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. April was full of international club championships, hirings in the collegiate and international ranks and streaks in the men’s and beach games leading up to conference championships on both sides.
- LBSU Beach’s Nele Barber and Rachel Nieto broke school records for single season and career wins on the No. 1 line.
- Volero Zurich pushed its domestic win streak to 180 matches, clinching their 12th Swiss Cup title with a win over Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen.
- The Women’s Club World Championships field was completed as the four wildcard teams were introduced.
- Brazilian star Thaisa Daher suffers gruesome ankle injury in Champions League. The dislocation kept the middle blocker out for several weeks.
- Twelve Division I coaches receive AVCA’s Thirty Under 30 award, including assistant coaches in the Ohio State men’s and women’s programs.
- USC beach duo Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes tallied their 100th consecutive win together against Washington.
- The Long Beach State men won its first MPSF title since 2001, moving to 16-2 in league action with a sweep of Cal State Northridge. The 49ers went on to win the MPSF tournament title as well.
- Claes/Hughes’s win streak ended at 103 matches as the USC duo fell to St. Mary’s Lindsey Knudsen and Payton Rund.
- Ohio State went 16-0 in MIVA action, earning the top seed in the league’s tournament. The Buckeyes went on to win the tournament crown, its 16th, with a sweep of Grand Canyon.
- The MIVA announced an 11-member inaugural Hall of Fame class, including three 1984 gold medalists and six individuals associated with Ohio State.
- Russia bested Italy to win their third gold medal at the U18 European Girls Championship.
- Wisconsin setter Lauren Carlini became the first volleyball player ever to win the AAU James E. Sullivan award, which is given to the top amateur athlete in the United States each year.
- Barton earned the top seed in Conference Carolinas Tournament with tiebreaker over King (TN). Both finished 16-2 in league action to earn their first ever Conference Carolinas title.
- Stanford honored alumna Kerri Walsh Jennings by naming its beach Court 1 in her honor.
- The No. 13 Penn State men clinched at least a share of the EIVA title with a sweep of Charleston (W.V.). The Nittany Lions went on to win the league’s tournament title and automatic NCAA berth.
- Kerri Walsh Jennings sued the AVP Tour operator for breach of contract for $150,000 effectively ending her association with the group.
- LSU beach wrapped the regular season on a 20-match win streak, while also setting a program record with 22 victories.
- Tunisia’s Club Feminin de Carthage won its first ever Women’s African Club Championship, defeating Egypt’s Shams in five sets.
- Dinamo Kazan captured the women’s CEV Cup title over Unet Yamamay Busto Arsizio.
- With the 2017 NCAA men’s championships still ahead, the NCAA announced the host sites for the 2019 to 2022 events on the men’s and women’s sides.
- USC Beach continued its dominance, topping No. 2 UCLA to win its 60th straight match.
- Americans Emily Stockman and Kimberly Dicello took the gold at the FIVB Langkawi one-star event.
- Oregon hired Matt Ulmer to take over its women’s program, replacing Jim Moore, who stepped down in March amidst accusations.
- Brazil’s Barbara/Fernanda and Dutch duo Brouwer/Meeuwsen win gold at FIVB Xiamen Three Star.
- Rexona SESC Rio De Janiero won its fifth straight Brazilian Superleague women’s title and 12th overall, downing Volei Nestle Osasco in five sets.
- VakifBank Istanbul of Turkey’s first division won the 2017 European Women’s Champions League title, besting host Conegliano in the gold medal match. Three American women were named to the tournament’s Dream Team: Kelsey Robinson, Rachel Adams and Kimberly Hill.
- In women’s collegiate indoor news, longtime California head coach Rich Feller, the most successful coach in program history, retired after 18th years with the school and 32 overall in coaching.
- China turned to its first ever foreign coach to lead its men’s national team, hiring Argentinian Raul Lozano, who has previously coached the national teams in Spain, Poland, Germany and Iran.
- USC’s 62 match win streak ended at the Pac-12 Beach Championships, but the Trojans recovered to win the league title.
- Canadian Volleyballer Sharone Vernon-Evans recorded the second highest spike height in history, touching 12-feet 6 ½ inches.
- Zenit Kazan swept Sir Sicoma Colussi Perugia for the CEV Champions League men’s title.
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