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Every conference will be equally represented on the voting committee for the AVCA national coaches poll this season.
The AVCA unveiled that five head coaches from each of the four college men’s volleyball conferences — the Conference Carolinas, EIVA, MIVA and MPSF — will comprise its 20-person voting committee.
The AVCA national coaches poll ranks the top 15 teams in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball and is released every Monday afternoon during the regular season. It is also the only national coaches poll in the sport.
While MPSF schools historically have comprised more than half the teams ranked in coaches poll, the significant amount of West Coast is not a result of conference bias from the voting committee demographics.
This is the second consecutive year the EIVA, MIVA and MPSF each have five head coaches on the voting committee. In addition, it is the first time the Conference Carolinas has equally representation on the committee.
Along with this change, three first-year head coaches will make their coaches poll voting debut. George Mason coach Jay Hosack, Loyola coach Mark Hulse and USC coach Jeff Nygaard are all voting committee members this season.
The Conference Carolinas had three members on the voting committee last season and two members in 2014.
Check out the 20-person voting committee for the national coaches poll and the breakdown by conference affiliation.
Voters from Conference Carolinas
David Heller, Mount Olive
Paul Lawson, Pfeiffer
Jeff Lennox, Barton
Brandon Skweres, Limestone
Cole Tallman, Erskine
Voters from EIVA
Brian Baise, Harvard
Jay Hosack, George Mason
Mark Pavlik, Penn State
Mike Rumbaugh, St. Francis
Sam Shweisky, Princeton
Voters from MIVA
Dan Friend, Lewis
Pete Hanson, Ohio State
Mark Hulse, Loyola
Nikki Sanlin, McKendree
Joel Walton, Ball State
Voters from MPSF
David Kniffin, UC Irvine
Alan Knipe, Long Beach State
Jeff Nygaard, USC
Derek Schmitt, Cal Baptist
Charlie Wade, Hawai’i