American Volleyball Coaches Association


The American Volleyball Coaches Association 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.
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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, 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. The current president of the AVCA is Kirsten Bernthal Booth. 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 and the Association of Volleyball Professionals.
In 2006, the AVP sanctioned a combine that selected 8 players from 8 colleges and paired them into teams /Paula Gentil ). In 2007 Nebraska 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. 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

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 at Austin|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

Given out annually for Division I, II, and III women and Division I/II 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

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.
SchoolWinnersYearWinning Coach
Penn State51990, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2013Russ Rose
Nebraska51986, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2023Terry Pettit
John Cook
Florida31992, 1996, 2017Mary Wise
Stanford31991, 2001, 2016Don Shaw
John Dunning
UCLA31989, 2006, 2011Andy Banachowski
Michael Sealy
BYU22014, 2018Shawn Olmstead
Heather Olmstead
Hawai'i21982, 2009Dave Shoji
Kentucky21987, 2020Kathy DeBoer
Craig Skinner
Northern Iowa21999, 2002Iradge-Ahrabi Fard
Bobbi Peterson
Baylor12019Ryan McGuyre
California12010Rich Feller
Fresno State11984Leilani Overstreet
Illinois11985Mike Hebert
Long Beach State11998Brian Gimmillaro
Louisville12021Dani Busboom Kelly
Michigan State11995Chuck Erbe
Minnesota12015Hugh McCutcheon
Pacific11983Taras Liskevych
Pittsburgh12024Dan Fisher
San Diego12022Jennifer Petrie
Texas12012Jerritt Elliott
Texas A&M12025Jamie Morrison
UCSB11993Kathy Gregory
USC12003Mick Haley
UTSA11988Lisa Love
Washington12004Jim McLaughlin

National Assistant Coach of the Year – Women's teams

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

National Player of the Year – Women's

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

Winners by school

Stanford leads all universities with 10 total selections, followed by Long Beach State with 6 selections, Nebraska, Penn State, and Hawai'i each have 4 selections. Ohio State, Southern California, and Pittsburgh each have 2, while the remaining schools have had 1 winner.
SchoolWinnersYearWinning Player
Stanford101985, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2001,
2002, 2004, 2007, 2017, 2018		Kim Oden
Bev Oden
Cary Wendell
Kerri Walsh
Logan Tom
Ogonna Nnamani
Foluke Akinradewo
Kathryn Plummer
Long Beach State61988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998Tara Cross
Antoinnette White
Danielle Scott
Misty May
Hawaii41987, 1989, 1996, 2003Teee Williams
Angelica Ljungquist
Kim Willoughby
Nebraska41995, 2000, 2005, 2006Allison Weston
Greichaly Cepero
Christina Houghtelling
Sarah Pavan
Penn State41999, 2008, 2009, 2014Lauren Cacciamani
Nicole Fawcett
Megan Hodge
Micha Hancock
Ohio State21994, 2004 Laura Davis
Stacey Gordon
Pittsburgh22024, 2025Olivia Babcock
USC22011, 2015Alex Jupiter
Samantha Bricio
Wisconsin22021, 2023Dana Rettke
Sarah Franklin
Baylor12019Yossiana Pressley
BYU11986Marilissa Salmi
California12010Carli Lloyd
Kentucky12020Madison Lilley
Minnesota12016Sarah Wilhite
Oregon12012Alaina Bergsma
Texas12022Logan Eggleston
UCLA11992Natalie Williams
Washington12013Krista Vansant
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National Freshman of the Year – Women's

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

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.
SchoolWinnersYearWinning Player
Penn State52005, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2024Nicole Fawcett
Megan Hodge
Deja McClendon
Ali Frantti
Izzy Starck
Florida22008, 2012Kelly Murphy
Ziva Recek
Nebraska22004, 2021Sarah Pavan
Lexi Rodriguez
Ohio State22001, 2020Stacey Gordon
Emily Londot
Stanford22015, 2016Hayley Hodson
Kathryn Plummer
Texas22007, 2011Juliann Faucette
Haley Eckerman
Arizona12002Kim Glass
BYU12018Heather Gneiting
Hawaii12003Kanoe Kamana'o
Oregon12022Mimi Colyer
Pittsburgh12023Olivia Babcock
UCLA12009Lauren Cook
USC12013Ebony Nwanebu
Washington State12019Magda Jehlárová
Wisconsin12017Dana Rettke
Kentucky12025Kassie O'Brien

Positional Awards – women's

In 2025, the AVCA announced they will begin awarding positional awards in addition to the historical National Freshman, Coach, and Player of the Year Awards.

Outside Hitter of the Year

  • 2025 – Mimi Colyer, Wisconsin

Setter of the Year

  • 2025 – Bergen Reilly, Nebraska

Middle Blocker of the Year

  • 2025 – Andi Jackson, Nebraska

Opposite Hitter of the Year

Libero of the Year

  • 2025 – Rachel Van Gorp, Iowa State

National Coach of the Year – Men's teams

For Division I/II men. Stanford and Penn State 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

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

National High School Coach of the Year

  • 2024 – James Ward and Marty Woods
  • 2023 – Stephanie Gibson and Brian Wheatley
  • 2022 – Suzanne Marble and Diana Kramer
  • 2021 – Mayssa Cook and Sue Ziegler
  • 2020 – Renee Saunders and Loretta Vogel
  • 2019 – Margie McGee and Ann Schilling
  • 2018 – Zoe Bell and Heath Kufahl
  • 2017 –
  • 2016 – Jeni Case
  • 2015 – Nancy Dorsey and Jean Kesterson
  • 2014 – Al Bennett and Angie Spangenberg
  • 2013 – Kim Lauwers and Jody DeGroot
  • 2012 – Suzie Pignetti and Ron Kordes
  • 2011 – Jeff Carroll and Susan Brewer
  • 2010 – Bill Morrin and Amy Steininger
  • 2009 – Bret Almazan-Cezar and Anita Boeck
  • 2008 – Todd Garvey and Tom Turco