WVC Holding 22nd Annual State Championships

The 2013 Wisconsin Volleyball Conference (WVC) is hosting the 22^nd annual WVC State Championships March 29-30 at UW Oshkosh’s Kolf Arena and Albee Hall. Twenty nine teams are slated to compete in three divisions: women’s varsity, men’s JV and men’s varsity.

 The tournament is free to the public and kicks off at 4:30 Friday afternoon. Both the women’s and men’s varsity divisions will compete at Kolf Arena while the men’s JV division will compete at Albee Hall.  

All championship matches will take place in Kolf Arena on Saturday, March 30. The women’s championship match is scheduled for 3 pm, followed by the men’s JV championship and 4 pm and the men’s varsity championship at 5 pm.

The WVC is a nationally renowned intercollegiate conference boasting 20 men’s teams and 14 women’s teams from state universities and private colleges across Wisconsin. As of 2013, the WVC has generated 11 national champions and 8 runners-up.

“The cool thing is that this is largely student-run.” Jason Smith, WVC Commissioner said. “We’re seeing a lot of players stepping up to lead their teams this year, and old leaders improving their programs to make this a strong, competitive conference.”

The WVC is started in 1992, and works closely with Badger Region Volleyball Association and the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation to provide a credible collegiate varsity playing experience.

This year marks the 22^nd anniversary of the WVC State Championship, and WVC Commissioner Jason Smith is excited to bring the tournament back to UW Oshkosh for the third consecutive year.

“We are really excited about this year’s state tournament.” Smith said. “It should be great. The men’s varsity division is great. Oshkosh has won the tournament the past several years and have a legitimate shot at winning a national championship. Whitewater is playing really well this year a chance, and have a chance to get to finals and maybe upset Oshkosh."

Smith also looks forward to watching the highly competitive men’s JV teams duke it out on the court.

“Our JV division is outstanding as well.” Smith said. “We have 10 teams competing this year. There are two solid Oshkosh teams and solid Marquette team. They are all really good, and there is a lot of parity in that division this year. It will make for some great competition.”  

The women’s varsity division is a fairly new edition to the WVC State Championships and has seen significant growth during its six seasons. There are currently 14 women’s teams in the WVC, and 12 are competing this weekend.

“We’re so excited with the growth we have seen on the women’s side.” Smith said. “Eau Claire and Lacrosse are definitely favorites, but it will be a great weekend of competition.”

The WVC holds an annual awards ceremony in conjunction with the State Championships where they hand out a variety of awards including men’s and women’s scholar athlete, libero of the year, MVP and sportsman of the year.

This year’s awards ceremony will be held Friday, March 29 at 7:30 pm in Kolf Arena.

“We changed it to Friday away from Saturday last year and are doing that again this year.” Smith said. "We’re taking a break for the half-hour ceremony so all players can be there. Last year, we had 600 in the gym and it was a really neat atmosphere.”