NCVF Collegiate Club Volleyball Championships on Tap

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 31, 2010) – The National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF) Collegiate Club Volleyball Championships, run in partnership with USA Volleyball, is being held April 1-3 at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky.

The NCVF Collegiate Club Volleyball Championships, which will use Molten as the official ball, will have four divisions for men and three divisions for women. Men will compete in Division I, Division IAA, Division II and Division III. Women will have championship brackets for Division I, Division II and Division III.

“We are very excited about the 2010 NCVF Collegiate Club Volleyball Championships here in Louisville,” NCVF Secretary-Treasurer Doug Hinton said. “By having 266 quality teams registered to compete in the event is a great endorsement for our championship product. Teams will have an opportunity to compete in a great environment and have fun at the same time.”

A total of 266 college club teams are registered to compete in this year’s NCVF Collegiate Club Volleyball Championships. In Men’s Division I, UW-Oshkosh A is the top-seeded team out of 48 entries. Utah Valley A is ranked second in the division, followed by No. 3 Illinois, No. 4 Virginia Tech A and No. 5 UC Berkeley A.

In Men’s Division IAA, DuPage is the favorite and is seeded No. 1 in the 39-team division. Cincinnati is posted at No. 2, followed by Miami at No. 3, Northern Illinois at No. 4 and Iowa State A at No. 5.

Messiah is the top seeded in the Men’s Division II championship, which has 48 teams competing for the title. Other top teams in Men’s Division II include No. 2 Sonoma State, No. 3 UW-LaCrosse, No. 4 UW-Eau Claire and No. 5 Azusa Pacific.

Men’s Division III championship, with 23 teams, is led by top-seeded Illinois B. UW-Oshkosh B is seeded second, followed by No. 3 UC-Berkeley B, No. 4 Virginia Tech B and No. 5 Cal Poly B.

Ohio State A is the top seed headlining a pack of 48 teams competing in the Women’s Division I bracket. Marquette A follows as the second seed. Santa Clara is seeded No. 3, Michigan A is seeded No. 4 and Arizona A is seeded No. 5.

In Women’s Division II, Cal State Sacramento earned the top seed. Yale was seeded second, followed by Syracuse at No. 3, Southern California at No. 4 and Stanford at No. 5.

Ohio State B has been placed as the top seed in Women’s Division III, a bracket with 20 teams competing for the title. Cal Poly is seeded second, followed by Michigan State B at No. 3, UC Davis B at No. 4 and Michigan B at No. 5.

The NCVF seeding criteria include, but not limited to, the following items: 1. Team’s season results and competitive schedule; 2. Conference/Region finish; 3. Results from ‘out of conference’ tournaments; 4. Strength of conference/regional teams; 5. Ranking within region (provided by the commissioners/regional rep); 6. Balance within pools as to conference, region and geographical area.

The championship matches in all divisions will be broadcast live via Webcast with announcers calling the action. Visit http://ncvfvolleyball.org/nationals.aspx for more details on the Webcast and match results.

Although the 2010 NCFV Collegiate Club Volleyball Championships is the first year to bear the NCVF name, it will have the endorsement of many of the core leadership positions as well as conferences and teams who participated in the past national collegiate club championships. Gary Colberg, the founder of the national collegiate club volleyball championships, is in his 26th year as director of competition. Jose Jones is in his 18th year as assistant tournament director. Ric Washburn is in his eighth year as director of officials.

At last year’s NCCS Nationals held in Kansas City, Fresno State won the Men’s Division I championship, while College of DuPage capture the Men’s Division IAA title. SUNY Cortland won the 2009 NCCS Tournament Men’s Division II, and Illinois B earned the Men’s Division III title.

UC Santa Barbara won the 2009 NCCS Tournament Women’s Division I title, while Georgia won the Women’s Division II championship. Missouri B won the gold in the Women’s Division III championship.

The NCVF is an organization formed to support and create quality, organized indoor (and coming soon, outdoor) playing opportunities for collegiate club volleyball players across the country. It is made up of students, volleyball conference commissioners, player representatives, coaches, officials, trainers, recreation sports directors and many volunteers. The organization devotes 100 percent of its resources and funding toward the support of collegiate club volleyball activities. It has been organized informally for nearly two decades.

The NCVF acts as the national governing body for organized collegiate club volleyball competitions. For over two decades, NCVF volunteers have provided a full range of support for student club teams by promoting year-long affordable, organized and competitive volleyball events, and supporting a season-ending national championship tournament.

Now with the partnership with USA Volleyball, the event will see many significant enhancements. NCVF’s partnership with USA Volleyball brings added resources and specific expertise in event management and running large volleyball tournaments on multiple courts for people of all ages and abilities. USA Volleyball will provide site selection, housing and event management for the NCVF National Collegiate Club Championship Tournament.

With the combined strength of NCVF and USA Volleyball, the NCVF is in a position for sustained organizational growth, both in terms of number of teams and the various divisional assignments that encourage and support beginning through advanced-level players at the collegiate level. The partnership will extend beyond co-producing the NCVF Collegiate Volleyball Championship Tournament with planned outreach efforts through USA Volleyball to the college players. USA Volleyball will add resources to assist in officiating, coaching education and support for club programs across the country. NCVF is also planning to debut national club beach volleyball competitions and a national collegiate club beach volleyball championship next year.

Tags: Adult, club, college, college volleyball, National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF)