Men's Volleyball on Exhibition
The 2025 season begins this week! We got a sneak peak yesterday of three teams looking to add to the trophy cabinet this year. Let's also talk about what 2025 has instore for the VBelo Report.
The season is right around the corner with the first non-exhibition match happening on January 3rd! I want to start by saying it is good to be back. I appreciate everyone who reads and/or subscribes to the VBelo Report and I am thrilled to see what this season has in store for us. But enough of that, we have a lot to cover today, so let’s jump to it.
Preseason Coaches' Poll
I would like to say that I planned this post around the release of the preseason poll, but it is really more of a happy accident. Of all of the polls, I think the preseason might be the most interesting because it gives a decent view of how coaches view the landscape of the sport without any results getting in the way of a pure opinion. I will speculate wildly about teams later, so for now, I will just leave you with the poll.
O Canada
Let’s talk about Canada. It is becoming a tradition where Canadian teams fly south for the winter and take on some of the top US teams. I like this for three simple reasons.
Exposing fans to new teams is a great way to reinforce that volleyball is a global phenomenon.
Exhibition matches help grow the anticipation for the season and can be great ways to foster early chemistry.
I think Canada is cool.1
I wish I knew more about the Canadian teams, but alas, I only have so much time. But I learned a very important fact that now makes me love Canada even more. U Sports, the equivalent of the NCAA in Canada, utilizes elo in combination with polls in order to create rankings. Canada is using elo! For this, they have earned a place in the VBelo Hall of Fame, which I just created.2
Canadian teams are in the middle of their season and have a bit of a winter break from regular season matches. Here are the latest rankings.
Of particularly interest for today are #5 Trinity Western, #7 British Columbia (UBC), and #9 Saskatchewan. The three teams in action yesterday are all top 10 programs in Canada. A few other teams from the north will be taking the court before the regular season kicks in for some teams as well.
Thank you, Canada, for using elo and for bringing your teams to the US. Growing the game includes growing the game internationally!
The VBelo Report in 2025
I really enjoy covering men’s volleyball at the collegiate level. Going into another season, I wanted to make some small changes to the VBelo Report to make sure I have time to put a decent product out into the world. So, here is what you can expect for the 2025 with the VBelo Report:
Daily match projections and scores
Every day there is a match, you can expect to see the latest scores from the day before and VBelo projections for the day’s matches. Very formulaic and to the point. I will likely be adding very little commentary, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. If you are looking for more commentary and news, keep reading.
Weekly deep-dive/rambling/news recap
On Thursdays, I will also be sending out some combination of statistical deep-dives, news from around the league, and maybe a rambling or two. This type of content used to be scattered amongst the scores, but I am going to try and group it together this season. We will see how this experiment goes!3
Choose your own adventure!
Thanks to the fine people at Substack, these two different types of posts (from above) are separated out. You can subscribe to one or the other or both! You get the choice. Some people may want less of my rambling and just want scores (I don’t blame you). Others might want more of the narrative of what is going on this season and they care less about seeing all of the scores and projections. Others may want it all. It is totally up to you.
This post will be in the VBelo Report section of this newsletter, in case you were wondering. You can also bookmark either the pages below, if you want to do that.
More Posts on Threads
I want to be clear that I am not promising a lot of posts on Threads. Just more posts than I have done in the past. This is a low bar to clear, but I think I can do it. If you want to join the volleyball conversation over on Threads, look me up.
No paywalls
A lot of newsletters have free and premium content. Over the years, I have toyed with the idea of having a paywall, but it never felt right.4 I want to let you know that I have no plans to put anything the VBelo Report does behind a paid subscription. Volleyball is a growing sport and I am not willing to put a small sum of money in the way of any growth. If you want to say thank you, there is a link at the bottom of every newsletter, but it is in no way required or expected. I do this because I love the sport and want to see more people love it too.
Exhibition Match Scores
Canadian Mid-Season Tour
#1 UCLA def. Trinity Western
3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-19)
#13 Stanford def. Saskatchewan
3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-22)
#4 Hawaii def. British Columbia
3-0[1] (25-18, 25-14, 25-19, [22-25])5
VBelo Guest Reporter?
Lastly, if you or someone you know might be interested in contributing to the VBelo Report, let me know. I know there are plenty of great volleyball minds and I would love to feature some of them here. Feel free to send me an idea pitch and/or a sample and we can see if we can figure something out. Spread the word and I hope to hear from some of you soon!
This is probably the least important. But it still made the list.
If you have other suggestions for the VBelo Hall of Fame, let me know!
If you have strong (or weak) opinions about how the format is going, please let me know. I am very interested in your feedback.
There is a longer conversation about financially supporting independent journalism, but I will keep it short. Good journalism is worth supporting. I don’t think the VBelo Report is truly at the level of “good journalism” so using your funds to support other endeavors, feels fitting.
After the match ended at 3-0, both teams agreed to play a forth match. UBC won this match. Writing this out with set scores, is really difficult.