The BIC is the official AVCA newsletter for men and boys volleyball. If there is a specific topic or news you would like shared in a future issue, please contact Brad Wilson at bradley.wilson@avca.org.
Gold Medal Squared Tip
Why We Like Approaching on an Angle
In this weeks video presented by Gold Medal Squared, Mike Wall talks with us about why approaching at an angle increases range, vision, power, and ability to adjust. Mike likes to use the key “chest to corner” as an external cue that gives athletes a general idea of where their body should be facing when approaching towards the net. We want to “optimize” this angle to ensure our hitters have the most vision and range possible as they contact the ball. Extreme angles will limit vision and range. For a full lesson on attacking footwork, including a course for left handed attackers, get yourself a 30-day free trial to GMS+.
ESPN Renews Contract to Broadcast NCAA Championship
ESPN and the NCAA have reached a new, eight-year agreement beginning Sept. 1, 2024, for NCAA championships media rights. The deal includes domestic rights to a record 40 NCAA championships – 21 women’s and 19 men’s events – and international rights to those same NCAA championships plus the Division I men’s basketball tournament.
Men’s Collegiate Volleyball returns this week. Good luck to all to the coaches and teams competing this spring!
UCLA Begins the Season as the #1 Ranked Team in the NVA/AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll
Coming off the 2023 National Collegiate Championship, the Bruins are named to the #1 spot. LBSU, Hawaii, UC Irvine, and Ohio State round out the top 5. See the full poll results.
Men’s DIII Preseason Poll will release next Tuesday, January 9.
“If there is a buzzword for men’s volleyball in 2024, it might be “depth.” As volleyball continues to grow at the high school level for boys, more and better athletes become available to stock college men’s rosters. That produces more quantity — in the past three years, three Division I/II conferences have been added — and more quality.” Read the full preview from Chuck Curti here.
Long Beach State Voted Preseason Favorite in Big West
A new name is atop the Big West Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll in 2024, with the league’s leaders tabbing Long Beach State as the favorite to win the title.
The Beach earned top billing with three first-place votes and 23 total points in the voting, narrowly edging defending Big West champion and national runners-up Hawai’i. The Rainbow Warriors tallied 21 points and picked up two first-place votes. The tightly bunched trio at the top is rounded out by UC Irvine who received the final first-place nod and compiled 19 points in the vote by the league’s six head coaches.
Penn State Picked as 2024 EIVA Favorite by Coaches
Penn State was the top choice of five of the EIVA’s six head coaches to repeat as champions in their annual preseason vote, taking second behind George Mason on one ballot. Princeton was second in the voting, with the Patriots third. Read the full EIVA voting results and players to watch.
Jacob Pasteur and Ohio State Headline Preseason All-MIVA and Poll
The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association announced its 2024 Preseason All-MIVA Team and Poll on Dec. 12. Ohio State was unanimously selected to repeat as the MIVA champion and Buckeye Jacob Pasteur was selected to earn MIVA Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
The MIVA Preseason Poll and All-MIVA Team were voted on by the nine MIVA head coaches.
Defending MPSF and NCAA Champion UCLA was picked to repeat its regular season conference title in the 2024 MPSF Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ poll, collecting the maximum possible totals of 36 points and six first-place votes. The Bruins return six starters from a 31-2 team, including national newcomer of the year and first team All-American Andrew Rowan (MPSF-high 50 aces, helped UCLA to NCAA-high .382 hitting), NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and All-American Alex Knight, and MPSF Tournament MVP and first team All-American Merrick McHenry (NCAA-high .526 hitting clip).
Defending NEC Men’s Volleyball Champion LIU Tops Preseason Poll
After winning the inaugural Northeast Conference (NEC) men’s volleyball championship last season, LIU is ready to sink its teeth into another title run. The Sharks were picked by the league’s head coaches to repeat in 2024, receiving five first place votes in the annual preseason poll.
A nationwide voting committee selected 15 players to the FrogJump Division III Preseason All-American Team.
The FrogJump Division III Preseason All-American Team recognizes the NCAA Division III men’s volleyball players projected to be the best in the nation during the upcoming season. Players eligible for the honor had to be on an active roster for the 2023-2024 season. North Central and Southern Virginia led all teams with 2 preseason All-American selections each. Springfield, New Paltz, Wentworth, Hobart, Stevens, Vassar, Carthage, Nazareth, Juniata, Lasell, and Loras each had one athlete selected to the Preseason All-American Team.
MIVA Announces Changes to Tournament, Names Trophy After Legend Don Shondell
The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association has announced changes to the MIVA Tournament format. The conference has also announced that future tournament winners will receive the Don Shondell MIVA Championship Trophy.
The MIVA Tournament has been played after every regular season since 1980 except 2020, and was also played from 1964-69. The new format for the MIVA Tournament will reward the highest seeds, providing an advantage for a path to the NCAA tournament via the MIVA’s automatic bid.
Aldis Berzins to Retire after 7 Years at Stevenson
The 1984 Olympic gold medalist and volleyball icon will be calling it a career with an overall record of 129-61, handing the reins to Stevenson alumnus Jason Gardner.
2024 Men’s Volleyball NCCAA National Invitational Field Set
Student-Athletes and coaches will have the opportunity to participate in a Christian Service Project, with more information to be announced soon. This year’s tournament will be a pool play format, with all teams competing in two pool play matches (seeds 1 and 3 do not play each other). Pool play begins on Friday, January 26 with the semfinal matches and championship match on Saturday, January 27.
Did we miss one? Contact bradley.wilson@avca.org and let us know. Programs are also visible on the AVCA’s map:
Beach Volleyball News
US Mens Win Medals at NORCECA Events
At the NORCECA Final in Juan Dolio, Andy Benesh and Miles Partain earned bronze. The U.S. men lost to Sam Schachter/Dan Dearing (CAN) 0-2 (16-21, 19-21) in the semis but rebounded in the bronze-medal match by beating Ruben Mora/Jefferson Cascante (NCA) 2-0 (21-16, 21-9).
Prior to the Beach Final, Juan Dolio also hosted the U23 Continental Tour. Tate Calles and Brendan Onishchenko earned silver. The men’s pair defeated teammates Sebastian Rodriguez/Kyle Paulson 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) in the semis to advance to the gold-medal match, where they fell to Nolsen Diaz/Jorge Alayo (CUB) 0-2 (15-21, 13-21). Rodriguez/Paulson finished the tournament in fourth place.
Miles Evans and Chase Budinger made it back-to-back medals at a BPT event, taking bronze in Chiang Mai. This comes two weeks after the duo won their first gold medal together at BPT Challenge Haikou.
Evans/Budinger defeated Nicolaidis/Carracher (AUS) 3-0 (27-25, 21-23, 15-9) in the bronze medal match to earn the third step on the podium.
To join the Men’s Collegiate Beach Volleyball Alliance an active member coach of the AVCA must complete the registration information. The nominating coach serves as the official representative for all men’s collegiate beach activities at the college.
If you are interested in starting men’s collegiate beach volleyball at your college and need support please email Becca Just. We are happy to help!
Boys Volleyball News
Recap of 2023 New York, Virginia and Wisconsin boys HS volleyball seasons
Kevin Pratte from VolleyballMag.com recapped the boys high school results from last fall. Read his full report here.
New York:
In Division 1, Fairport defeated Shenedehowa 25-22, 25-14, 25-21.
In Division 2, Jamesville-Dewitt defeated Westhampton Beach 25-20, 25-19, 28-26
Virginia:
Midlothian beat Thomas Dale 22-25, 29-27, 25-23, 16-25, 15-13 to win the Class 5/6 A state state title.
In the 4A division Patrick Henry finished 27-0 with a 25-16, 25-12, 25-19 sweep of Atlee for its eighth state title in a row.
Midlothian senior right side Max Law not only led his team in the win over Thomas Dale, he was named the state MVP.
Wisconsin:
Top-seeded Middleton High School, which finished 33-3, won the state title by beating No. 2 Arrowhead (38-5) 25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-6.
Middleton senior pin hitter Ambrose Engling was named the state player of the year. In the championship match, he had 16 kills, three aces and nine digs to cap the tournament in Green Bay.
Prepare for the Spring Season by Learning from some of the Best Boys Coaches in the Country
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USA Volleyball
2024 VNL Schedule Announced
The top 16 female and male national teams in the planet will compete in Asia, Europe, North America and South America before the best eight in each gender battle for titles in the VNL Finals. The women will play from June 20-23 and the men from June 27-30, just a few weeks before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in cities yet to be determined.
Franklin College Director of Athletics Lance Marshall has tabbed Dillon Taylor as the new head coach of the Franklin men’s and women’s volleyball programs, effective immediately.
Thiel College Director of Athletics Jason Fautas announced Tuesday the promotion of Dylan Lasher ’15 to Director of Volleyball. Lasher will serve as the men’s and women’s head volleyball coach.
King University vice president for athletics, David Hicks announced the hire of Marquis Clark as head men’s volleyball coach today.
The Baruch College Athletic Department is proud to announce the appointment of Ezri Shor as the new Head Coach of the Men’s Volleyball Team.
Bill Ferguson has been named the inaugural head coach for Catawba College Men’s Volleyball, Catawba’s Director of Athletics Michelle Caddigan announced Monday morning.
Ottawa University Director of Volleyball, Melissa Blessington, is pleased to announce the hiring of men’s volleyball head coach Ashan Jordan.
Conrad Kaminski has joined the Harvard Men’s Volleyball coaching staff as an assistant coach, head coach Brian Baise announced. Kaminski, who played collegiately at Stanford, brings with him AAU coaching experience to the Crimson.
The College of Mount Saint Vincent has officially named Harris Boyes the head coach for both the men’s and women’s volleyball team, according to Athletic Director Phil Stern.
Bob Kasun was announced as the head coach of the Penn State Altoona men’s and women’s volleyball teams on Friday, Dec. 8.
SUNY Old Westbury’s Director of Athletics Lenore J. Walsh has announced that Ryan Pastuch has been named the head coach of the men’s volleyball program. Pastuch is the inaugural head coach for the team which played its first unofficial season last year.
Director of Athletics David Babb and the Cairn University Athletic Department are excited to announce that Shea Scott has been named Head Coach of the Cairn Men’s Volleyball team.
With the upcoming men’s volleyball season just around the corner, the Concordia University Irvine Athletics department announced that assistant coach Chris Seiffert will serve as the interim head coach for the program.
