Haleigh Washington attacks for Scandicci against Conegliano/Filippo Rubin, LVF photo In this all-things-volleyball notebook, we’ve got USA Volleyball Nations League rosters, Pro Volleyball Federation updates, news about USA players internationally and a nod to the upcoming NCAA men’s tournament. Volleyball Nations League Both the USA women’s and men’s teams have submitted their 30-player rosters for VNL.  For each round, coaches Karch Kiraly and John Speraw, respectively, can bring 14 of those players. For the Olympics, the rosters must be pared to 12 with one alternate. Play begins in Pa ..read more

Marissa Jones/Matt Smith photo Every Wednesday during the club season, VolleyballMag.com will recognize a Dream Team of eight girls volleyball players (15s to 18s age groups) who were standouts the weekend before. Players are selected EXCLUSIVELY from nominations. To nominate, coaches will need to get on our bulk email list (info at bottom). The team, most weeks, consists of the following: Setter or S/RS Setter, S/RS or RS OH OH MB MB Libero DS We include our eight-player Dream Team below, as well as others we considered, based exclusively upon nominations received. This week, our team include ..read more

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — They called her Susie, and for seven weeks, Susie, a 27-year-old American working a farm in rural Sicily, lived a life that Zana Muno had long dreamed of. She’d be on a bus by 8 in the morning, piling in with 13 others from around the globe, ranging from 70-year-old women from Sweden to peers her age from Germany and everywhere and every demographic between, and off they’d go, sometimes to the farm, sometimes on a field trip. There would be a lesson, coffee and cake at 10, lunch prep followed by, of course, “the most incredible lunch,” Zana said, another lesson, and the ..read more

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi celebrates winning the Southland Conference In the penultimate week of the collegiate beach volleyball season, our report features a conference-by-conference breakdown of the tournaments that will determine the automatic qualifiers in the NCAA’s National Collegiate Beach Championship, a 17-team, single-elimination tournament May 3-5 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Equally important, we dissect the chances of the logical contenders for the eight at-large bids.  The bracket will be announced on NCAA.com at 11 a.m. Eastern Sunday, April 28. Pac-12 Four programs from the ..read more

This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag’s weekly look at 10 things in club volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots every Tuesday through Junior Nationals this summer. • Our Dots focus this week takes us back to Philly and Dallas, where NEQ and Lone Star held Open qualifiers with fascinating results; and forward to Baltimore, where 18s Junior Nationals is prepping for a three-day run in the Charm City. Let’s start at NEQ and the 34-team 15 Open field last weekend.   A5 15 Kelly blocked its way to the title at NEQ A5 15 Kelly, which qualified previ ..read more

Sterling Foley/Volleyball World photo Variety is the main talking point when it comes to the 2024 VolleyballMag Boys Fab 50 list that honors the top 50 senior-age players in the country. This year, a record 18 states (including Rhode Island, which is likely making its first Fab 50 appearance) are represented in a sport that continues to grow in leaps and bounds in this country. California, as is custom, leads the way with 25 entries, comprising nearly half the list. There are more than 50 players listed due to a tie for the final spot (ties are not broken). Illinois held its usual top-three po ..read more

The race for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially began in February 2023 in Doha, Qatar, with the Volleyball World Elite16. The 2024 season began the first week of March back in Doha, and the final event of the Olympic qualification cycle will be the Ostrava Elite16, which ends on June 9. We’ll be providing these updates for the Beach Volleyball Olympic rankings after international points-earning tournaments: The rise of Cuba’s Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz has been as swift as it has been astonishing. Entering the 2024 beach volleyball season, they had less than 4,000 Olympic points to their ..read more

Claire Chausee of the Grand Rapids Rise is rejected by the Thrill’s Layne Van Buskirk, left, and Hannah Maddux/Jordan Anders, Vegas Thrill photo The Pro Volleyball Federation inaugural regular season is nearly finished for the first-place Atlanta Vibe, who hold a five-game lead in the win column and one in the loss column over the Omaha Supernovas.  Atlanta has two matches left, but the San Diego Mojo still have eight matches remaining to the 24-match season.  Here’s how they all stand: Team Record 1. Atlanta Vibe 17-5 2, Omaha Supernovas 12-6 3. Grand Rapids Rise 10-9 4 ..read more

The idea was to medal in Guadalajara. For Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli to play their first Challenge event in two years. To feel the pressure of being the one seed, the expectations of a medal. Of getting every team’s best shot, and to hand it right back, that their best wasn’t good enough. It didn’t work. It worked out better than planned. Brunner and Huberli did not medal in last weekend’s Guadalajara Challenge. Instead, they finished ninth, upset by qualifiers Sophie Bukovec and Heather Bansley. But those reps? That loss? They paved the way for a far bigger moment: A gold medal at this we ..read more

GCU celebrates beaeting UCLA to win the MPSF/Ken Williams photo Defending-champion UCLA got the top seed Sunday when the NCAA’s National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship bracket was announced. Long Beach State is No. 2, Grand Canyon — the team that beat UCLA in the MPSF title match — is No. 3, followed by UC Irvine and Penn State. And those two will play what will no doubt be the showcase match of the quarterfinals. Play begins Tuesday, April 30, with quarterfinals at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid. Those matches can only be seen on NCAA.com. UCLA, which won the MPSF regular season ..read more