It’s no surprise basketball fans point to the other sport played in a gymnasium.
Volleyball was voted by Mid-Major Madness fans as their favorite non-football fall sport. Volleyball received 41% of the vote to beat out soccer (29%), cross country (24%) and tennis (6%).
Mid-major schools were some of the top programs in the 20th century, specifically in the 1980s by winning six of the first nine NCAA championships. Hawai’i reached the mountaintop three times in the ’80s (1982, 1983, and 1987) and placed
second two times (1988 and 1996). Pacific went back-to-back in 1985 and 1986. The Tigers also reached the title match in 1990. Long Beach State won three national titles (1989, 1993 and 1998) and finished runner-up twice (1991 and 2001). The only mid-major program to play in the title match over the last 25 years was BYU (as a member of the WCC), which finished runner-up to Penn State in 2014.
There’s a strong connection between basketball and volleyball, as many players play both growing up and sometimes even in college. Brooklyn Meyer, who was a standout basketball player at South Dakota State for the last four years, joined the Jackrabbit volleyball team this past season.
Speaking of this volleyball season, there are some marquee matches and venues. We already saw Spikes Under the Lights at AT&T Stadium, the Players Era Showcase in Las Vegas and the State Farm Volleyball Showcase at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., over the first few days of the season. The Players Era included UNLV.
There will be a doubleheader at Wrigley Field this Sunday. The following week features the Paradise Invitational in the Bahamas. That showcase is opposite a match at The Palestra. While all those events feature only power-conference teams, the Pentagon welcomes South Dakota and South Dakota State in for the South Dakota Lottery Volleyball Classic along with Minnesota and Washington Sept. 18-19.
Safe to say volleyball is gaining popularity. Omaha took on Nebraska in front of a Guinness world record 92,003 fans fust three years ago.
“Volleyball is next,” Candace Parker said during TNT’s broadcast of Spikes under the Lights, which included No. 1 Nebraska. “It’s honestly going to be one of those sports that is so fun to watch. To take it in, see the talent level, it’s unbelievable.”
Parker played volleyball in high school, and her daughter, Lailaa Williams, committed to play volleyball at UC San Diego, beginning next year.
Watch out for the Triton volleyball program the next couple of years.
But before that, let’s enjoy this season because it’s going to be great.
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