Women's Volleyball Scholarship and Recruitment Guide (2023)

With over 444,000 high school volleyball players, how do volleyball recruits stand out from the crowd and get noticed by college coaches?

Women's volleyball is an incredibly fast-growing sport -- in 2017 there were 444,779 women high school volleyball players. Only 5.9% of these athletes compete on a collegiate volleyball team and only 1.2% play for a major school. Needless to say, being recruited into college is extremely competitive and it is imperative that athletes understand how to successfully navigate the volleyball recruitment process if they are to reach the next level.

The NCSA provides an in-depth look at the volleyball recruitment process, including insider tips from former college volleyball coaches and players. We help families determine the correct division levels, create a recruiting video that gets coaches' attention, and understand NCAA volleyball recruiting rules. If your athlete's goal is to compete on a collegiate volleyball team, this detailed information will help your family navigate the volleyball recruitment process.

The NCAA is responsible for enforcing its volleyball recruiting rules, which specify when and how coaches can proactively reach out to athletes. At the Division 1 and Division 2 levels, most communication is permitted beginning June 15 after the athlete's sophomore year of high school. On the other hand, college coaches at the Division 3 and NAIA levels have no restrictions on phone calls and electronic communications.

Improve NCAA volleyball recruiting rules and learn to communicate with college coaches.

Look at the average height, club experience, vault approaches, and position-specific skills of collegiate volleyball players to determine which division levels athletes qualify for

One of the most difficult aspects of the volleyball recruitment process is determining what division level an athlete should achieve based on their athletic talent. The good news: There are some key stats that college coaches look for when evaluating volleyball recruits. For example, at the Division 1 level, the average winger height is 6ft, with 53% of D1 wingers being 6ft or taller. Only 13% are 5'9" or smaller. Additionally, coaches expect an average approach jump of 118" from D1 wingers. Additionally, D1 coaches want athletes to have experience competing on an open club team, the most competitive division of the club .

While these are just averages, they paint a pretty clear picture of what a D1 recruit for this position looks like. Based on collegiate roster data and a survey of collegiate volleyball coaches, we have compiled a set of guidelines that illustrate the average qualifications volleyball recruits must meet at each position for each division level. For families who are unsure of which division level their athlete should focus on, these guidelines provide a great foundation to set them on the right path.

Review the average requirements for each position breakdown level.

Nearly 1,365 colleges could offer scholarships to talented volleyball athletes

For most families, one of the biggest draws to competing on a collegiate volleyball team is the appeal of receiving a volleyball scholarship. And more than 1,300 schools at the Division 1, Division 2, NAIA, and junior college levels can offer volleyball scholarships, depending on how well-funded your program is. While Division 3 schools do not offer athletic scholarships, they do help athletes seek other forms of financial aid that can cover some — or all — of tuition.

At the Division 1 level, volleyball is considered a counting sport, meaning each scholarship is a full school trip. D1 teams can award a maximum of 12 full scholarships to talented volleyball recruits. At the other divisional levels, coaches are free to split pocket money as they see fit, often giving most of the money to athletes who have the potential to make an immediate positive impact on the team's success.

Find out about volleyball scholarships and learn how to get the best scholarship offer.

Get the attention of college coaches by competing on a club team and participating in major club tournaments

There is increasing pressure on volleyball recruits to start the recruitment process earlier and earlier. According to our survey of college coaches, D1 coaches start looking for talent in the major leagues, with most applicants starting in 9th grade. For coaches in power conferences (think: Pac-12, Big Ten, ACC), coaches look for talented eighth graders as well as high school freshmen. D2 and D3 coaches reported that they begin evaluating recruits in 10th grade, and most junior collegiate coaches begin their evaluations in 11th grade.

Because of this early recruitment trend, there is a lot of pressure on volleyball recruits to become experts in the volleyball recruitment process from an early age. This means that young athletes and their families need to understand how to:

• Communicate with trainers
• Prove your academic credentials for the NCAA and/or NAIA
• Create an attention-grabbing recruiting video
• Find and participate in volleyball tournaments where college coaches will be present
• Get the club experience coaches expect from volleyball recruits

We clearly define each step of the volleyball recruitment process, explaining what families need to do and what to expect from college coaches.

Get answers to top volleyball recruiting questions and learn how to approach each step of the process.

College coaches know if they're interested in an athlete after the first 25 seconds of their volleyball recruitment video

A volleyball recruitment video is a compilation of an athlete's best shots to demonstrate her volleyball skills. Although only 3 to 5 minutes long, volleyball recruitment videos have a lot to offer as college coaches use recruitment videos to determine whether to contact a volleyball recruit or move on to the next athlete. In fact, most coaches say they can tell within the first 25 seconds of a recruitment video whether they're interested in that athlete or not.

Creating a volleyball recruitment video is both an art and a science. Based on an athlete's position and strengths, there are specific skills they should include in their video. How those skills are brought together and what games the volleyball recruit shows really depends on families and club and school coaches. We've provided a list of the skills coaches look for in each position and top tips on how to capture the footage your family needs to create the best recruiting video of your athlete.

Create a recruitment video that will capture the interest of college coaches.

Other Top Volleyball Recruitment Sites

In addition to the NCSA, there are several volleyball recruitment websites that assist families with solving their volleyball recruitment questions. OYouth Volleyball Association (JVA)is a leader in the club volleyball world, organizing and sanctioning tournaments and providing resources for clubs and players. Similar,US-Volleyballhas many resources, camps, tournaments and club affiliations to help families recruit into volleyball whatever their needs are.

College-Volleyballtraineris an excellent website dedicated to the volleyball recruitment process and is run by Matt Sonnichsen who has over 15 years experience coaching Division 1 volleyball teams.informed athleteis a great resource for families struggling with NCAA compliance. It is administered and written by Rick Allen, who has over 25 years of experience as an NCAA rules specialist, including serving as director of compliance at two major D1 schools.

The most common ways college coaches assess talent are through national qualifying tournaments and multi-day club tournaments earlier in the year.

There are some major club tournaments that volleyball recruits must attend if they are to be recruited by volleyball coaches. National qualifiers are held almost every weekend in March and April. These tournaments decide which teams compete for the junior national championship and attract the most talented club teams. College coaches know there are hundreds of elite volleyball recruits in one place to be evaluated as they compete in these events.

Volleyball recruits should also try to compete in multi-day tournaments earlier in the year. The biggest tournaments are usually held on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. and on President's Day weekend. At this point in the year, college volleyball season is over and college coaches are really ramping up their recruiting efforts. They typically haven't spent much of their recruiting budget at this point and are very keen on scouting for new talent.

Find volleyball recruitment events to help athletes get acquainted with the schools they are interested in.

Find out about the top volleyball colleges in each division and see a complete list of colleges that offer women's volleyball

With over 1,800 collegiate volleyball teams in the United States, it can be difficult to begin your college search. To give families a good starting point, we've compiled a list of all the schools that have a women's volleyball program in each division. We also reviewed the top college volleyball rankings sites to compile a list of the top volleyball colleges at each division level.

Start by looking for schools that are best suited academically, athletically and socially.

• Read more aboutUSA Volleyball's response to COVID-19.