Episode 166 brings about the start of the the NCAA Men's National Championship Volleyball season. Even with top teams not starting or playing exhibition matches there was still plenty of Men's Volleyball happening!

Theo Edwards of CSUN, Dan Friend of Lewis, Jay Hosack of George Mason and Brad Rostratter of UCSD jump on to talk about the week that was in results, top athlete performances and news related to National Championship volleyball. Key news item discussed is the NCAA choosing not to cover men's volleyball in 2023. What can be done? Listen in-- and tag your social media with #ncaamvb! 

Jay Hosack of George Mason, and Dan Friend of Lewis are back for another run around the sun, while Brad Rosstratter of UCSD and Theo Edwards of CSUN join on! Part 2 will look at the recently completed 2022 NCAA Women's D1 Volleyball Championship vs. the Men's D1-2 Championship at UCLA in May of 2022.

The guys then roll into their 2023 NCAA Men's D1-2 preview-- picking out "dark horse" Natty Contenders, athletes to keep an eye on across the nation, and matches to watch in Week 1! And of course, a little plug for the First Point Collegiate Challenge in January!

Jay Hosack of George Mason, and Dan Friend of Lewis are back for another run around the sun with Rob! Part 1 focuses on meeting the new crew of Brad Rostratter of UCSD and Theo Edwards of CSUN, while at the same time a guest appearance from former Pepperdine Men's Volleyball Coach, David Hunt-- who is now a National Champion at Texas on the Women's side. The older coaches offer some wisdom for the young guys.

The guys all jump in to discuss ALL the coaching changes and what's happening in D1-2 Men's Volleyball, Queens University over to the MIVA, a handful of teams jumping grom the EIVA to the newly formed NEC, and what this all means for NCAA tournament expansion for the Men's side. Listen in and be sure to jump over to Part 2 in a few days.

This week's College Volleyball Weekly crew adds special guest, Jaden Whitmarsh of UCLA Beach and "Athlete Life By Jaden" to discuss the first-ever fall exhibitions/competitions in collegiate beach volleyball. Although the access to results and information was limited we try our best to evaluate the results, along with the "inside chatter" and fold in our actual on-site experience at the events that we were in-person. Topics include the East Coast Championships, West Coast Championships, AVCA Pairs Championships, Relentless Collegiate Beach Challenge and a few others in AZ, FL and in CA!

This week's episode of College Volleyball Weekly brings former Torrey Pines and Wave Volleyball standout, and current UCLA Beach star, Jaden Whitmarsh. Sure, she's got game and is known as "Ms. Clutch" when it come dual deciding matches, but she's also an aspiring sports journalist who recently started @athletelifebyjaden on Instagram.

The pieces will focus on the athlete and coach experience for collegiate athletes. So far, her guests include UCLA Men's Volleyball's, Merrick McHenry, and UCLA Beach's, Devon Newberry. She's got UCLA Beach Head Coach, Stein Metzger coming up as well!

The next few episodes of College Volleyball Weekly, Men's D1-2 Top 15 will be exploring the FOUR NCAA D1-2 Men's Volleyball teams with head coach changes. From former UCLA Assistant to Loyola Head Coach John Hawks, former women's Fresno St. Head Coach to now-Head Coach at Pepperdine, Jon Winder, to former Grand View Head Coach to current-Head Coach at Ball State, Donan Cruz, and finally to former Vanguard Head Coach to now-Head Coach at UCSD, Brad Rostratter.

In Episode 161, new Ball St. Men's Head Coach Donan Cruz discusses how his transition was in coming over from Grand View University, to Ball St., notching multiple quality wins, having his team win multiple weekly and post-season awards and heading to the NCAA D1-2 Tournament-- all in his first season. We can't fail to mention his receiving of AVCA Coach of the Year recognition! Donan ends by sharing his thoughts on the tightness of the collegiate coaching community.

The next few episodes of College Volleyball Weekly, Men's D1-2 Top 15 will be exploring the FOUR NCAA D1-2 Men's Volleyball teams with head coach changes. From former UCLA Assistant to Loyola Head Coach John Hawks, former women's Fresno St. Head Coach to now-Head Coach at Pepperdine, Jon Winder, to former Grand View Head Coach to current-Head Coach at Ball State, Donan Cruz, and finally to former Vanguard Head Coach to now-Head Coach at UCSD, Brad Rostratter.

In Episode 160, new Pepperdine Men's Head Coach Jon Winder jumps on CVW to talk about how his career journey has brought him back to Pepperdine, why he chose to accept the position and how his experience playing AND coaching along with why he wants to be a "good shepherd and steward" of the Wave Program.

After almost a 2-month hiatus, the Viral Volley Podcast is BACK!!!

The next few episodes of College Volleyball Weekly, Men's D1-2 Top 15 will be exploring the FOUR NCAA D1-2 Men's Volleyball teams with head coach changes. From former UCLA Assistant to Loyola Head Coach John Hawks, former women's Fresno St. Head Coach to now-Head Coach at Pepperdine, Jon Winder, to former Grand View Head Coach to current-Head Coach at Ball State, Donan Cruz, and finally to former Vanguard Head Coach to now-Head Coach at UCSD, Brad Rostratter.

John Hawks of Loyola discusses the process of coming to apply for the Loyola positiion, the impact of current-UCLA & USA Men's National Team Head Coach, John Speraw and others like Dr. Andrea Becker, and former UCLA Assistant, Spencer McLachlin. We'll talk about his journey throughout the MPSF (pre-Big West), going out to Ohio, coming back to UCLA, then accepting his current position at Loyola.

John then gives us a preview of his team, talks about Men's volleyball across the nation and upcoming fall competition.

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Rob-on-the-Mic sits down with the reigning AVCA AND Big West Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, Alex Nikolov. In recent weeks, Alex announced his departure from Long Beach St., but not before garnering multiple awards from the Big West AND AVCA. With Alex, "The Beach" finished the season 21-6, and played in the NCAA D1-2 Championship match.

Alex takes the time to discuss his transition to Long Beach, CA, the new culture and his new teammates, battling through the NCAA Tournament, then unexpectedly playing in Volleyball Nations League for Bulgaria. The "unexpected" continued as he signed with AS Lube in Italy to play professional indoor volleyball, his childhood dream!

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Hailey Harward closed out her collegiate beach volleyball career with 2 National Championships, AVCA and Pac-12 Pair of the Year awards and has also garnered numerous All-Pac-12 Conference awards. Hear Hailey reflect on the 2022 Collegiate Beach season, the USC Beach team's culture and leadership and playing for Head Coach, Dain Blanton.

As we step into the last few weeks of life, Hailey and Tina Graudina did something remarkable in their 1st AVP Pro Beach event together-- win a championship in Ft. Lauderdale-- against roommate and USC teammate, Julia Scoles (playing with fellow USC alumna, Geena Urango). Hailey shares how it was like advancing to the championship match, playing against Julia/Geena, and coming to their shared home from an East Coast swing with TWO AVP Championships (with Julia winning in Atlanta)!