Pro Volleyball 101
You had questions, I had answers (hopefully)
Now that the NCAA volleyball season is over, it’s time to fully dive into the realm of professional volleyball. It can be a bit daunting jumping into it for the first time, as there are new leagues, new players, and new ways of playing the game all across the world. (I promise it’s not as daunting as it sounds.)
I went on Twitter and asked what questions anyone might have to narrow the gap between NCAA volleyball fans and the pro game (which USAV can’t be bothered to do, but that’s a complaint for another time). (Note: Most of these are *my* opinion. I am not paid by anyone, I don’t represent anyone, and I don’t owe anyone anything lol)
1. What is the pro league/national team calendar?
The pro leagues and the national team follow the calendar set forth by the FIVB (think FIFA/FIBA, but for volleyball). The calendar changes slightly each year depending on which competitions are being held, but generally, it goes like this:
September–April: Pro Leagues
May–August: National Teams
The two are not allowed to overlap (and can only do so with permission from the FIVB). The 2025-2028 calendar can be found here.
2. Why are there two pro leagues in the USA?
There’s probably not a simple answer to that other than maybe, “Thanks, capitalism?” There are two organizations that want to make money and are using this sport as an opportunity. Both organizations have different mindsets on how to do that, and thus, two leagues. USA Volleyball has not endorsed one league over the other and is generally staying on the sidelines regarding the two leagues. This is not common across the world, where national federations have key input into their domestic leagues. There is more info about LOVB vs PVF vs AU here.
3. Where are the best pro leagues and how can we watch them?
Ranking the pro leagues can be a bit hard, especially since some of them do not play each other at all and their talent fluctuates from year to year.
Generally, the Italian (Lega Volley Femminile) and Turkish (Sultanlar Ligi) are considered the best leagues in the world. The Italian league can be watched on Volleyball World Tv for a monthly or yearly fee. The Turkish league is streamed on Youtube on TRT Spor Yildiz and TVF Voleybol TV
There are many other competitive leagues throughout the world. The Japanese and Polish leagues are also streamed on VBTV (as is beach volleyball). The French league is streamed on lnvtv.com (monthly fee), and the Swiss league is available on volleyballarena.tv (free). The German and Brazilian leagues are geoblocked in the USA.
We don’t yet know where LOVB will fit into this scheme. However, as they have many Olympic champions and medalists, I think they will likely fit into the upper echelon of leagues. PVF might be a lower level than LOVB (based on the players signed) and would probably align with the level of the Greek and German teams based on last year’s play.
4. Do the American leagues have a hierarchy?
No, there is no hierarchy between the two American leagues, LOVB and PVF. Both are considered “top flight”, and there is no promotion/relegation (or any connection) between the two leagues. I expect LOVB to have a higher level of play due to the players and coaches they have signed for their league.
5. As someone who typically follows NCAA VB which culminates in a championship with one crowned college team, how should I best approach pro VB with all the leagues?
I think this depends on what you find entertaining. If you want to root for a team, watch whichever league interests you and find a team that you enjoy watching (or one that is close to you). My personal approach is to find teams with Americans or NCAA alums to watch and take an interest in. I don’t think there’s any one specific way to enjoy the sport other than finding something that you enjoy watching. LOVB and PVF will both have free options to watch, allowing anyone to explore their matches.
It’s also worth mentioning that you don’t have to follow all the leagues. Time zones can be annoying, and it’s not perfect—especially for overseas ones.
If you want to build an attachment, I would suggest starting with the USA national team (or a national team of your choosing). They will begin play in May, which will allow anyone unfamiliar with the game to discover new players, old NCAA faces, or styles of play they find enjoyable. This can translate into following the pro game or leagues the following season. Or, if you don’t want to wait, the Olympic matches are archived here to explore.
If nothing else, find an alum from your NCAA team to follow. There are so many different alums across LOVB, PVF, and the international leagues.
6. When does the national team play?
The national team season will run from May to August/September next summer (2025). 2025 marks the start of a new Olympic cycle (the four years leading up to an Olympic Games). Each Olympic cycle provides a specific structure for the national teams, with FIVB making slight adjustments to the calendars.
The 2025 national team season will include the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) and the World Championship (WCH). The VNL is an annual tournament that takes place in May, June, and July. It serves as FIVB’s primary revenue generator, offering significant prize money. The tournament features a group stage held weekly across various locations worldwide, culminating in a final playoff/knockout stage to determine the champion.
Each participating team approaches the VNL differently—some treat it as seriously as any other competition, some use it as an opportunity for youth development, and others adopt a mix of both strategies.
The biggest tournament in 2025 will be the World Championships, which will take place in Thailand in August–September. This is a new development for volleyball, as the WCH used to be held every four years but has now transitioned to an every-two-year event. The World Championship is the second most prestigious event in volleyball after the Olympic Games. However, it is not the primary focus for the American team, which prioritizes the Olympics.
There are also many other regional tournaments that take place throughout the summer, where countries may send younger teams for development. We saw this last year in the NORCECA Final Six, where the USA sent some of the best NCAA athletes to compete.
More national team information can be found here.
7. What are some of the key differences in the PVF and LOVB?
I think the biggest difference between LOVB and PVF is their personnel. LOVB will have set rosters at the start of their season, consisting of players they have signed. These players cannot be cut or traded. Replacements can occur in the case of injury, but otherwise, their contracts are fully protected. PVF, on the other hand, has very fluid rosters. Players can be cut or traded at any time without any contract protections. They also have two lower-paid players, called “practice players,” who can train but not play with the team.
I think that is the biggest difference between the two leagues. Player protections are drastically less in PVF than in LOVB.
On the court, the rules should be similar. Both PVF and LOVB have slightly edited international rules to fit their own flexibility. PVF plays a triple round robin with home and away matches. LOVB also plays a round robin, but their matches are not strictly home and away. LOVB weekends consist of a set of matches based in one city, where three teams will compete. This introduces a neutral-site match for fans in that specific city (in addition to the two home team matches).
Both leagues will have playoffs at the end of their regular seasons. PVF’s top four teams (out of eight) will qualify for their playoffs, which were single elimination last year. All of LOVB’s teams qualify for the LOVB Finals, which will take place in Louisville. PVF offers their winners a split of $1 million, while LOVB has not disclosed whether they have any prize money.
Minimum pay for both leagues will be $60,000/season. We don’t have any information on LOVB’s top salaries but PVF’s top salary is at the $175,000 level. PVF has strict roster rules based on salary level. LOVB has not disclosed any of that information.
LOVB does not have any rules regarding foreign player limits. PVF’s rule in 2024 was two international players per team, but it is not clear what it will be in 2025.
As organizations, there are differences in structure. PVF has franchises that they have sold to individual owners, and each team is completely independent of the others. LOVB has central ownership, where the league controls all aspects of each team (similar to the PWHL and PLL). It seems to be LOVB’s plan to develop and sell these teams in the future. PVF’s teams have individual branding, while the LOVB teams are all based on LOVB’s central branding. PVF has more competition for players across their teams (each team has to negotiate independently), meanwhile LOVB assigned players to teams based on their own wishes as well as to create a competitive balance.
8. Where can we watch LOVB and PVF?
LOVB’s matches will be streamed on ESPN Networks or on LOVB Live (their website). That is the simplest explanation. If you watch to watch matches on LOVB Live on smart devices, streaming apps such as Women’s Sports Network and DAZN will also stream some of those matches.
Internationally, LOVB matches will air on ESPN Networks in areas associated with ESPN or Disney (Brazil, Canada, Pacific Rim, Latin America, Caribbean etc). They also have deals to stream matches in Europe via DAZN and all matches in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Macau in East Asia vis SPOTV.
The LOVB Live matches should be available if they are not broadcast in your specific location (I think).
PVF will have matches on CBSSN, Fox Sports Networks, and YouTube.
TV matches for PVF are not available to stream internationally (as far as I know). YouTube matches will remain available for anyone to stream.
9. How do they pick players for the national team competitions?
This is a question that might not be able to be answered until the women’s national team has a coach (which we do not have any information about). Typically, the national team is comprised of the best American talent committed for the full Olympic cycle. The start of the cycle (which is this upcoming year) may feature more new faces or youth experiments, as some veteran players have retired from the national team (such as Jordan Larson, Lauren Carlini, Kelsey Robinson, etc.). The USA will host the 2028 Olympics, and with that comes the benefit of not having to qualify for it. The USA does not have to worry about qualifying competitions or their world ranking for this quad; it can be focused purely on developing for LA2028. I think this will lead to younger squads in 2025 and more experimentation across the VNL with new NCAA/young professional players. This time would also allow key veteran players to have some time off, as the pro league/national team calendar is notoriously brutal (meaning they don’t get hardly any vacation time).
10. Which leagues are attracting the best talent? How does that fit in with the overseas leagues? Will collegiate players still have the desire to play overseas?
If we’re comparing LOVB and PVF strictly, LOVB has the “best” talent. Most of the former and current national team players chose LOVB, which features the most Olympic champion players of any league in the world, besides the Italian league. Morgan Hentz is the lone USA national team member (as of this past summer) in PVF. LOVB also signed the most “high-profile” NCAA players, which include Madi Skinner, Sarah Franklin, Lexi Rodriguez, Sophie Fischer, Onye Ofoegbu, and Jess Mruzik. PVF, on the other hand, held a draft to assign their drafted players to specific teams, led by Merritt Beason, Anna DeBeer, Norah Sis, and Elena Scott.
European fans won’t admit this, but both leagues have severely undercut the level of most their leagues. American players were typically cheap (and good) options for lower-level teams to fill out their roster and perhaps find a diamond in the rough to compete against the big-money teams. Without these players, these teams have to take more risks or sign players who might not be on a similar level. The top teams are less affected, as they have the buying power to bring in whoever they want, to be honest. But it does affect the depth of the leagues in Turkey and Italy. It has also affected the overall level of the French and German leagues. The top teams in Italy and Turkey will be (or should be) better than the best American teams.
I think there will still be a desire to go overseas. Some players already have, and some will in the next few weeks. Overseas offers many different opportunities, both on the court and off. Compensation could also be better in Europe than in either of the American leagues. There is also the opportunity for development against different styles of volleyball and with different styles of coaches. Several national team members (Kathryn Plummer, Dana Rettke, Avery Skinner) turned down offers from the American leagues to remain in Europe.
11. Who are the best players in the world? In the American leagues?
The best players in the world are playing all across the world right now (this could be a whole post in itself)
The most in form player in the world is probably Chinese outside hitter Li Yingying, who plays for Tianjin in the Chinese league.
The best opposites play in Italy (Isabelle Haak/Conegliano, Paola Egonu/Milano) and Turkey (Melissa Vargas/Fenerbahce, Tijana Boskovic/Eczacibasi). Conegliano is one of, if not the best team in the world right now. They are current European and World Champions.
In my opinion, the best collection of setters in the world from top to bottom is in LOVB. Jordyn Poulter, Lauren Carlini, and Micha Hancock are all top level league setters. Laura Dijkema (NED), Carli Lloyd, and Marta Bechis (ITA) also all have high level starting experience in the top leagues in the world. I think the setting position is by far the biggest strength of LOVB.
Key international players for LOVB will be Japanese Olympic libero Manani Kojima (Salt Lake), Italian middle Raphaela Folie (Houston), German national team libero Anna Pogany (Houston). These three are some of the best in their position world wide.
From an American perspective, LOVB will have nine Olympic champions including Poulter, Hancock, Jordan Thompson, Annie Drews, Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson, Haleigh Washington, Chiaka Ogbogu, and Justine Wong-Orantes. All of these players (plus Carlini) also earned silver medals at the Paris Olympics.
PVF’s best players include reigning MVP Leah Edmond, Morgan Hentz, and Brittany Abercrombie. Abercrombie, who is new the league, is coming off an Athlete’s Unlimited title and has vast international experience. Thai setter Pornpun Guepard will look to make her mark on the league.
12. Can you explain the pro/international rules vs the NCAA rules?
Pro rules are much more simpler than NCAA rules (although with the caveat that LOVB/PVF will edit these for their leagues).
In international rules, teams are limited to six subs, there is no re-entry, and liberos cannot serve. These are key differences from the NCAA which allows 15 subs per set, re-entry (think of it as players coming in and out multiple times per set for a 6-2 or a defensive specialist), and liberos can serve. This means for most pro teams all pins will play six rotations and expected to play defense (both outside hitters will be key passers). Defensive subs can be used situationally but there are no defensive specialist roles like you’d see in the NCAA.
In international play, balls cannot be played off the ceiling (they are ruled dead at that point), unlike the NCAA.
LOVB and PVF will be more flexible with these rules than their international counterparts. PVF allowed more subs last season and allowed re-entry (I believe). LOVB has not specifically said what changes they will make in league play.
13. Which will be the best teams in LOVB and PVF?
I think its hard to say until we see them competing.
For LOVB, its an entirely new league. There is not much to go off on besides maybe vibes. I think Houston and Salt Lake will be very strong teams. Houston might have my favorite roster of any of the LOVB teams.
For PVF, it’s hard because their rosters are not ever set in stone. They fluctuated with cuts and drops throughout 2024. The best player in the playoffs (Stephanie Samedy for Omaha) wasn’t even on their roster until April. So that will be TBA for the time being (I think Orlando and Omaha will be early favorites).