The American

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is currently headquartered in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. The original members of the AVCA were intercollegiate coaches who banded together to form this particular coaching body. In 1986, during the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

convention, the membership recognized the growing and developing high school and club communities. The name of the association was then changed to reflect these growing constituencies. The original Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association was renamed the American Volleyball Coaches Association with the intent of responding to and serving all volleyball coaches. The organization also produces a weekly national poll for collegiate volleyball similar to how the Associated Press makes a poll for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.

History

Although incorporated as a non-profit in 1981, the AVCA began to grow and diversify, and a full-time executive director wasn't hired until July 1983. An associate director was hired in April 1986 and an administrative assistant in September 1988. The Association moved from

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

, to

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, in August 1992. The staff has increased to the following positions: executive director, assistant executive director, director of operations, assistant director of events and public relations, manager of awards and membership, manager of communications, sales manager, and awards and membership specialist. In 1986, the board was increased to 13 members, due to new membership increases averaging out at about 150 per year. In 1988, a boom of 106% new memberships occurred. Since 1986, high school membership has more than tripled. The AVCA has members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as, numerous international members. At the collegiate level, all major

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

conferences are represented and membership among the club coaches has risen dramatically. In July 2006 the association moved its headquarters to

and entered into an association management partnership with Associations International (formally Host Communications then IMG College). The current president of the AVCA is Kirsten Bernthal Booth (head coach – Creighton). The Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Jaime Gordon and the Chief Operating Officer is Jason Jones.

AVCA events

Beach volleyball championship

The beach volleyball championship was introduced to the women's collegiate scene by CBS College Sports with the Collegiate Nationals, an event founded by the network in the spring of 2006 to broadcast the national championships of several "action sports." The event was sponsored by the CBS College Sports Network, American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the

Association of Volleyball Professionals Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(AVP). In 2006, the AVP sanctioned a combine that selected 8 players from 8 colleges and paired them into teams (title was won by Bibiana Candelas (

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

)/Paula Gentil (

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

)). In 2007

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

(Jordan Larson/Sarah Pavan) won an invitational competition of 8 colleges, which featured only two players per school, as opposed to entire teams. 2008 saw

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

win an invitational, sponsored by AVCA and AVP, involving 6 schools with four doubles squads each. In 2009,

prevailed over an invited field of 8 colleges with four doubles squads each. In 2010, the competition reverted to one doubles squad per school, with 12 colleges invited; it was won by

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

(Emily Day/Heather Hughes). The two-player team format continued in 2011, except that players were paired with different partners from other schools for every match, until the semi-final winners were determined. That year there was also a men's competition in the same format. In 2010 the

categorized women's

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

as an "emerging sport." Beginning in the spring of 2012 the AVCA began sponsoring a national championship tournament for women's collegiate beach volleyball. The AVCA has separate brackets for teams and for individual pairs. The champions of the team tournaments are: * 2012 – Pepperdine * 2013 –

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

* 2014 – Pepperdine * 2015 –

The NCAA granted full sponsorship to beach volleyball in all three NCAA divisions, with the first NCAA championship being held in May, 2016.

AVCA Showcase tournament

From 1995 to 2012, the AVCA put on an annual tournament held in the beginning of each season, called the AVCA Showcase. Through 2011, four teams, usually ranked in the top 15, competed for the AVCA Showcase title. As of 2007, the showcase champion had gone on to the NCAA Final Four 10 times out of 13. The only time the winner failed to advance to the Final Four was Colorado State in 2000,

in 2006 and

in 2007. However, only twice has the showcase champion won the NCAA Championship:

in 1998 and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

in 2003. In 2012, the Showcase featured four collegiate teams competing in one match each against the

Chinese Volleyball League Chinese Volleyball Super League, often abbreviated to CVL (abbreviation remain unchanged), are the pre-eminent men's and women's professional volleyball leagues in China. It was founded in 1996 as the Chinese Volleyball League and is organized by ...

champion, Jiangsu. Past sponsors include NACWAA, Runza Restaurants, Rockvale Outlets and

State Farm State Farm Insurance is a group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1922, it is the largest property and casualty insurance, property, casualty and auto i ...

. Both Big West volleyball and Big Ten Conference volleyball have been prominently featured in this tournament throughout the years.

AVCA Awards

Given out annually for Division I, II, and III women and Division I/II (combined) and III for men, the following is a list of past awards for both men and women.

National Coach of the Year – Women's teams

Key

List of winners

Winners by school

Penn State and Nebraska lead all schools with 5 winners. Stanford, UCLA, and Florida have 3 winners each. Hawai'i, Kentucky, BYU, and Northern Iowa follow with 2 winners each, while the remaining schools have had 1 winner.

National Assistant Coach of the Year – Women's teams

The AVCA began awarding the Division I National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009. * 2024: Brian Rosen, Creighton * 2023: Kellen Petrone, Pittsburgh * 2022: Dan Meske, Louisville * 2021: Brittany Dildine, Wisconsin * 2020: Leslie Gabriel, Washington * 2019: Angie Oxley Behrens, Creighton * 2018: Burdette Greeny, Washington State * 2017: Lindsey Gray-Walton, Kentucky * 2016: Dani Busboom Kelly, Nebraska * 2015: Laura "Bird" Kuhn, Kansas * 2014: Eva Rackham, North Carolina * 2013:

Salima Rockwell Salima Rockwell (; born January 24, 1972) is a retired American female volleyball player. She was part of the United States women's national volleyball team at the 1998 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan. College Rockwell pla ...

, Texas * 2012: Denise Corlett, Stanford * 2011: Holly Watts, Florida State * 2010: Denise Corlett, Stanford * 2009: Kelly Files, Oklahoma

National Player of the Year – Women's

Since 1985, the AVCA has recognized the Division I national player(s) of the year.

Key

List of winners

Winners by school

Stanford leads all universities with 10 total selections (three co selections), followed by Long Beach State with 6 selections (one co), Nebraska, Penn State, and Hawai'i each have 4 selections. Ohio State (one co) and Southern California (USC) each have 2, while the remaining schools have had 1 winner.

National Freshman of the Year – Women's

Since 2001, the AVCA has recognized the Division I freshman player(s) of the year.

Key

List of winners

Winners by school

Penn State leads all universities with 5 selections, followed by Stanford, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Texas who each have 2 selections. The remaining schools have had 1 winner.

National Coach of the Year – Men's teams

For Division I/II men. Stanford (1991–92) and Penn State (2007–08) are the only schools in which both the men and women teams' coaches won the award in the same academic year. * 2025: Nickie Sanlin, McKendree * 2024: Matt Werle,

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* 2023: John Speraw, UCLA * 2022: Donan Cruz,

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

* 2021: Rick McLaughlin,

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

* 2020: No award given due to the

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* 2019: Charlie Wade, Hawai'i * 2018: Alan Knipe,

* 2017: Alan Knipe, Long Beach State * 2016: Pete Hanson,

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

* 2015: Dan Friend,

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* 2014: Shane Davis, Loyola–Chicago * 2013: Chris McGown, BYU * 2012: Bill Ferguson,

* 2011: Pete Hanson/ David Kniffen Ohio State/

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Education In the United States * University of California system * University of Charleston, West Virginia * University of Chicago, Illinois * University of Cincinnati, Ohio * Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey (''defunct ...

* 2010: John Kosty,

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

* 2009: Bill Ferguson, USC * 2008: Mark Pavlik,

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

* 2007: Arnie Ball, IPFW * 2006: John Speraw, UC Irvine * 2005: Marv Dunphy, Pepperdine * 2004: Alan Knipe, Long Beach State * 2003: Dave Deuser, Lewis * 2002: Mike Wilton,

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

* 2001: Carl McGown, BYU * 2000: Pete Hanson, Ohio State * 1999: Carl McGown, BYU * 1998: Al Scates,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

* 1997: Ruben Nieves, Stanford * 1996: Al Scates, UCLA * 1995: Don Shondell,

* 1994: Tom Peterson, Penn State * 1993: Al Scates, UCLA * 1992: Ruben Nieves, Stanford * 1991: Ray Ratelle, Long Beach State

National Player of the Year – Men's

Long Beach State, Hawai'i, Penn State, Stanford, BYU, UCLA and Ohio State are the only universities in which a male and female volleyball player was named the AVCA NPOY. Pepperdine and Long Beach State lead with seven selections, followed by Hawai'i with five and UCLA with three. * 2025: Moni Nikolov (Long Beach State) * 2024: Hilir Henno (UC Irvine) * 2023: Jakob Thelle (Hawai'i) * 2022: Alex Nikolov (Long Beach State) * 2021: Rado Parapunov (Hawai'i) * 2020: Gabi Garcia Fernandez (BYU) * 2019: T.J. DeFalco (Long Beach State) * 2018:

Joshua Tuaniga Joshua Tuaniga (born March 18, 1997) is an American professional volleyball player who plays as a setter for GKS Katowice GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , ) is a Polish professional football club based in Katowice. They currently compete in ...

(Long Beach State) * 2017: T.J. DeFalco (Long Beach State) * 2016: Nicolas Szerszeń (Ohio State) * 2015:

Thomas Jaeschke Thomas John Jaeschke ( ; born September 4, 1993) is an American professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for Panasonic Panthers and the U.S. national team. He won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and Paris 20 ...

(Loyola-Chicago) * 2014: Taylor Sander (BYU) * 2013:

Taylor Crabb Taylor Crabb (born January 26, 1992) is an American beach volleyball player who plays as a left-side defender with his partner Taylor Sander. He has won fourteen tournaments on the AVP Pro Tour and one gold medal on the FIVB World Tour. Gro ...

(Long Beach State) * 2012: Tony Ciarelli (USC) * 2011: Murphy Troy (USC) * 2010: Kawika Shoji (Stanford) * 2009: Paul Carroll (Pepperdine) * 2008: Matt Anderson (Penn State); Paul Lotman (Long Beach State) * 2007: Jonathan Winder (Pepperdine) * 2006: Jayson Jablonsky (

) * 2005: Sean Rooney (Pepperdine) * 2004: Carlos Moreno (

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

) * 2003: Costas Theocharidis (Hawai’i) * 2002: Brad Keenan (Pepperdine) * 2001: Costas Theocharidis (

Hawai’i Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

) * 2000: Donald Suxho (USC) * 1999: George Roumain (Pepperdine) * 1998: George Roumain ( Pepperdine) * 1997: Ivan Contreras (

) * 1996: Yuval Katz (Hawai’i),

Stein Metzger Stein Metzger (born November 17, 1972) is a former beach volleyball player from the United States. He is the head coach of the beach volleyball team at the University of Texas. High school Metzger grew up surfing and playing beach volleyball ...

(UCLA) * 1995: Jeff Nygaard (UCLA) * 1994: Jeff Nygaard (

) * 1993: Canyon Ceman (

) * 1992: Brent Hilliard (

) * 1991: Bryan Ivie (USC)

West Region Coach of the Year – Women

* 1993: David Rubio (coach) (

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

)

National High School Coach of the Year

* 2024 – James Ward ( Mount St. Mary High School, Oklahoma City, OK) and Marty Woods ( Dalton McMichael High School, Mayodan, NC) * 2023 – Stephanie Gibson (

Winter Park High School Winter Park High School (often simply abbreviated as WPHS) located in Winter Park, Florida, United States is one of nineteen public high schools in Orange County. Winter Park High School is an International Baccalaureate school and delivers ...

, Winter Park, FL) and Brian Wheatley ( Venice High School, Venice, FL) * 2022 – Suzanne Marble (La Conner High School, La Conner, WA) and Diana Kramer ( New Bremen High School, New Breman, OH) * 2021 – Mayssa Cook ( Bloomfield Hills Marian High School, Marian, MI) and Sue Ziegler ( Lincoln Lutheran High School, Lincoln, NE) * 2020 – Renee Saunders ( Skutt Catholic High School, Omaha, NE) and Loretta Vogel ( Mercy High School, Farmington Hills, MI) * 2019 – Margie McGee ( Valley View High School, Jonesboro, AR) and Ann Schilling (Bayside Academy, Daphne, AL) * 2018 – Zoe Bell ( Ardrey Kell High School, Charlotte, NC) and Heath Kufahl ( Christian Heritage Academy, Del City, OK) * 2017 �
Alexis Glover and Zack Young
* 2016 – Jeni Case (Ursuline Academy, Cincinnati, OH) and Jan Barker, Amarillo High School, Amarillo, TX) * 2015 – Nancy Dorsey (St. James Academy, Lenexa, KS) and Jean Kesterson (Cathedral High School, Indianapolis, IN) * 2014 – Al Bennett (Westlake High School, Austin, TX) and Angie Spangenberg (Harlan Community High School, Harlan, IA) * 2013 – Kim Lauwers (A.J. Dimond High School, Anchorage, AK) and Jody DeGroot (Bellarmine Preparatory School, Tacoma, WA) * 2012 – Suzie Pignetti (Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, NC) and Ron Kordes (Assumption High School, Louisville, KY) * 2011 – Jeff Carroll (Billings Senior High School, Billings, MT) and Susan Brewer (Bellville High School, Bellville, TX) * 2010 – Bill Morrin (Grantsburg High School, Grantsburg, WI) and Amy Steininger (Marion Local High School, Maria Stein, OH) * 2009 – Bret Almazan-Cezar (Archbishop Mitty High School, Santa Clara, CA) and Anita Boeck (Arlington High School, Arlington, SD) * 2008 – Todd Garvey (Mercy Academy, Louisville, KY) and Tom Turco (Barnstable High School, Hyannis, MA)

Hall of Fame

References

External links

AVCA
website {{Authority control Non-profit organizations based in Lexington, Kentucky Volley Volleyball organizations Non-profit corporations Sports organizations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Kentucky