Volleyball Tournaments: The Importance in Getting Recruited

Volleyball tournaments provide the perfect environment to get evaluated by college coaches at your target schools. Knowing what tournaments to attend are key to getting the right kind of exposure to get recruited. To find women’s volleyball tournaments near you, search NCSA’s list below and get answers to top questions about volleyball tournaments.

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You must let college coaches know what tournaments you plan to attend, if you want to get evaluated. Share your tournament schedule on your NCSA Recruiting Profile. Create a profile today.

What should you expect from volleyball tournaments?

Athletes will arrive at the tournament venue early, generally around 7am. Players will have time to review their schedule and warm up as a team. Most tournaments are run using the pool play format where teams will play 2 out of 3 sets to 25 points rally score with a coin toss mid-game to switch sides on the court.

How do volleyball tournaments work?

Volleyball tournaments are typically either single or double elimination.

Single Elimination: During a single elimination tournament, two teams compete, with the winning team advancing and the losing team eliminated from the competition. Teams will continue to advance until there are only two teams left. Both teams will face off to determine a winner.

Double Elimination: In a double elimination format, there are two brackets, a winners and losers’ bracket. The winner of the first-round advances to the winners’ bracket, while the losing teams drop into the losers’ bracket for the second round. Any team that loses for the second time is eliminated. The tournament plays out until there are two final teams, one from the winners and one from the losers’ bracket. Both teams face off to decide a winner. If the unbeaten teams wins the first match, the tournament is over. If the one-loss team wins, both teams play a second time to determine the championship.

How long do volleyball tournaments last?

It depends on whether the tournament is single or double elimination, but most volleyball tournaments last 8-10 hours and can occur in one day or span over the course of three or more days.

What are the USA Volleyball National Qualifiers?

College-bound volleyball players must attend National Qualifiers, especially if they are interested in getting recruited by Division 1 coaches. These are massive volleyball tournaments that take place across the country through the months of March and April, with two or three volleyball tournaments hosted each weekend. The National Qualifiers determine which teams get a bid for the National Championships, and they attract the attention of hundreds of college coaches.

There are a few reasons these volleyball tournaments are so well attended by college coaches:

Coaches have access to hundreds of talented recruits all in one place, so they can limit their traveling for the year.
These volleyball tournaments take place in the college volleyball offseason, when coaches have more time to devote to their recruiting efforts.
Organizations host National Qualifiers all across the country, which means that college coaches can likely find a few in their backyard and save time traveling.

When planning which National Qualifiers to attend, recruits should keep their recruiting goals in mind. Coaches typically attend events in their region. If a recruit is interested in Texas colleges, she should look into attending at least one National Qualifier in Texas. If the recruit’s club doesn’t plan on traveling to her regions of interest, she can sign up for a National Qualifier volleyball tournament as an individual, given there are spots available. When doing so, the athlete will need to know the five junior nationals divisions:

Open Division: This is the most competitive division with the highest level of play. Teams must qualify to be in this division.
National Division: This division is designed to showcase teams that are strong in their region. Teams must qualify to be in this division.
USA Division: This division has similar level of competition to the National Division, with the goal of showcasing regionally strong teams; the only difference is in their qualification process.
American Division: This is the last division that can qualify for a National Qualifier, and typically has a slightly lower level of play than the previous three divisions.
Patriot Division: Unlike the other divisions, teams don’t have to qualify for this division. These teams also don’t get bids for the National Championship tournament.

Volleyball recruiting tip: Athletes should make sure that they film games from these tournaments and create an updated volleyball recruiting video, preferably for each National Qualifier. Then, they should send the video out to coaches of interest.

What are early season non-national qualifier tournaments?

Recruits also need to attend multi-day club volleyball tournaments at the beginning of the year. In January and February, college volleyball coaches really focus on their recruiting efforts. As the club season progresses, the urgency of recruiting often fades for college coaches, as budgets run out and coaches prepare for the spring season. The most popular weekends for multi-day volleyball tournaments are Martin Luther King weekend and President’s Day weekend.

Attending the right multi-day tournament again comes down to picking a volleyball club team that aligns with an athlete’s recruiting goals. The recruit needs to make sure she’s at volleyball tournaments taking place in the region she wants to attend college to maximize her exposure to those coaches. USA Volleyball sanctions volleyball tournaments across the country and post events on their website. These will be the primary spots where families can look for MLK or President’s Day weekend tournaments in their area.

How much does it cost to get into volleyball tournaments?

Local, recreational volleyball tournaments generally cost less than $100. Athletes can expect to pay significantly more for travel/club tournaments, which can range anywhere from $500 to $3,000+. Cost can be dependent on location, tournament schedule and coaching staff.

Conclusion

Finding the right volleyball tournaments to help you get recruited depends on what college division levels you are most interested in. Once you know your tournament schedule, post your schedule on your NCSA Recruiting Profile.

Create a free recruiting profile today. 

Learn more about the different types of volleyball events:

Volleyball camps
Volleyball combines
Volleyball clinics
Volleyball showcases