Illinois Men's Volleyball Club

The Illinois Men's Volleyball Club is a registered student organization at the University of Illinois that plays men's volleyball. The team is designated as a club team because the University does not have a varsity men's volleyball team.

Illinois Men's Volleyball Club
Founded1984
UniversityUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ConferenceBig Ten
LocationChampaign, Illinois
NicknameFighting Illini
ColorsOrange and Blue
Conference tournament champion
1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016

Organization

edit

The Illinois Men's Volleyball Club consists of three teams of varying competitiveness and time commitment. All three teams compete in the Big Ten Conference within the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), a conference within the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF).[1] The first team, named the 1s Team, is considered to be the best team and competes in Division I A of the NCVF and generally participates in about 12 tournaments a year, including the national tournament. The 2s Team (known as the Illinois B-team in the MIVA), considered the second-best team, competes in Division III of the NCVF and participates in about eight tournaments a year. The last team, named the 3s Team (known as the Illinois C-team in the MIVA), competes in Division III of the NCVF as well.[2]

Tryouts for all teams are held in late August/early September for 2-3 days. The season for all three teams lasts throughout the school year starting in September and ending with nationals in April.[3] On average, 80 students try out for the club and tryouts are open to any University of Illinois male student. Each team consists of about 15 players. Students may also attempt to join the team at other times throughout the year by attending several practices that are viewed as their tryout. The Illinois Men's Volleyball Club is organized and operated by player-elected officers that are chosen at the end of each season. The current officer positions are President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.[4]

The club does not have coaches, instead each team is led by a player-captain selected by their peers. The club is supported by member dues, University RSO funding, as well as fundraising events such as a T-shirt sale.[4] The designation as an RSO not only allows the club to receive university funds, but also use university buildings for practice, and be officially associated with the university.[5]

Past standings and results

edit

The Illinois Men's Volleyball Club has placed in the top ten nationally since 1999. They have also won the Big Ten Conference ten times and have five MIVA championships. While sharing a name, the Big Ten Conference within the MIVA is not associated with the official Big Ten Conference present in NCAA athletics.[6] The club competes in a Big Ten Conference championship tournament as well as the MIVA tournament and the national tournament at the end of the season. The Illinois Men's Volleyball Club Blue team also had two players named to the First Team All-Tournament team in 2007 and has had at least one player on the First Team All-Tournament team since 2003.[7] The table below displays the results of the National-Intramural Recreational Sports Association/National Club Volleyball Federation tournament and the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament.

Year National Results[7] Conference Results[6]
1997 49th -
1998 3rd -
1999 5th 2nd
2000 5th -
2001 3rd -
2002 29th -
2003 5th 3rd
2004 2nd-National Runner Up 1st
2005 3rd-Final 4 2nd
2006 3rd-Final 4 1st
2007 3rd-Final 4 1st
2008 2nd-National Runner Up 1st
2009 3rd-Final 4 1st
2010 5th-Elite 8 1st
2011 5th-Elite 8 1st
2012 3rd-Final 4 1st
2013 5th-Elite 8 1st
2014 9th-Quarter-finals 3rd
2015 9th-Quarter-finals 5th
2016 25th 1st
2017 5th 3rd
2018 25th 2nd
2019 2nd 2nd
2022 1st
2023 2nd 1st

References

edit
  1. ^ "NCVF Conferences/Leagues".
  2. ^ "Teams".
  3. ^ "Schedule".
  4. ^ a b Lunardini, Brian. "Illinois Men's Volleyball Club". Archived from the original on March 5, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  5. ^ "Registered Student Organizations". Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association". Archived from the original on March 5, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
  7. ^ a b "National-Intramural Recreational Sports Association". Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
edit