American Volleyball Coaches Association

The AVCA Logo

The American Volleyball 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.

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

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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, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, 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 conferences are represented and membership among the club coaches has risen dramatically.

In July 2006 the association moved its headquarters to Lexington, Kentucky and entered into an association management partnership with Associations International (formally Host Communications then IMG College). The current president of the AVCA is Keegan Cook (head coach – University of Minnesota). The Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Jaime Gordon and the Chief Operating Officer is Jason Jones.

AVCA events

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Beach volleyball championship

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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."[1] The event was sponsored by the CBS College Sports Network, American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).[2]

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)/Paula Gentil (Minnesota)). In 2007 Nebraska (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 win an invitational, sponsored by AVCA and AVP, involving 6 schools with four doubles squads each. In 2009, USC 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 (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 NCAA categorized women's beach volleyball 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:

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

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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, Texas in 2006 and Nebraska in 2007. However, only twice has the showcase champion won the NCAA Championship: Long Beach State in 1998 and Southern California in 2003.

In 2012, the Showcase featured four collegiate teams competing in one match each against the Chinese Volleyball League champion, Jiangsu.

Past sponsors include NACWAA, Runza Restaurants, Rockvale Outlets and State Farm.

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

AVCA Awards

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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

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Key

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AVCA Hall of Fame member
* Won NCAA championship same year

List of winners

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Division I National Coach of the Year
Year Image Name School
1982 Dave Shoji*† Hawai'i
1983 Taras Liskevych Pacific
1984 Leilani Overstreet Fresno State
1985 Mike Hebert Illinois
1986 Terry Pettit Nebraska
1987 Kathy DeBoer Kentucky
1988 Lisa Love UTSA
1989 Andy Banachowski UCLA
1990 Russ Rose Russ Rose Penn State
1991 Don Shaw Stanford
1992 Mary Wise Mary Wise Florida
1993 Kathy Gregory UCSB
1994 Terry Pettit Nebraska
1995 Chuck Erbe Michigan State
1996 Mary Wise Mary Wise Florida
1997 Russ Rose Russ Rose Penn State
1998 Brian Gimmillaro*† Long Beach State
1999 Iradge Ahrabi-Fard Northern Iowa
2000 John Cook John Cook*† Nebraska
2001 John Dunning John Dunning*† Stanford
2002 Bobbi Petersen Northern Iowa
2003 Mick Haley Mick Haley*† USC
2004 Jim McLaughlin Jim McLaughlin Washington
2005 John Cook John Cook Nebraska
2006 Andy Banachowski UCLA
2007
2008
Russ Rose Russ Rose**† Penn State
2009 Dave Shoji Hawai'i
2010 Rich Feller California
2011 Michael Sealy* UCLA
2012 Jerritt Elliott* Texas
2013 Russ Rose Russ Rose Penn State
2014 Shawn Olmstead BYU
2015 Hugh McCutcheon Hugh McCutcheon Minnesota
2016 John Dunning John Dunning*† Stanford
2017 Mary Wise Mary Wise Florida
2018 Heather Olmstead BYU
2019 Ryan McGuyre Baylor
2020 Craig Skinner* Kentucky
2021 Dani Busboom Kelly Dani Busboom Kelly Louisville
2022 Jennifer Petrie San Diego
2023 John Cook John Cook Nebraska

Winners by school

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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.

School Winners Year(s) Winning Coach(es)
Penn State 5 1990, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2013 Russ Rose (1990, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2013)
Nebraska 1986, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2023 Terry Pettit (1986, 1994)
John Cook (2000, 2005, 2023)
Florida 3 1992,e 1996, 2017 Mary Wise (1992, 1996, 2017)
Stanford 1991, 2001, 2016 Don Shaw (1991)
John Dunning (2001, 2016)
UCLA 1989, 2006, 2011 Andy Banachowski (1989, 2006)
Michael Sealy (2011)
BYU 2 2014, 2018 Shawn Olmstead (2014)
Heather Olmstead (2018)
Hawai'i 1982, 2009 Dave Shoji (1982, 2009)
Kentucky 1987, 2020 Kathy DeBoer (1987)
Craig Skinner (2020)
Northern Iowa 1999, 2002 Iradge-Ahrabi Fard (1999)
Bobbi Peterson (2002)
Baylor 1 2019 Ryan McGuyre (2019)
Fresno State 1984 Leilani Overstreet (1984)
Long Beach State 1998 Brian Gimmillaro (1998)
Michigan State 1995 Chuck Erbe (1995)
California 2010 Rich Feller (2010)
UCSB 1993 Kathy Gregory (1993)
Illinois 1985 Mike Hebert (1985)
Louisville 2021 Dani Busboom Kelly (2021)
Minnesota 2015 Hugh McCutcheon (2015)
USC 2003 Mick Haley (2003)
Texas 2012 Jerritt Elliott (2012)
UTSA 1988 Lisa Love (1988)
Pacific 1983 Taras Liskevych (1983)
San Diego 2022 Jennifer Petrie (2022)
Washington 2004 Jim McLaughlin (2004)

National Assistant Coach of the Year – Women's teams

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The AVC began awarding the Division I National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009.

  • 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, 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

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

Key

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Honda-Broderick Cup Award Winner
* Won NCAA championship same year

List of winners

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Division I National Player of the Year
Year Image Name School
1985 Kim Oden Stanford
1986 Mariliisa Salmi BYU
1987 Teee Williams* Hawaiʻi
1988 Tara Cross Long Beach State
1989 Teee Williams Hawaiʻi
Tara Cross* Long Beach State
1990 Beverly Oden Stanford
1991 Antoinnette White Long Beach State
1992 Natalie Williams UCLA
1993 Danielle Scott* Long Beach State
1994 Laura Davis Ohio State
1995 Cary Wendell Stanford
Allison Weston* Nebraska
1996 Angelica Ljungquist Hawaiʻi
1997
1998
Misty May†* Long Beach State
1999 Kerri Walsh Stanford
Lauren Cacciamani* Penn State
2000 Greichaly Cepero* Nebraska
2001
2002
Logan Tom* Stanford
2003 Kim Willoughby Hawaiʻi
2004 Stacey Gordon Ohio State
Ogonna Nnamani†* Stanford
2005 Christina Houghtelling Nebraska
2006 Sarah Pavan*† Nebraska
2007 Foluke Akinradewo Stanford
2008 Nicole Fawcett* Penn State
2009 Megan Hodge*† Penn State
2010 Carli Lloyd California
2011 Alex Jupiter USC
2012 Alaina Bergsma Oregon
2013 Krista Vansant Washington
2014 Micha Hancock* Penn State
2015 Samantha Bricio USC
2016 Sarah Wilhite Minnesota
2017
2018
Kathryn Plummer* Stanford
2019 Yossiana Pressley Baylor
2020 Madison Lilley* Kentucky
2021 Dana Rettke* Wisconsin
2022 Logan Eggleston* Texas
2023 Sarah Franklin Wisconsin

Winners by school

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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.

School Winners Year(s) Winning Player(s)
Stanford 10 1985, 1990, 1995 (co), 1999 (co), 2001,
2002, 2004 (co), 2007, 2017, 2018
Kim Oden (1985)
Bev Oden (1990)
Cary Wendell (1995)
Kerri Walsh (1999)
Logan Tom (2001, 2002)
Ogonna Nnamani (2004)
Foluke Akinradewo (2007)
Kathryn Plummer (2017, 2018)
Long Beach State 6 1988, 1989 (co), 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998 Tara Cross (1988, 1989)
Antoinnette White (1991)
Danielle Scott (1993)
Misty May (1997, 1998)
Hawaiʻi 4 1987, 1989 (co), 1996, 2003 Teee Williams (1987, 1989)
Angelica Ljungquist (1996)
Kim Willoughby (2003)
Nebraska 1995 (co), 2000, 2005, 2006 Allison Weston (1995)
Greichaly Cepero (2000)
Christina Houghtelling (2005)
Sarah Pavan (2006)
Penn State 1999 (co), 2008, 2009, 2014 Lauren Cacciamani (1999)
Nicole Fawcett (2008)
Megan Hodge (2009)
Micha Hancock (2014)
Ohio State 2 1994, 2004 (co) Laura Davis (1994)
Stacey Gordon (2004)
USC 2011, 2015 Alex Jupiter (2011)
Samantha Bricio (2015)
Wisconsin 2021, 2023 Dana Rettke (2021)
Sarah Franklin (2023)
Baylor 1 2019 Yossiana Pressley (2019)
BYU 1986 Marilissa Salmi (1986)
California 2010 Carli Lloyd (2010)
Kentucky 2020 Madison Lilley (2020)
Minnesota 2016 Sarah Wilhite (2016)
Oregon 2012 Alaina Bergsma (2012)
Texas 2022 Logan Eggleston (2022)
UCLA 1992 Natalie Williams (1992)
Washington 2013 Krista Vansant (2013)

National Freshman of the Year – Women's

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

Key

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Went on to win AVCA National Player of the Year during career


List of winners

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Division I National Freshman of the Year
Year Image Name School
2001 Stacey Gordon Ohio State
2002 Kim Glass Arizona
2003 Kanoe Kamana'o Hawai'i
2004 Sarah Pavan Nebraska
2005 Nicole Fawcett Penn State
2006 Megan Hodge Penn State
2007 Juliann Faucette Texas
2008 Kelly Murphy Florida
2009 Lauren Cook UCLA
2010 Deja McClendon Penn State
2011 Haley Eckerman Texas
2012 Ziva Recek Florida
2013 Ebony Nwanebu USC
2014 Ali Frantti Penn State
2015 Hayley Hodson Stanford
2016 Kathryn Plummer Stanford
2017 Dana Rettke Wisconsin
2018 Heather Gneiting BYU
2019 Magda Jehlárová Washington State
2020 Emily Londot Ohio State
2021 Lexi Rodriguez Nebraska
2022 Mimi Colyer Oregon
2023 Olivia Babcock Pittsburgh

Winners by school

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Penn State leads all universities with 4 selections, followed by Stanford, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Texas who each have 2 selections. The remaining schools have had 1 winner.

School Winners Year(s) Winning Player(s)
Penn State 4 2005, 2006, 2010, 2014 Nicole Fawcett (2005)
Megan Hodge (2006)
Deja McClendon (2010)
Ali Frantti (2014)
Florida 2 2008, 2012 Kelly Murphy (2008)
Ziva Recek (2012)
Nebraska 2004, 2021 Sarah Pavan (2004)
Lexi Rodriguez (2021)
Ohio State 2001, 2020 Stacey Gordon (2001)
Emily Londot (2020)
Stanford 2015, 2016 Hayley Hodson (2015)
Kathryn Plummer (2016)
Texas 2007, 2011 Juliann Faucette (2007)
Haley Eckerman (2011)
Arizona 1 2002 Kim Glass (2002)
BYU 2018 Heather Gneiting (2018)
Hawaiʻi 2003 Kanoe Kamana'o (2003)
Oregon 2022 Mimi Colyer (2022)
Pittsburgh 2023 Olivia Babcock (2023)
UCLA 2009 Lauren Cook (2009)
USC 2013 Ebony Nwanebu (2013)
Washington State 2019 Magda Jehlárová (2019)
Wisconsin 2017 Dana Rettke (2017)

National Coach of the Year – Men's teams

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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.

National Player of the Year – Men's

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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.

West Region Coach of the Year – Women

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National High School Coach of the Year

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  • 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)

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Hall of Fame

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References

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  1. ^ "Bulls Compete In Second Annual Fiesta On Siesta Key". Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  2. ^ "Volleyball Field Set for Collegiate Nationals". 9 April 2008. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  3. ^ "Dave Rubio – Volleyball Coach". University of Arizona Athletics.
  4. ^ "National Coaches of the Year | American Volleyball Coaches Association, LLC". American Volleyball Coaches Association, LLC. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
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