VolleyMob Year in Review: June 2017

As 2017 winds down, VolleyMob is taking a look back at the past year in volleyball with a month by month recap of the year that was. June was filled with beach volleyball on both the AVP and FIVB Tours, while the indoor focus turned to the FIVB Men’s World League and women’s Pan American Cup and Montreaux Masters tournaments.

• The men’s 2017 World League tournament began with a record 36 teams in the field.
• Slovakia hired a new men’s head coach in Andrej Kavarik, promoting him just ahead of World League action beginning. Slovakia was set to host Group 2 play.
• The United States stumbled out of the gate at the World League Tournament, kicking off action 0-3 in Pool A1 play.
• The Montreaux Volley Masters tournament, which featured six FIVB Top 15 teams including Olympic champion China, kicked off in Switzerland, June 6.
• Brazil’s Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes captured their 15th FIVB World Tour gold, taking the Moscow Three-Star with a straight set win over Summer Ross and Brooke Sweat.  Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena took the men’s title.
• April Ross and Lauren Fendrick earned their first AVP Tour title as partners, winning the New York City Open.  Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb won on the men’s side, giving Crabb his first ever AVP title.
• Italy’s Giulio Sabbi joined an elite group of just 40 players ever to notch 30 points or more in FIVB World League history.
• Trentino Volley president Diego Mosna proposed that all teams in Italy skip CEV European Champions League play in 2018 due to an overcrowded schedule.
• Russian middle blocker Ilia Vlasov injured his ankle in the team’s sweep of Poland in World League’s third week of action. He went on to miss the next two matches of pool play as well as both of the team’s Final Six round matches.
• Luke Reynolds was named head coach of the Berlin Recycling Volleys, which advanced to the CEV Champions League Final Four. Reynolds was most recently and assistant coach with Jastrzebski Weglem in the Polish league.
• Estonia advanced to World League Group 3 championship match in its tournament debut, and went on to take the title over Spain.
• Americans Kelly Larsen/Betsi Flint snagged their first FIVB World Tour medal with the title at the Tangshan Two-Star event.
• Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta and Carol Horta won the Monaco One-Star event, marking their first FIVB gold since teaming up earlier in the season.
• The Hague FIVB Beach event was decided with Brazil’s Carolina Salgado and Maria Antonelli winning the crown, becoming just the second duo in World Tour history to make it through two qualifying matches and go on to win the main draw.  Russia’s Nikita Liamin and Viacheslav Krasilnikov made their second straight finals appearance, winning gold on the men’s side.
• Despite a rough start, the United States men made the Final Six of World League group 1 action with help from Argentina. The Americans joined Russia, Canada, France, Serbia and host Brazil.
• Legendary Pepperdine men’s coach Marv Dunphy announced his retirement after 34 years with the program.
• We celebrated the 45th anniversary of Title IX by delving into the newest NCAA participation numbers.
• The United States and the Dominican Republic advanced to the finals of the women’s Pan American Cup. In the end, the Americans claimed their record fifth title, making the USA the winning country in the event’s 16 year history. Micha Hancock was named Pan Am Cup MVP.
• Cuba’s Heidy Casanova’s squad finished fifth at the Pan American Cup, but the star earned her place in tournament history, notching an event record 41 points against Canada.
• Slovenia brought home the FIVB World League Group 2 title, avenging its lone loss with a sweep of Japan.
• Stafford Slick and Billy Allen won their first AVP title of the year and posted their fourth straight Top 5 finish by taking the AVP Seattle Open. Summer Ross and Brooke Sweat won on the women’s side.
• Eighty volleyball players were nominated for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award, including Wisconsin star Lauren Carlini, Kansas libero Cassie Wait and SEC Player of the Year Krystal Rivers from Alabama.
• All-Pac-12 Performer Torrey Van Winden announced she was transferring from UCLA to Cal Poly. The move would later come into play as the two sides faced off in the NCAA Tournament.