ESPN and the NCAA Renew Championships Broadcast Agreement The NCAA and ESPN announced an agreement that gives the ESPN family of networks the broadcast rights to 40 NCAA championships—21 women’s and 19 men’s events—including the women’s Division II and III volleyball championships. The eight-year contract, which begins Sept. 1, 2024, grants ESPN domestic and international rights to those 40 championships. Some volleyball-specific highlights from the official press release include:
The agreement offers exclusive coverage of all rounds of “marquee NCAA Championships,” including the Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
The championship final of the Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship will be played on Sunday again and be broadcast on ABC.
The Men’s National Collegiate Volleyball and the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships are again part of the ESPN Broadcast package.
The Division II and Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship finals will be shown on an ESPN platform.
Check back here each week to see a list with television and/or streaming info for matches between teams ranked in the AVCA polls!
Epic Journey Leadership Extends Offer to AVCA Members
Epic Journey founder, and AVCA member, Geoff Carlston is providing a unique opportunity for AVCA members to join a supportive community of men dedicated to growing as coaches, leaders, husbands, and fathers. Click here for more information, or contact Geoff at (614) 352-9138 or carpecarlston@gmail.com.
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Rules Committee, which met this week in Indianapolis, recommended allowing players to contact the ball more than once with any part of the body in a single attempt on a team’s second contact when the ball is played to a teammate. However, if the ball is played over the net in this type of scenario, it would be ruled a fault, and the team would lose the point. The committee also recommended each team be allowed to designate two liberos for each set of the match. Only one libero would be allowed on the court at a time and be allowed to serve in one position. The rationale for the proposal is to allow more players the opportunity to compete and to increase action and improve play.
Allowing the referee to issue a red card to the home team in instances where spectators encroach the playing area and the host administration fails to resolve the problem.
Allowing interference above the net (whether an opponent was touched) to be added to the list of plays that can be challenged in video review.
Expanding the jewelry rule to allow small, snug-fitting nose rings and ear cuffs.
Requiring all protests to be resolved during the match.
All rule recommendations must be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is tentatively scheduled to discuss women’s volleyball proposals Feb. 20.
Bid Specs for 2026-28 NCAA Volleyball Championships
The NCAA has released a historical membership dashboard that includes high-level details and summary information on every NCAA member school and conference. This interactive dashboard/map provides a visual catalog of member schools and conferences throughout the NCAA’s history. The map allows users to view historical membership data by year, division, school, region, conference and state.
NCAA DIII Albion College’s Kresge Gymnasium – Michigan’s Oldest Active Intercollegiate Athletic Facility, and home to men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s wrestling – is slated to receive significant upgrades this summer.
The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch predicts women’s volleyball will continue to surge at the collegiate level: “This was the first year women’s college volleyball got great programming windows, and look at the result…”
JVA Club Training Curriculum for 12U-18U Identify, train and retain the coaching staff essential to teaching the physical, mental and emotional skills for each age group. The JVA offers the JVA Club Training Curriculum to serve as a resource for junior volleyball clubs to utilize in order to offer benchmarks and coaching cues for training girls and boys ages 12U-18U.
Foster an Environment for Continued Learning Coaches are the lifeline of your club. They are the method by which you deliver your club’s philosophy and your club’s service. In order to find success, it is vital that you enhance the quality of coaches you employ, and invest in ways for them to learn and grow as teachers of the sport. Here are ways to foster an environment for continued learning in your club.
The online AVCA Career Centerallows 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:
Women’s Volleyball Assistant Coach – University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)
Assistant Coach Women’s Volleyball – Johnson County Community College (Overland Park, KS)
Coaching Hires and Contracts
Contact Alice Rogers to report a coaching transaction for At the Net.
NCAA Men
Lincoln Memorial University appoints Brian Hogg as Head Men’s Volleyball Coach.
Beach
Ginny Bussereturns to her alma mater Austin Peay as interim head beach volleyball coach.
NCAA Women
Morgan Lemner named Head Volleyball Coach at Kalamazoo College.
Washington State University announced that Korey Schroeder has been named the Cougars Head Volleyball Coach.
Lincoln Memorial University appoints Coach John Cash as Head Women’s Volleyball Coach.
Ariel Apolinario has been named Lamar University head volleyball coach.
Ronaldo Pacheco assumes leadership as Head Coach for Hampton University Volleyball.
Indiana Athletics and head volleyball coach Steve Aird have agreed to acontract extension through the 2029 season. Aird just completed his sixth season in Bloomington.
Tennessee volleyball head coach Eve Rackham Watt agreed to a contract extension through January of 2029. Rackham Watt concluded her sixth season on Rocky Top in 2023.
NAIA Women
Columbia College announces Drew Burdette as new Head Coach of the Koala Volleyball program.
Doane University is pleased to announce the hiring of RanDee Ochinero as the Head Coach for Tiger Volleyball.
USCAA
Penn State Shenango Athletics has named Andrew Frank as the new head women’s volleyball coach for the Lions.
