be provided by the AVCA. Players are not required to be on the AVCA High School Player of the Year Watch List to be selected as the AVCA Player of the Year or Finalist.

AVCA Best and Brightest

Introduced in 2021, the AVCA Best & Brightest Award was created to honor individual High School Senior athletes who excel on and off the court. The nomination form will be on the AVCA Awards Portal. Coaches can elect to nominate athletes for All-American Awards without nominating an athlete for the Best and Brightest Award, and must have consent from the athlete to share their GPA via the nomination form.

In order to be eligible for the AVCA Best and Brightest Award, Senior athletes must earn at least a 3.5 Unweighted GPA (or the equivalent, if using a different GPA scale) during their Junior year AND play in 50% of their Varsity team’s sets during their Senior season. Additional tiers of recognition apply, as a First Team, Second Team, and Third Team Best and Brightest team will be announced based on GPA.

AVCA Coach of the Year

The AVCA All-America National Committee will select one (1) coach as the 2026 AVCA Coach of the Year.  This coach will also be granted a complimentary AVCA Convention Registration. Considered coaches must be nominated online using an online nomination form during the nomination period starting on Friday, October 9 and ending on Monday, October 19.  Coaches must be active AVCA members in order to be considered.

The selection committee intends for this award to be a high-profile achievement for tenured, influential, and successful coaches.  The winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 25.

AVCA High School All-Region Award & Region Player of the Year

Prior to the announcement of the AVCA High School All-American teams, the 10 AVCA Regions will announce the All-Region selections. The number of athletes on each All-Region team will be determined by the number of AVCA All-America nominations each region receives. The top 50% of nominated athletes according to the AVCA committees from each region will be the athletes who are named All-Region.

By naming winners as a percentage amount of nominations by region, the AVCA will name winners in proportionality with the quality and growth of girl’s high school volleyball. The All-Region team will include the athletes named to the First Team, Second Team, Third Team, and Honorable Mention All-America in each Region. Each of the 10 AVCA Regions will also select one AVCA Region Player of the Year.

The AVCA High School National All-America Committee is comprised of a small group of high school coaches, AVCA Board Representatives, collegiate coaches, and club representatives. Each region is represented by a committee of region-specific coaches and led by a Region Chair. Much like the AVCA All-America Committee, the ten AVCA High School All-Region Committees will each have diverse representation to ensure the top high school athletes are selected.

 

FAQs:

Can I nominate more than one player? Yes! The only cap exists on All-America nominations, with a cap of seven nominations per school. If extenuating circumstances exist where a school has reason to nominate above that limit, petitions can be sent to the AVCA.

Is this only for Seniors? We will be accepting AVCA All-America nominations for Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors in addition to Senior student-athletes. However, the AVCA Best and Brightest award is only for athletes completing their Senior year of eligibility in high school.

Where is the Best and Brightest nomination form? On the AVCA Awards Portal. High School Head Coaches must log in to the AVCA site in order to access the nomination form.

Am I required to submit my Senior players for Best and Brightest if I nominate them for All-America? No.

Who can submit a nomination? AVCA Member High School Head Coaches.

What if I submit only the AVCA All-America nomination form on the AVCA website, and don’t submit the MaxPreps stats? A stats submission must be completed on the AVCA All-America form OR via MaxPreps. Both forms of stats submission (i.e. submitting stats on both MaxPreps AND the AVCA site) are not required.

What if I submit the MaxPreps stats and not the AVCA nomination? The athlete will not be eligible without an AVCA nomination. Players who only have MaxPreps stats submitted without an accompanying AVCA nomination form will not be considered.

Do I need to submit stats on both MaxPreps and the AVCA nominations portal? Stats must be entered on either the AVCA nomination form OR MaxPreps website. You do not need to do both. We will merge records if stats are submitted via both portals and take the most up-to-date version of the submitted stats.

If my player was on the AVCA All-America Watchlist, are they automatically on the AVCA All-America Teams or All-Region Teams? No, a separate nomination (above) is required.

How do I nominate for the AVCA All-Region Team? There isn’t a separate form- players with complete All-America nominations will be considered for the All-Region teams.

How do I nominate for the AVCA Player of the Year? There isn’t a separate form- players with complete All-America nominations will be considered for the AVCA Player of the Year award.

What if I am a high school head coach, but have an AVCA club membership? Please contact the AVCA. 

Please follow the link for the full awards packet: 2026 Girls HSSAA Fall Awards Packet v1

 

THE 2026 AVCA HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS TIMELINE IS AS FOLLOWS:

Friday, October 9 – Online nominations for AVCA High School All-America & AVCA Best and Brightest open at 8:00 am (ET). AVCA National High School Coach of the Year nominations open.

 Monday, October 19 – Online nominations for AVCA High School All-America & AVCA Best and Brightest close at 5:00 pm (ET). AVCA National High School Coach of the Year nominations close.

Wednesday, October 28 – AVCA Best and Brightest Awards Announced

Wednesday, November 4 – AVCA All-Region Teams & Region Players of the Year Announced

Monday, November 16 – AVCA Girls’ High School All-America Teams & Four AVCA Player of the Year Finalists announced

Wednesday, November 18- AVCA Region Coaches of the Year Announced

Wednesday, November 25- AVCA Coach of the Year Announced

Friday, December 18- AVCA Girls’ High School All-Americans honored and AVCA Player of the Year announced at the AVCA All-America Banquet (San Antonio, TX)