I recently attended the 2010 NCAA Women’s Division I Volleyball Final Four in Kansas City. Now, I’m nowhere near an expert on the sport, but I did cover the game at the high school level in a former life when I worked for an area newspaper, and I really enjoyed it. I also remember watching the indoor game during the Summer Olympics during my youth, and found it fascinating, but I will tell you during my two-day stint as a spectator watching the best college talent in the country go at it inside the Sprint Center, I may now be a hardcore fan for life.
Volleyball is a fast-paced, intense, edge-of-your-seat game that is in some ways, very similar to basketball. No question, size and speed matters in this sport, just like basketball. The tallest players are up front to provide power on offense and a first line of defense to block an opposing team’s shot, kind of like a center on the basketball court. Then there are some of the stronger/quicker, medium- and smaller-sized players that occupy the middle and back of the court to set up the offensive players and keep the ball in play, kind of like the point guards and forwards.
Passing and ball control are keys to success, and if just one phase of the game falters, like a house of cards, a team’s chance at success tumbles. It’s a game of runs, back-and-forth, up-and-down action. And when a team gets on one of those runs, the coach looking down that barrel has to call a timeout to slow the momentum.
What I found most intriguing about the game is how much that momentum plays a huge part in a match. Once a team gets on a roll, it’s hard for the other team to overcome that wave. In the championship match between the University of California and Penn St., the Nittany Lions took the first set, leading the whole way; however, in the final two sets, the Golden Bears led in both, but Penn St. came roaring back in each to win the title. It was their fourth consecutive championship and fifth overall.
Next year, the NCAA will begin sponsoring beach volleyball at the collegiate level. The coaches on hand for the Final Four in Kansas City weren’t sure how that was going to work, but rest assured games scheduled in northern regions of the country will be indoors.
Volleyball isn’t about cute girls in spandex jumping around knocking a ball around. These are well-conditioned athletes playing an exciting game at an extremely high level, and I’m sold on it. I would love to see it televised more next year, and maybe it was this year, and I missed it, but I didn’t do a very good job looking for it either. That will change next year. With all of the conference realignment coming next season, there may be an opportunity to see more college volleyball on television, but that is still being worked out.
One side note: Kudos to Kansas City for hosting a major college event. The Championship match had the third highest attendance in the history of the NCAA volleyball tournament. I spoke with a member of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation, and she was very enthusiastic about the city’s showing. That’s a great sign for Kansas City getting another type of event like this for the future. And with the Sprint Center being the jewel in the city’s crown, the future looks very bright.
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