Volleyball is a popular sport in the United States with both male and female participants of all ages. Almost all high schools and colleges in the United States have female volleyball teams, and most regions of the country have developmental programs for girls of all ages as well. While many areas of the country are forming male teams and development programs, there are still fewer opportunities for young male athletes to play volleyball in the United States than for young female athletes. Men's volleyball is a fast-growing sport among high schools, with 36 states having male volleyball programs (though in several of these states, it is organized as a club sport and not sanctioned by the state's high school governing body). Most men's seasons are in the spring while women's seasons take place primarily in the fall; however, there are a few men's teams such as in Wisconsin, Virginia, and New York who play in the fall as well.
National teams The United States men's national volleyball team has won three gold medals at the 1984, 1988, and 2008 Olympic Games, the 1986 FIVB World Championship, the 1985 and 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup, and the 2014 FIVB World League.
Meanwhile, the United States women's national volleyball team has won the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2014 FIVB World Championship, six editions of the FIVB World Grand Prix, and the 2018, 2019 and 2021 FIVB Nations League. Also, they finished second at the 1984, 2008, 2012 and 2024 Olympic Games, the 1967 and 2002 FIVB World Championship, the 2005 and 2013 FIVB World Grand Champions, and the 2011 and 2019 FIVB World Cup.
Professional volleyball As a professional sport, volleyball has had limited success in the United States. International Volleyball Association was a co-ed professional league that existed from 1975 to 1980. Numerous attempts have been made to start professional indoor women's volleyball leagues. Major League Volleyball was a women's league with six teams that played for two-and-a-half seasons from 1987 to 1989 with games shown on ESPN on tape delay; it folded mid-season in 1989, however, due to financial losses. USA Volleyball Cup is an annual indoor volleyball championship. Two-man and two-woman professional beach volleyball leagues have done better, most notably the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), but none have gained a wide following that would get them consistent coverage by the major television networks. In 2002, United States Professional Volleyball League was begun as a women's professional indoor league, but only lasted one season. In 2004 and again in 2005, NBC aired the Nissan Championship series, with Fox Sports carrying the majority of the season.
There has been a large push within the volleyball community to provide professional outlets for developing athletes. As of 2019 there are currently two leagues that branch across the United States. First of these is the National Volleyball Association (NVA) founded in 2017. The NVA currently has 12 teams. The second league is the Volleyball League of America (VLA) founded in 2019 and has 8 men's Tier 1 teams, 32 men's Tier 2 teams and 8 women's teams spread across the United States.
Professional leagues saw a resurgence in the 2020s, starting with Athletes Unlimited Volleyball (AUV) in 2021. This women's indoor league has a unique format, with 30 games taking place over five weeks and players changing teams weekly. In 2024, the first Pro Volleyball Federation season started, which featured 7 women's teams. They expanded to 8 teams in 2025, with 2 more teams set to join the league in 2026. League One Volleyball (LOVB) was started in 2020 as a network of youth volleyball clubs, and expanded in 2025 to include a women's professional league called LOVB Pro. Major League Volleyball (MLV) is set to launch in 2026, with the Omaha Supernovas of the PVF moving over to become the league's founding franchise. This will bring the number of professional women's indoor volleyball leagues in the United States up to 4.
Liga de Voleibol Superior Masculino and Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino are professional volleyball leagues in Puerto Rico.
NVA teams:
NVA members Location EstablishedLA Blaze Los Angeles, CA 2019Ontario Matadors Ontario, CA 2019Las Vegas Ramblers Las Vegas, NV 2019Southern Exposure Orlando, FL 2019Utah Stingers Saint George, UT 2019Orange County Stunners Orange County, CA 2017Team Freedom Union, NJ 2019Texas TyrantsDallas, Texas2019Dallas Tornadoes Dallas, Texas 2021Chicago Untouchables Chicago, Illinois 2021Seattle Sasquatch Seattle, Washington 2022Colorado Kraken Aurora, Colorado 2022
VLA Tier 1 teams:
VLA members Location EstablishedPhoenix Ascension Phoenix, AZ 2019Chicago Icemen Chicago, IL 2019New York Team LVC Albany, NY 2019Indiana Team Pineapple Angola, IN 2019Southern California Rising Tide Orange County, CA 2019Northeast Force Norwalk, CT 2022Boston Bounce Boston, MA 2021Chicago Sweed Chicago, IL 2022
Premier Volleyball League A new indoor professional league, the Premier Volleyball League (sanctioned by USA Volleyball), began in 2012 with a women's division. In 2013 the PVL incorporated and launched a men's division. The PVL was discontinued in 2017.
Women's tournament Team Region Founded ResultsArizona SizzleArizona20122012: 5th2013: 11th2014:11th2015: 3rdChesapeake Rising TideChesapeake Bay (Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and Virginia)20142014: 9th2015: 7thFlorida WaveFlorida20122012: 5th2013: Runners-up2014: Runners-up2015: 4thGatewayGateway (Southern Illinois and eastern Missouri)20152015: 10thTeam GEVAGarden Empire (New Jersey, most of New York, western Connecticut)20142014: 5th2015: 13thGreat LakesGreat Lakes (Illinois)20122012: 5th2013: 7th2014: 5th2015: 5thTeam IEIroquois Empire (Northeast New York State)20152015: 11thIowa IceIowa20122012: Runners-up2013: Champions2014: 3rd2015: 6thLakeshoreLakeshore (Michigan)20152015: 7thNew England Night RidersNew England2012 2012: 10th2013: 10th2014: 13th2015: 13thTeam North TexasNorth Texas20122012: 3rd2013: 5th2015: ChampionsNorCal WildfireNorthern California2012 2012: 5th2013: 4th2014: 11th2015: 10thSoCal BarricadeSouthern California2016
Men's tournament Team Region Founded ResultsArizona SizzleArizona20142014: 7th2015: 4thBadger BlizzardsWisconsin2016Chesapeake Rising TideChesapeake (Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and Virginia)20142014: Runners-up2015: 7thFlorida WaveFlorida20132013: Champions2014: 5th2015: 5thTeam GEVAGarden Empire (New Jersey, most of New York, western Connecticut)20142014: 9th2015: 11thGatewayGateway (Southern Illinois and eastern Missouri)20152015: 10thGreat LakesGreat Lakes (Illinois)20132013: Runners-up2014: Champions2015: Runners-upTeam PineappleHoosier (Indiana)20142013: Runners-up2014:4th2015: ChampionsIowa IcemenIowa20142014: 5th2015: 11thTeam IEIroquois Empire (Northeast New York State)2014 2014: 11th2015: 6thLakeshoreLakeshore (Michigan)20152015: 9thPenn BlastKeystone (Pennsylvania)2014 2014: 3rd2015: 3rdNew England Night RidersNew England2013 2013: 5th2014: 11th2015: 13thVirginia VibeOld Dominion (Virginia)20152015: 7thNorcal PremierNorthern California2013 2013: 4th2014: 9thSoCal AvalancheSouthern California20142014: 8th
Past teams Team Region Founded ResultsBadger Blizzards (Women)Wisconsin20132013: 7th2014:5thTeam EvergreenEvergreen (Eastern Washington, northern Idaho and Montana)20122012: 11th2013: 13th2014:13thGreat Plains Tornados (Women)Great Plains (Nebraska)20132013: 11thHeart of America (Women)Heart of America (Kansas, Missouri)20132013: 9th2014: 5thHoosier Exterminators (Women)Hoosier (Indiana)20122012: Champions2013: 6thUtah Unity (Women)Intermountain (Utah and Southern Idaho)20122012: 4thCarolina Flight (Women)North Carolina20142014: 4thOhio Valley Ohio Valley (Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia)20152015: 9th (W), 13th (M)Pioneer Mayhem (Women)Pioneer (Kentucky)20132013: 3rdSound Premier Volleyball Team (Women)Puget Sound (Western Washington)20122012: 9th2013: 13th2014: 10thTeam Western Empire (Men)Western Empire (Western New York)20132013: 3rdTeam Western Empire (Women)Western Empire 20122012: 9th2013: 13th2014: Champions2015: Runners-up
College volleyball
Volleyball is a popular NCAA sport, mostly for women. In the 2013-14 school year, 1064 NCAA member schools, 329 of them in the top-level Division I, sponsored women's volleyball at the varsity level, with 16,647 participants across all three divisions. At the same time, 109 schools in all three NCAA divisions combined sponsored varsity men's volleyball, with only 23 of them in Division I; the number of men's varsity volleyball players was roughly one-tenth of women's participation (1,720 to 16,647).
Men's volleyball experienced explosive growth at the Division III level in the 2010s and early 2020s. In the 2010 season (2009–10 school year), only 13 Division III schools competed within the NCAA, although many other D-III members competed outside the NCAA. The next season saw 56 teams play under D-III regulations, leading the NCAA to establish a separate Division III championship in 2012. In that season, 63 teams played D-III men's volleyball, with the number increasing to 113 by the 2022 season.
In 2012, NCAA sanctioned college beach volleyball teams for women for the first time; 14 schools sponsored the sport, with slightly more than 200 participants. The NCAA held its first beach volleyball championship in 2016, by which time nearly 50 schools were sponsoring the sport. In the 2022 season (2021–22 school year), 85 schools were sponsoring the sport.
High school volleyball
High school volleyball is a fall sport for girls and spring sport for boys (except in a few states). Schools typically have a varsity and junior varsity team, and some schools also have freshman teams. Teams play in pre-season and season competition, generally followed by a post-season that includes a regional or sectional championship and often a state championship.
While each state governs its own high school volleyball competitions through their state athletic associations, most follow the lead of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for the governance of the sport. Most volleyball rules from state to state are basically the same in the United States. However, because of the individual associations, some minor changes and variations may occur. For example, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) may allow competition to be the best of five while the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) or the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) may only allow competition to be the best of three. Today, however, most state associations are now using the same guidelines and are also using rally scoring, the best-of-five competition format, and allowing the libero to serve. In addition, most states, if not all, have adopted the plain, white polo shirt for officials as opposed to the black and white striped shirt worn in the past. Saturday, 21 November 2020
Junior volleyball Junior volleyball is played in the U.S. in many organizations such as churches, the YMCA and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), but the largest sponsoring organization is USA Volleyball, which oversees what is commonly referred to as "club volleyball" and hosts a Junior Olympic Championship each year.
In club volleyball, junior players develop their skills and knowledge of the game, usually with the purpose of playing for high school teams. Elite players also prepare for college volleyball. The club season typically lasts from the end of November until July, with the annual Junior Olympic Championships (JOs) taking place in late June, early July. Teams typically play tournaments throughout the season, establishing their ranking in the various regions and preparing for JOs or a season-ending tournament such as the Volleyball Festival, which claims to be the largest annual sporting event in the world.