VolleyMob Year in Review: May 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. May wrapped up both the NCAA men’s and beach seasons, kicked off the AVP Tour and crowned champions in the Russian Super League, Polish League and Women’s Club World Championship among others.

• Dynamo Moscow takes the Russian Super League women’s title for the second straight year, topping Dynamo Kazan.
• Polish outside hitter Michal Winiarski announced his retirement after three Polish League titles and a 2014 World Championship.
• Long Beach State’s TJ DeFalco earned the AVCA’s Division I/II men’s player of the year honors after leading the 49ers to NCAA Final Four, while also garnering first team All-America and MPSF Tournament MVP accolades.
• American beach super pair Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross called it quits.  Walsh explained the split in a Facebook post later in the month, calling Ross a true blessing in her life.
• Ohio State swept BYU to win its second straight NCAA men’s volleyball title. Nicolas Szerszen led the way with 16 kills en route to MVP honors, while the Buckeyes hit .353 in the match.
• Top seeded USC bested No. 3 seed Pepperdine 3-2 for the NCAA Beach Championship, May 7. The duel saw three of the five pairings go the distance, with a 15-13 third set win on the No. 3 line clinching the Trojans the title.
• Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena kicked off the AVP season by taking the men’s title at Huntington Beach, downing seventh seeded John Hyden and Ryan Doherty in the final. The win gave Dalhausser the most titles in “Surf City” with five, one more than former teammate Todd Rogers.
• Top seeded Emily Day and Brittany Hochevar grabbed the women’s Huntington Beach Open title, defeating Betsi Flint and Kelley Larsen in the finale.
• La Cucine Lube Civitanova Takes Italian Serie A1 title behind a .554 hitting effort and 14 blocks, with Tsvetan Sokolov managing a match-high 23 points, including 18 kills.
• Cal promotes Matt McShane to head coach.
• Cuban Orlando Samuels was tabbed as new coach of the Dominican Republic men’s team.
• Zenit Kazan became the most decorated team in Russian Superleague history with its fourth consecutive and ninth overall title. Zenit swept Dinamo Moscow for the men’s championship.
• USA Volleyball crowned its men’s and women’s collegiate beach champions. Lucas Yoder (USA) and Michael Saeta (UC Irvine) claimed the men’s title, while USC’s Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes bested teammates Terese Cannon and Nicolette Martin on the women’s side.
• VakifBank Istanbul won the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship, sweeping Brazil’s Rexona-SESC for its first title since 2013.
• The American U20 team swept Argentina for the 2017 Pan Am Cup title with help from a 13-6 blocking advancage and 16 points from captain Khalia Lanier (USC). Thayer Hall earned MVP honors at the event.
• Novara claimed its first ever Italian women’s A1 League title, topping Liu Jo Nordmeccanica Modena in the best of five series.
• The AVCA invested in the future of men’s volleyball with a $150,000 donation to the MotorMVB Foundation, a non-profit aiming to drive growth in men’s and boys’ volleyball.
• The FIVB Beach Tour moved on to Rio and two local squads brought home the 4-star event titles. Agatha/Duda won the women’s gold, while Olympic gold medalists Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt picked up their 12th career world tour win.
• Whitney Pavlik and April Ross took the AVP Austin Open championship. The win was the first tour victory for Pavlik.  Meanwhile, Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena grabbed their second straight AVP title.
• Brazil took home the U21 Pan American Cup title with a four-set win over Cuba in the final.  Victor Cardoso earned MVP honors.
• Tri Bourne announced he was withdrawing from the FIVB World Tour with a freak autoimmune illness, leaving  partner John Hyden to find a new partner.
• USA Volleyball Announced the 2018 National Championship Sites.   The Girls JNC will be in Detroit, Boys in Phoenix and the Open National Championships in Dallas.
• Kerri Walsh Jennings announced that she was teaming up with Nicole Branaugh for the remainder of the beach season.
• The Kosovo men made history, winning their first ever international set, topping Romania in Set 3 of a 2018 FIVB World Championship men’s European qualifier.
• The Slovenian men earned their first ever World Championships berth advancing through the second round of the European Qualifier. The Slovenians moved on with a 3-1 win over Belgium to take the top spot in Pool C.
• Thailand’s Supreme VC earned a spot in the 2018 FIVB Women’s Club World Championships by taking the Asian Women’s Club title with a four-set win over Japan’s Hisamitsu Springs.
• The Kosovo women made their international debut, taking on Turkey in European Qualifying.