At the Net: April 24, 2024

April 24, 2024

The AVCA is proud to announce the 2024 NCAA Division III men’s volleyball All-Americans. The list includes 28 players—14 each on the first and second teams—from 18 schools. The National Player of the Year will be announced April 25.

Semifinalists Stevens, Cal Lutheran, Vassar, and NYU will face off in the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship hosted by Loras College, April 26-28 in Dubuque, Iowa. Get your tickets here!

The National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship bracket is set! uarterfinal round on Tuesday, April 30. Teams advancing from those matches will then move on to the semifinals on Thursday, May 2, with the championship match to follow on Saturday, May 4. All rounds of the championship will be hosted by Long Beach State University. Get tickets here!

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 2024 NAIA Men’s Volleyball Championship qualifiers. The 12-team field will begin play on April 30 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

Watch the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship selection show on Sunday, April 28 at NCAA.com at 11 am ET. Seventeen teams will be selected, including a 16-seed vs. 17-seed opening round play-in game to determine the final seed in the first-round matchups. The championship then gets underway May 3-5 in Gulf Shores, Alabama at Gulf Shores Public Beach. Get tickets here!

The VNL returns to the USA! Come watch as the world’s top teams compete in 16 non-stop action games packed over 6 days in Arlington, TX May 28 – June 2. With the 2024 Olympics in their sights, these elite athletes will be battling it out at the last major volleyball event to secure their spot and ranking for the Paris Games! SAVE 15% on Adult tickets plus kids’ tickets are up to 30% off! Use promo code AVCA when purchasing tickets. Don’t miss these extraordinary athletes defy gravity as they spike and smash their way to win the VNL trophy! Last year many games DID SELL OUT, so get your tickets today to get the best seats at VNLTickets.com.

Thirty athletes, including nine Olympic gold medalists, are on the U.S. Women’s National Team long-list roster for VNL. U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly has said that he will use the early VNL matches to help choose the players for his 2024 Paris Olympic Games roster. That team will have 12 players plus an alternate.

2023 AVCA Convention Session Recordings Available

Did you miss a session at the 2023 AVCA Convention? Want to go back and revisit a great session? Now you can! Sessions from the 2023 AVCA Convention have been posted in the AVCA Resource Library – watch here!

Apply to Present at the 2024 AVCA Convention! The AVCA is inviting members and industry professionals to submit a proposal to be considered as a speaker for on-court, beach or classroom presentations. Applications will be accepted through May 1, 2024. The convention will be held December 18-21 in Louisville, KY. Don’t miss this opportunity to share your expertise with volleyball coaches from across the country!

The AVCA is delighted to host the third annual Pairs National Championship for women’s collegiate beach volleyball pairs November 15-17, 2024 in Huntsville, Alabama. In addition, AVCA has established sanctioned zonal events that award entry bids to the Pairs National Championship. Interested hosts should apply here.

AVCA Women’s Collegiate Beach All-America nominations are due April 29 at 2pm ET.

AVCA Top Flight recognizes collegiate beach pairs who compete in at least 15 matches together at a specific flight and win at least 75% of their matches. Nominate athletes by April 29.

Nominations for the 2024 AVCA Hall of Fame are now being accepted. Submit to bradley.wilson@avca.org by May 31. Please help in determining who will be the next group of volleyball coaches and administrators to be inducted at the 2024 AVCA Convention in Louisiville, Kentucky.

2024 AVCA Victory Club – Nominations Now Accepted The AVCA recognizes all member head coaches who have reached milestone career wins of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, or 1,000+ matches at their current level of coaching. Winners will be recognized at the 2024 AVCA Annual Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

Save the date: Nominations for 2024 AVCA Team Academic Award will open May 30 and close July 2. Guidelines and FAQ’s here.

AVCA Collegiate Scheduling Database
Hosting a tournament? Have open dates on your schedule? Post your matches or look for opponents. Search for match opportunities by division, date, and location. Free for AVCA members – click here to get started! Looking to connect with a specific AVCA member coach? Login to access the Member Directory.

The AVCA Match Point Mentoring Program is designed exclusively for volleyball coaches at all levels of expertise. Our program centers on creating mentoring trios where these coaches serve as both mentors and mentees to create a collaborative learning experience. Applications for the 2024-2025 program will close May 3, and Trios will be announced in Mid-June.

AVCA Collegiate Players of the Week

National Collegiate Men

USA Today/AVCA Boys Volleyball Rankings

AVCA/MaxPreps High School Boys Volleyball Players of the Week

Click here for details on the 2024 NAIA Beach Volleyball Invitational. The three-day event will open with pool play, and all eight teams will advance to a single-elimination bracket. The event will be held April 25-27 at the Greeneville Beach Volleyball Complex in Greeneville, TN.

Recruiting Solutions: April Qualifiers Bring May Maintenance
May is a great month to assess and maintain the recruiting process. Many clubs have limited weekends of play in May and will train more in the gym to prepare for June championships.

It is the quiet period for Division 1 programs, so college coaches are not permitted to have in-person evaluations or face-to-face interaction with prospective student athletes off campus. Here are ways volleyball student athletes can be proactive in the month of May to move their recruiting process along.

Setting Drills to Train Proper Technique and Eliminate Bad Habits
Setters touch the ball more than anyone else in a volleyball match, therefore it’s critical that coaches find ways to get their setters as many setting repetitions as possible. Even more important, is the quality of the touches on the ball, so the setter is developing proper habits to be able to deliver a clean, hittable set. Here are drills to train proper setting habits, and eliminate the bad ones.

PSAL, New York City’s Public Schools Athletics League, announced the formation of 17 new varsity high school boys’ volleyball teams that began play in early April. PSAL has received grant support led by First Point Volleyball Foundation, with East Coast Volleyball and Garden Empire Region Volleyball Association (GEVA), to support increased sponsorship of high school girls’ and boys’ volleyball.

2024 AVCA Coach of the Year Super Clinic: July 26-31
The 2024 AVCA Coach of the Year Virtual Super Clinic, powered by Coaches Insider, education experience is designed to add value and help prepare you for the upcoming season. It will feature current and past coaches of the year and volleyball practitioners from our community. Learn more and register here.

Learn from the best and attend a high school volleyball coaches clinic near you hosted by AVCA Signature and Affiliate Partners. Coming up:

NYVCA (New York) – May 17-18
OHSVCA (Ohio) – June 7
AHSAA (Alabama) – July 15-20
THSCA (Texas) – July 21-23
NCA (Nebraska) – July 23-24

MNVBCA (Minnesota) July 24-25
NMHSCA (New Mexico) – July 25-27
GHVCA (Houston) – August 2
WVCA (Wisconsin) – August 2-3
IHSVCA (Indiana) – August 4
MAVCA (Massachusetts) – August 4
IVCA (Illinois) – August 10

Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is a sports development model that focuses on the physical, cognitive, and emotional development of athletes over a prolonged period of time. The goal of LTAD is to promote lifelong physical activity and athletic performance while reducing the risk of injury and burnout. – April 30

Volleyball MasterCoaches – Wednesday Weekly Buzz

This week we will be covering Men’s NCAA Division I & II Volleyball. We will be interviewing Donan Cruz, Head Coach for Ball State University and Mark Pavlick, Head Coach for Penn State. Watch Wednesday at 2pm ET on Facebook or at volleyballmastercoaches.com. Coaches can also listen to our podcast series on iTunes.

Volleyball Coaches Insider – latest educational content includes:

Blocking: Creating a Seal Over the Net – Mackenzie Chrisman – Northeastern Junior College
What Does it Take to Hold Someone Accountable? – Stephen Mackey – 2Words Character Development
The Mantra of “Get Better Every Day” Applies First to Coaching – Adam Sarancik
Click here for more Volleyball articles and videos!

The online AVCA Career Center allows job posters to advertise a job opening, search resumes, manage candidates, and market open positions. Job seekers have the opportunity to post a resume, search for open positions, create job alert notifications, and access free career management resources. Recent posts include: