US women’s sports and success usually go hand in hand, but that’s not always been the case for the country’s volleyball team. Prior to the last couple of decades, the women’s team would enjoy spurts of success but ultimately consistently remain among the also-rans alongside the likes of Italy and Serbia, while Russia and China usually ruled supreme.
Fast forward to now, following twenty years of sustained success that has seen the team win medals at every FIVB World Cup since 2003 and the Gold medal at the 2020 Olympics. Something has clearly changed. At the time of writing, the USA is ranked as the third-best team in the world and is always considered a major challenger at every tournament. That continued increase in popularity has also caused a ripple effect in the sports betting industry. There are more bets placed at the best volleyball betting sites across the States than ever before.
So, what is behind this gradual but consistent improvement that has led to the country now being thought of in the same breath as the most successful nations? Increased funding and a clearer focus towards the sport obviously come into play, but it goes further than that – right back to grassroots volleyball and the quality of collegiate programs through the NCAA.
Make no bones about it, without the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), that success would not have happened. The NCAA is more than just a help to Women’s Volleyball; it is its backbone. The program has consistently churned out talented athletes who have gone on to represent the country at the highest level and push it to the top echelons of the world rankings.
NCAA Volleyball has become the Nation’s Talent Pipeline
Could anyone argue against the notion that the NCAA has almost single-handedly propelled the nation’s success at international level? We’re talking about the program identifying raw talent at a young age and nurturing it through a woman’s most transformative years until the end result is a world-class athlete.
Not just sparingly but consistently. It’s rinse and repeat, with starlet after starlet hitting the national team. Moreover, these programs are not a walk in the park. In fact, the collegiate programs across the nation, and in particular, at Stanford and Penn State, are some of the world’s most rigorous. They push young women to the limits, both physically and mentally, so that they can meet the demands at the top level.
As a result, many of the students who excel at the college level usually make it to the US national team. There are many examples starting with Kelsey Robinson who has been a mainstay in the national team since 2014 and became a three-time Olympian because of it. The outside hitter came through the NCAA via stints at the University of Tennessee and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Andrea Drews is another, with her NCAA tutelage at Purdue becoming the foundation for winning a Gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was initially spotted due to her size, standing at 6-foot-4, and possessing an extremely powerful left arm.
We could reel off a list as long as our arm of other examples. Kathryn Plummer, Justine Wong-Orantes, and Avery Skinner are just some of the more recent former NCAA players who can be proud to have pulled on the US jersey.
NCAA has Made the Sport Popular Again
People often assume the quality of the coaching and facilities provided by the NCAA is responsible for this conveyor belt of athletic talent now funnelling through the US Women’s team. It’s certainly a factor and a big one at that, but another major contributing factor is the sport’s newfound popularity. That’s something else the NCAA can take credit for creating.
Today, the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship attracts millions of viewers each year. More viewers equals more inspired eyes who could potentially become the next sporting talent to make it to the top tier of volleyball.
And the future of Women’s Volleyball?
If the trajectory of the US Women’s team continues as it has in the last couple of decades, you’d have to imagine it will start to dominate. At the very minimum, it is expected that the USA will remain one of the top three teams in the world.
With the money now funnelled into the sport through the NCAA, and the quality of the coaching alongside the state-of-the-art facilities athletes now have access to, we’re at the stage where success should be expected. Most other countries cannot compete with the above, so anything short of continued success would be seen as a failure.
That’s how far the NCAA has helped the US national team. It’s now expected to achieve when, previously, success was merely hoped for.
