AVCA Showcase and Big 10/Pac 12 Challenge

Volleyball  will  definitely “accentuate the positive” and “latch on to the affirmative” with two early events featuring top Women’s NCAA DI programs – the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Showcase and the Big Ten/Pac 12 Volleyball Challenge. As the song says, “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative. Latch on to the affirmative.” From the song “Accentuate the Positive” written by Johnny Mercer and performed by numerous great performing artists, including Johnny Mercer himself, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Bette Midler.

THE 2014 AVCA SHOWCASE

This year the AVCA Showcase will take place on both the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa, and the University of Nebraska campus in Lincoln, Nebraska. Because of the calendar anomaly of September 1 falling on a Monday, the Showcase dates (8/29 and 8/31) fall on the Labor Day holiday weekend. In addition to the Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12) and Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 10), the Showcase will include the Florida State University Seminoles (ACC) and the Stanford University Cardinal (Pac 12).

The AVCA Showcase opens on Friday night, August 29, with two matches, one of which highlights the ISU Cyclones versus the 3^rd ranked Stanford Cardinal at 7:00 PM CST in the Hilton Coliseum on the ISU campus. Meanwhile, the other opening round match pits the 7^th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers against the 13^th ranked Florida State Seminoles in the Bob Devaney Sports Center on the Nebraska campus, also at 7:00 PM CST.

On Sunday afternoon, August 31, the second round of matchups will occur when Nebraska and Stanford will square off at 1:00 PM CST at Nebraska while Iowa State and Florida State will do battle at Iowa State, also at 1:00 PM CST.  Check out the Big 10 network, the Cyclones network, and the Pac 12 network for live streaming or broadcasting schedules of these events. There will undoubtedly be some great volleyball here in the AVCA Showcase, Volleyball fans. If you are in the area, try to go out and support the Showcase in person. If either case, here’s a grid table with the live schedule for the AVCA Showcase.

THE 2014 BIG 10 / PAC 12 VOLLEYBALL CHALLENGE

We will see the 2014 Big 10/Pac 12 Volleyball Challenge on September 5 through September 7, the weekend following the AVCA showcase. All of the matches for the Challenge will be played in Maples Pavilion on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California. Beside Stanford as the host school, the other competitors in the Challenge include the UCLA Bruins (Pac 12), the Penn State Nittany Lions (Big 10), and the Fighting Illini from the University of Illinois (Big 10).

The Challenge opens on Friday evening, 9/5, with two matches.  In the first contest, the 1^st ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will engage the 3^rd ranked Stanford Cardinal at 6:00 PM PST.  When the smoke clears from this battle, the 11^th ranked Fighting Illini will play the UCLA Bruins in the nightcap, scheduled for 8:00 PM PST.  On Saturday 9/6, Penn State will oppose the UCLA at 5:00 PM PST and the Challenge will finish on Sunday 9/7 with Stanford battling Illinois at 11:00 AM.  Should be some great Volleyball here also. If you are in the area, try to go out and support the Challenge in person.  If not, check out the Big 10 network and the PAC 12 network for streaming or broadcast schedules.  In either case, here’s a grid table of the live schedule for the Challenge.

Wow, two great weekends of Volleyball in a row!  Let’s enjoy it and grow this wonderful sport.