LOUISVILLE — Greetings from the site of the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship, where we’ll be in the KFC Yum! Center all day Wednesday for practices and news conferences for Pittsburgh, Louisville, Nebraska and Penn State.
This is another potpourri edition of Volleyball Today, because Karch Kiraly added assistants to his USA men’s national team, an NCAA team hired a coach, USA Volleyball will honor our friend Bill Forrester, and we have more good news from ESPN about its volleyball broadcasts.
Kiraly tabs Slabe, Weber
Not surprisingly, after he resigned as head coach at NC State, Luke Slabe will join the staff of new USA men’s coach Karch Kiraly. He was one of Kiraly’s assistants when the USA women won gold in Tokyo. Kiraly also added Argentinian Javier Weber.
Read the USA Volleyball news release here.
Frier Award goes to Bill Forrester
USA Volleyball will honor longtime official and event administrator Bill Forrester with the prestigious Harold T. Friermood “Frier” Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 USA Volleyball Hall of Fame. The award is USA Volleyball’s highest honor, recognizing individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to volleyball in the United States.
The Hall of Fame at the Dorothy C. Boyce Banquet will be held May 21, 2025, in Denver, just before the USA Volleyball Open National Championship begins at the Colorado Convention Center.
USA Volleyball previously honored Forrester with the George J. Fisher Leader in Volleyball Award in 2004 and the Glenn G. Davies Referee Service Award in 1999. He is the organization’s 57th recipient of the Frier Award.
Read the USA Volleyball news release here.
Tarleton State hires Jazmyne Johnson
Tarleton State of Stephenville, Texas, which finished 7-22 last season, 2-14 in the WAC, has hired Louisiana assistant Jazmyne Johnson as its head coach.
Johnson, who was with the Ragin’ Cajuns for four years, played at Mississippi State.
Read the Tarleton news release here.
Most-watched NCAA volleyball regionals
Thanks to Larry Hamel for this breakdown of the news that ESPN had more record-breaking numbers last week:
Televising the regional rounds of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament on platforms with greater visibility produced outstanding results for ABC/ESPN. Total-average viewership for the eight round of 16 matches (all on ESPN2) and the four regional finals (three on ESPN2, one on ABC) spread over four days saw an astounding 98% increase over 2023. ESPN PR noted they were the…
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