Are you currently playing volleyball in the Netherlands and do you want to become a student-athlete in the USA? Or are you just curious about college volleyball? Anyone who wants to learn more about this popular college sport: keep reading…
College volleyball is one of the fastest growing NCAA sports! In the 1970s it was just a small part of college sports at many American universities, currently there are nearly 2000 women’s teams spread all over the USA! In the US, volleyball is a bigger sport among women, but it is also played by men.
College Volleyball scholarships within college volleyball are currently offered to women at almost every major university. The ‘ultimate top’ of women’s volleyball programs can be found at Stanford, Nebraska, and UCLA. In the first and second divisions, men’s teams can be found at a total of 43 universities. The University of Hawaii, Pepperdine and Long Beach State are considered the top 3 in men’s volleyball. For men’s volleyball players, it’s usually a lot tougher to battle for a good spot in a college team: teams have fewer places available and a smaller budget to spend on scholarships.
Division I, II en III
Volleyball is played in all five major collegiate divisions: Division I, II en III, the NAIA and the NJCAA. The growing popularity of volleyball in the US has led to substantial investments in volleyball programs at universities. Scholarships are offered within all divisions, but within Division III these are only academic. Many other differences can be found between divisions I, II and III, read more about this below.
The women’s championship matches within Division I (D1) are broadcasted on national television and are viewed with high ratings. In addition, the competitions attract tens of thousands of live visitors! In D1, volleyball is played at the highest level, which is why universities often place high athletic and academic demands on their players. Since these universities generally have the most budget to spend, most ‘full-ride scholarships’ are offered here. The level within D1 competitions is very high, many volleyball players within this competition move, after college, on to national teams or professional teams.
D1 universities are seen as the most prestigious and competitive universities, but there is always competition in College Volleyball. The D2 universities know how to be competitive as well! Besides that, it is not always the case that there is much difference in level within these divisions, but D2 universities are generally more lenient with athletic and academic requirements.
D3 universities have less strict requirements for players. But just like in the other divisions, there are many universities with great athletic programs within Division 3.
Ron Zwerver & Slamstox!
Ron Zwerver: former volleyball international, golden medal winner in the Olympics and former volleyball coach at Oregon State University. Slamstox is proud to partner with Ron, who knows everything about College Volleyball!
Ron knows how beautiful the volleyball sport in the USA is, how special the atmosphere is within the college volleyball games and how beautiful the facilities at the universities are. That is why Ron wants to work with us to make sure that your dream of playing College Volleyball in the USA can become a reality.
Want to learn more about Ron? Check the video below!
More about College Volleyball
Sometimes the scoring system of college sports in the USA can be different from what you are used to. In College Volleyball, the scoring system is similar to regular volleyball: the winner of a match is determined by the well-known ‘best of five’. A set is won by the team that achieves 25 points first and wins by at least 2 points.
As you may have understood by now, volleyball is a very popular college sport that is growing faster and faster. The NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) has reported that approximately 444,779 girls play high-school volleyball every year, both for performance and recreational purposes. Many American high-school students are competing in high school competitions for the sport in which they wish to receive a scholarship for College, just as it works for non-Americans. Only 5.8% of these 444,779 students go on to play College Volleyball at a university, with 1% of that group ending up in Division 1.
Those numbers show that there is high competition within College Volleyball, which is why it is important to take care of your recruiting process as well as possible. You do not simply want to find the highest spot available, but mainly want to find the best suitable spot for you. Your ambitions on both an academic and athletic level must be in line with the university and sports competition in which you will end up. Thanks to Ron’s help, we ensure that we find the best possible place for you!
Do you want to know more about the process of going to the USA? Read more about it here!
All loyal Slamstox readers have now realized how special the facilities for student-athletes in the USA are. The NCAA released this article in which the 9 most beautiful and largest College Volleyball arenas can be seen. And they look really great, so go check it out! Do you see yourself playing matches there?
Volleybal Fun facts
Do you think you know everything about volleyball? We hope to tell you something new with our fun facts, because did you know that…
- The sport ‘Volleyball’ was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan? Thanks to William we can enjoy this sport every day!
- The first world championships for men were held in 1949 and for women in 1952?
- Volleyball became part of the Olympic Games in 1964?
- The average height of female players in College Volleyball is 1.80? That is quit long for American standards. Volleyball coaches also pay attention to this within the recruiting process!
- The average volleyball player jumps 300 times (!) per match ?! Need some strong legs for that!
- A number of characteristics of volleyball can be traced back to badminton, tennis and handball?
- Volleyball was first called ‘Mintonette’ and later got its current name?
- Volleyball is the second popular sport worldwide ?! Soccer is number one.
- The longest volleyball game ever was played in Kingston, North Carolina? The game lasted 75 hours and 30 minutes!
We hope you’ve learned more about College Volleyball with this article & gotten as excited about it as we are.
Would you like to know now whether you can become a student athlete in America with your volleyball skills? Or would you like more information?? Reach out & we help you!
Curious how we can help you? Take a look at the volleyball page on our website!
