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It’s your top five men’s volleyball story list, but with a twist.
Every Sunday during the men’s volleyball season I will post the top five best men’s volleyball stories of the week from around the nation. The list, though, is based more on how well the reporter wrote and covered the story rather than just what happened on the court.
I will be primarily looking at a college newspapers — they provide the majority of coverage to the sport — but occasionally I will include some well written men’s volleyball articles from professional newspapers.
Spending four years as a men’s volleyball beat reporter for The Ball State Daily News I am well aware of the challenges facing most of these reporters.
In many communities volleyball is a non-mainstream sport that has a niche following. One of the reasons I always loved covering volleyball, though, was because with every story I wrote I knew I needed to find an angle that could appeal to volleyball and non-volleyball fans.
Going beyond the boxscore and game notes to provide readers with insight on the team that they can’t got anywhere else is one of the most important skills for a sports reporter.
This list is to honor those efforts.
THON, competition await Penn State
Steven Petrella | The Daily Collegian
Penn State had two home matches this weekend, but the primary focus of the entire university was on THON, an annual on-campus philanthropy raising money and awareness for pediatric cancer. The two-day event is also one of the largest student-run fundraisers in the world. This preview story looks how the players were trying to balance playing volleyball and participating in THON.
Freshman standout Gonzalo Quiroga pursues volleyball, education in a new country
Benjamin Kelly | Daily Bruin
This personality profile story focuses on how college men’s volleyball coaches learned about Gonzalo Quiroga while growing up in Argentina and the adjustments the UCLA freshman outside attacker had to make living in the United States. Quiroga is second on the Bruins with a 2.33 kills per average this season.
USC defeats Pacific in straight sets
Sean McCormick | Daily Trojan
With USC outside attacker Murphy Troy out because of a stomach flu, this game story looks at the Trojans overcoming the loss of their National Player of the Year candidate against Pacific. Murhphy’s replacement Tanner Jensen had seven kills as USC swept Pacific on Saturday.
Lions need five set to put away Lees-McRae
Joe McIntyre | The Daily Collegian
In what would have been the greatest upset of the season, No. 9 Penn State survived in five games against Lees-McRae, a Division II team from the Conference Carolinas, on Saturday. The game story focuses on how the Nittany Lions players said they were not prepared or focused for the match.
Ball State losing streak against Ohio State reaches nine matches
Daniel Sipocz | The Ball State Daily News
This article examines Ball State’s recent struggles against Ohio State after being swept at home Friday. The loss extended the Cardinals’ losing streak against the Buckeyes to nine matches — its worst losing streak to Ohio State in the program’s 47-year history