The inaugural Professional Volleyball Federation season launches on Wednesday, so the wait to see how American followers will react to the newest try to determine girls’s volleyball as a viable skilled sport will quickly be over.
The PVF has some robust positives. The Omaha franchise already has generated strong ticket gross sales within the volleyball-crazed state of Nebraska. The Columbus workforce was profitable in signing the perfect participant in school volleyball and the league’s No. 1 general draft decide, Asjia O’Neal. The entire franchises will play in arenas that ought to come off as big-league on TV to informal followers, if seats seen on digital camera vary might be stuffed. And rosters are graced with expert and gifted athletes who ought to ace the attention take a look at.
The startup enterprise does have some negatives to beat. The PVF was unable to deliver aboard any of the celebs of the USA Olympic workforce that received the gold medal within the 2021 Tokyo Video games. Many of the identify worth of its high gamers stems from their accomplishments within the non-traditional Athletes Limitless league that receives minimal mainstream publicity. And the deal the PVF was in a position to scare up for nationwide TV places it on a third-tier cable channel that apparently received’t televise a PVF match till the conclusion of the college-basketball common season.
Because the PVF performed no exhibition matches, VolleyballMag has no choice apart from play the problematic “Who’s greatest on paper?” sport. The resources-rich Omaha Supernovas appear to carry a major “paper” edge over the remainder of the league, with the pins-potent Atlanta Vibe maybe the subsequent greatest workforce. We’ll discover out rapidly whether or not paper bears a lot weight, because the ‘Supernovas and Vibe conflict within the PVF’s opening salvo at Omaha’s CHI Well being Middle on Wednesday night time (8 p.m. Jap, Stadium streaming sports activities community).
Search for our team-by-team breakdown later Monday.
Ten gamers of affect
Persevering with down the paper path, listed beneath, so as, are my 10 most influential gamers within the first season of the Professional Volleyball Federation. Pin hitters invariably are the difference-makers in any stage of volleyball:
Bethania De La Cruz, Omaha Supernovas: In case you are a global volleyball fan or one who has paid any consideration to the professional Athletes Limitless league, you need to be effectively conscious of the affect De La Cruz could make on a match. The 6-foot-2 famous person outdoors hitter out of the Dominican Republic initiatives because the PVF’s most bodily dominant presence. “Betty” doesn’t deliver a hammer to volleyball, she wields a sledgehammer. Her highly effective and whippet-quick proper arm and scorching top-spin leap serve have terrorized AU competitors, resulting in a first-place end on the leaderboard in 2022, second place in 2021 and sixth in 2023 (regardless of taking part in 4 fewer matches than the gamers who ranked above her). Betty averaged 4.82 kills per set through the 2023 AU season and attacked at .316 proficiency. De La Cruz, 36, is a two-time Dominican Olympian (2012 and 2021) and has carried out with distinction for golf equipment within the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Russia, France, Indonesia and Kazakhstan. Touchdown Betty within the free-agent market figures to propel the Supernovas to the highest of the PVF standings.
Leah Edmond, Atlanta Vibe: Edmond doesn’t have De La Cruz’s deep professional expertise, however the athletic 6-foot-2 outdoors hitter has a cannon for a proper arm and isn’t shy about exhibiting off her hitting energy. A local of Lexington, Kentucky, Edmond was a four-time AVCA All-American for her hometown Wildcats, incomes first-team honors as a sophomore in 2017 and as a senior in 2019. She performed within the Puerto Rican league in 2021-22, however her most important skilled accomplishments have come on American soil with Athletes Limitless. Edmond has performed in all three AU volleyball seasons, advancing up the leaderboard from fifteenth in 2021 to sixth in 2022 to first in 2023. Throughout her championship run, she was a mannequin of consistency whereas placing up eye-popping numbers. Edmond averaged 4.98 kills and three.3 digs per set and hit .304. Her explosive spikes and bubbly-yet-intense courtroom persona ought to make Leah one of many PVF’s most-popular stars.
Claire Chaussee, Grand Rapids Rise: Name her a Claire with aptitude. From the second she steps on the courtroom, Chaussee exudes an aura that screams “STAR!” A single abroad season within the high-powered Italian league with the CBF Balducci HR membership in Macerata was all of the VolleyballMag.com 2022 first-team All-American out of Louisville had underneath her belt earlier than setting the Athletes Limitless scene on fireplace. A 6-foot outdoors hitter with an aesthetically pleasing mix of athleticism and class, Chaussee led all hitters through the 2023 AU season with a median of 5.05 kills per set. That included particular person matches (all to a few units) with 17, 18, 19, 24 and 27 kills. That 27 complete equalled the AU single-match kills document. She additionally averaged 2.59 digs per set. However what actually units Chaussee aside is her leaping means. “Claire hangs within the air without end,” Rise Coach Cathy George famous. “However she can also play protection and move, with no weak spot in her sport.” Search for Chaussee to develop into an instantaneous fan favourite (VBM featured Chaussee earlier than her Louisville workforce performed Texas within the 2022 NCAA title match).
Megan Courtney Lush, Columbus Fury: Courtney Lush, 30, sports activities an impeccable volleyball resume that features two NCAA titles whereas at Penn State from 2012-15, a protracted stint with the USA nationwide workforce and loads of success in high abroad leagues. With a ability set that features taking part in outdoors hitter and libero for our nationwide workforce, she ought to be a handful for opposing coaches to counteract. She was an alternate at libero to the USA Olympic workforce within the 2021 Tokyo Video games and was named the perfect libero within the 2019 FIVB Nations League. That intriguing versatility ought to be a major asset to a Fury workforce that probably will want the 6-foot-1 Courtney Lush to shoulder a variety of the heavy lifting. She has dealt with that load earlier than because the Most Excellent Participant of the 2014 NCAA Match received by the Nittany Lions and because the Most Precious Participant of the Italian A1 league Tremendous Cup competitors in 2021-22. Followers ought to get pleasure from renewing their acquaintance with one of many PVF’s premier abilities
Nootsara Tomkom: San Diego Mojo: The primary non-OH on our listing, the 5-foot-5 Nootsara is a bundle of power and enthusiasm on the courtroom as one of many world’s elite setters. She has been a member of the nationwide workforce in her native Thailand since 2001, has been named greatest setter of the Asian championships 5 instances and took the perfect setter award within the FIVB World Grand Prix in 2012 and 2016. Nootsara, 38, additionally has competed in worldwide leagues in Spain, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Turkey and (since 2018) again dwelling in Thailand. However followers who watch Athletes Limitless have marveled at her abilities during the last two seasons. She was sixth on the AU leaderboard in 2022 and thirteenth in 2023. Nootsara is cat-quick on protection and recorded seven matches in 2023 with double-figure digs, together with a excessive of 18. The wily setter’s means to combine it up may very well be key for the Mojo, who’ve high-quality center hitters and a very good reverse (there have been two, however lefty Willow Johnson was suspended and has since signed with a professional workforce in Korea), however don’t have a real to-go terminator on the left aspect.
Alisha Childress, Vegas Thrill: A fast scan of the Las Vegas franchise’s roster produces fewer “names you realize” than many of the different groups, not a shock because the Thrill have been the seventh and final to return aboard for the inaugural marketing campaign. That places their fortunes squarely in setter Childress’ succesful and skilled palms. Underneath her maiden identify of Glass, Alisha quarterbacked Penn State to NCAA titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 with the ‘08 and ‘09 squads every going undefeated. The 2009 Nittany Lions are thought-about by many to be the best girls’s school volleyball workforce in historical past. She was a key cog in groups that received 102 consecutive matches. As a member of the USA nationwide workforce, Alisha was voted greatest setter within the 2014 World Champions (received by the Individuals) and within the 2016 Rio Olympics (through which Staff USA took the bronze medal). The 6-foot Childress, 35, got here out of retirement to compete in Athletes Limitless in 2022 and 2023. She has a legacy of successful and the Thrill determine to lean closely on her management.
Adora Anae: Orlando Valkyries: American followers haven’t seen Anae for some time, however the globetrotting 6-foot-1 outdoors hitter has honed her expertise in South Korean, Turkish, Puerto Rican, Ukrainian and Greek leagues since 2018-19. With a roster which may not have as many sure-fire standouts as many of the different PVF franchises, the Valkyries would require quick large numbers from Anae, 27, who helped her Panathinaikos membership of Athens win the 2022-23 Greek league title. The Hawai’i native was on the roster of the gold-medal-winning USA workforce within the 2018 Pan American Cup and loved a record-setting collegiate profession at Utah (2014-17), turning into the Utes’ first first-team AVCA All-American in 2017. Anae symbolizes the PVL’s purpose of giving American gamers who had performed abroad a viable volleyball choice right here at dwelling (VBM featured Anae when she left Ukraine shortly after the beginning of the struggle).
Asjia O’Neal, Columbus Fury: O’Neal enters the professional ranks with the very best of expectations, her signing alone score as a significant feather within the cap for the startup league. As a member of the USA nationwide workforce’s fitness center, she would have abroad choices, however O’Neal selected to remain at dwelling. The 24-year-old hardly may have completed extra throughout her final two seasons at Texas because the Longhorns claimed back-to-back NCAA titles. A wonderful athlete with great footwork and timing, the 6-foot-3 center is an incredible blocker, deadly on the slide, and, as Nebraska discovered within the NCAA closing, a killer server. After a stellar six-year school profession and with national-team coaching, O’Neal figures to be a fast research for the Fury, who ought to be robust within the center together with her and Jenna Rosenthal (O’Neal led Texas to the NCAA title final month).
Morgan Hentz: Atlanta Vibe: The libero who initiatives as a difference-maker within the PVF is Hentz, whose defensive prowess ought to present the Vibe’s 1-2 pin punch of Edmond and Alli Linnehan with loads of alternative for kills. The 5-foot-9 Hentz strikes like a panther and has the reactions of a Method One driver, permitting her to cowl the courtroom like a blanket. Morgan, 25, helped Stanford win three NCAA championships (2016, ‘18 and ‘19) and she or he was co-Most Excellent Participant of the 2018 NCAA Match. Hentz performed for the USA within the Volleyball Nations League in 2022 and ‘23 and was on the roster for the 2022 World Championships. Her work in Athletes Limitless within the 2022 and 2023 seasons was exemplary, incomes her back-to-back Finest Defensive Participant awards. Morgan ought to garner nice assist from followers who admire hustle and sensational digs from a sub-6-footer (VBM featured Hentz when she performed with the USA in VNL in 2022).
Emiliya Dimitrova, Grand Rapids Rise: A battle-tested veteran of abroad competitors since 2007, Dimitrova may very well be the “unfamiliar” worldwide signee who makes the largest impression on PVF followers. The 6-foot-1 left-handed reverse turned professional as a 16-year-old, has been a embellished member of the Bulgarian nationwide workforce and has performed for 13 golf equipment in six international locations (Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Japan and France). Dimitrova, 32, has been together with her workforce because the begin of camp, impressing her coaches together with her self-discipline and professionalism. “Emiliya has been a giant participant for the final 10 years over in Italy and Turkey, in among the highest-level leagues on the market,” George famous. “This isn’t new for her. Taking part in at a excessive stage is unquestionably one thing she’s snug with and has completed without end.” Odds are excessive that Dimitrova might be a success in her American debut.
PVF streaming on Stadium, Bally Reside
Lower than every week earlier than its first match, the Professional Volleyball Federation on Friday clued followers in on its streaming platforms, saying a multiyear settlement with Stadium and Bally Reside.
The Stadium community will stream chosen matches, together with the league debut between the Supernovas and Vibe on Wednesday and the Thursday-night encounter between the Fury and the Rise.
Emanating from studios in Chicago’s United Middle, the house of the NBA Bulls and the NHL Blackhawks, Stadium is on a number of free multistream channels discovered on good TVs. Chicago-based announcer Emily Ehman, a well-recognized face to VolleyballMag.com followers, might be a part of the Stadium workforce calling among the matches.
After the primary week, the sports activities community will settle right into a Match of the Week format, It additionally will produce a PFV studio present known as Professional Volleyball Weekly that can characteristic interviews with gamers and coaches.
The league additional prolonged its streaming attain in a partnership with the Bally Reside app, which would be the free outlet for almost all of its schedule, as much as 40 matches. All streamed matches will embody play-by-play and colour commentary from announcers and matches produced for Stadium additionally might be on Bally Reside.
“This distinctive settlement will enable us to broaden the publicity of Professional Volleyball Federation and its groups,” league co-founder Dave Whinham mentioned in a launch. “With the published of matches together with in-studio and digital publicity, we are able to extra successfully showcase the tales of our wonderful athletes.”
Seaside volleyball followers ought to be aware of the Bally Reside platform that streamed matches from AVP tournaments all through the 2023 season.The free Bally Reside app shouldn’t be confused with the Bally Sports activities app (sure, it IS complicated). Bally Reside has some limitations. It can’t, for instance, be used immediately on PCs, and I’ve not been in a position (in a number of makes an attempt over many months) to coerce Bally Reside into downloading to my handy-dandy Amazon Hearth pill. The app is meant to be used on IPhones, IPads and Apple TVs and literature says it’s appropriate with Android units, though I’ve seen feedback on social media from some customers disputing that declare.
The PVF’s launch included a streaming schedule via March 3, protecting the primary six weeks of a 17-week common season that runs till Could 12.
The league had introduced {that a} minimal of 10 regular-season matches could be telecast via its partnership with CBS Sports activities however the launch didn’t point out any linear TV dates. A good assumption is that protection of the PVF on a CBS platform (presumably CBS Sports activities Community) won’t kick in till after school basketball ends.
PVF notes
Carlos Cardona, who previously coached the ladies’s and males’s nationwide groups for Puerto Rico was employed as an assistant by the Fury. A local of Argentina, Cardona brings greater than 4 many years of teaching expertise to the workforce’s employees. “His resume speaks for itself,” Fury Coach Angel Perez mentioned in a launch. “Carlos is an excellent thoughts of the game, very analytical.”
The Vibe added 25-year veteran coach Sally Polhamus to their employees as an assistant underneath Todd Dagenais. Polhamus held the highest jobs at Georgia State in Atlanta from 2013-21 and at Winthrop from 2007-11 …
The Fury will put particular person match tickets on sale February 1. Tickets for all 12 Fury dwelling matches at Nationwide Enviornment in Columbus might be out there via Ticketmaster, Nationwide Enviornment, and ColumbusFury.com. The workforce mentioned that 58% of the out there seating stock is priced at $35 or much less. …
The Supernovas add an affiliate station on their statewide radio community that can present AM and FM alerts that may be picked up all through the Omaha metropolitan space. Coming aboard is KOWN-LP “The Boss,” which broadcasts at 95.7 FM and 1690 AM. The Supernovas may need one thing cooking on an area tv deal. …
The PVF has partnered with the Spalding sporting-goods firm because the league’s official internet system through the 2024 season. Spalding will present Freestanding Volleyball Techniques (which embody nets, poles and pads) to be used in all arenas. The freestanding system doesn’t want holes within the taking part in floor to sink poles. Every base holds 800 kilos of metal ballast to maintain them in place with a referee’s stand constructed into one aspect