The History of Women's Volleyball

More than 46 million Americans play volleyball, according to the volleyball.org website. The sport is commonly offered as a competitive activity for girls in high schools across the nation. Players with excellent volleyball skills can earn full scholarships to play the sport on the collegiate level. Young women on elite university teams have opportunities to compete at the international level in pro leagues around the world.

  1. Origins

    • Volleyball has its origins in the small town of Holyoke, Massachusetts. William G. Morgan, a physical education director at a Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) invented the sport in 1895, when he melded elements of baseball, tennis, basketball and handball to create a game for his male students. The game’s net came from a tennis court. He named the sport mintonette. His players suggested he call the game volleyball as they were “volleying” the ball across the net. The sport quickly spread to other countries in North America, Latin America and Asia.

    Early Years

    • As volleyball spread around the world and competitions were organized in the early part of the 20th century, women started to play the game. Intramural teams at colleges formed and, in 1949, women competed in the first national volleyball championship sponsored by the United States Volleyball Association. A team called the Houston, Texas Eagles won the competition.

    Olympic Inclusion

    • Volleyball became an official Olympic sport in 1964. That year, at the summer games in Tokyo, Japan took the gold medal in the women’s competition. The Soviet Union won the silver medal and Poland took the bronze. During the early years of Olympic competition, Japan and the Soviet Union dominated. However, teams from Cuba, China, Brazil, Italy and the United States began to make inroads and win medals at the prestigious competition. Cuba took the gold in three straight Olympic Games, beginning in the latter part of the 20th century (1992, 1996, 2000).

    NCAA Development

    • On the college level, sports regulatory organizations began to hold competitions for volleyball during the 1960s. The first women’s college championship took place in 1970 at Long Beach State College. Sul Ross State University of Texas won the competition. College competition is now regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As with all NCAA sports, there are strict regulations for college players covering not just sports but also academics. The specific rules for all three levels of NCAA volleyball competition are found on the NCAA’s website. Penn State University, Stanford and Southern California have been the dominant college women’s teams. Penn State made history in 2009 by becoming the first school to win three consecutive NCAA championships.

    Professional Competition

    • Professional volleyball has not had much success in the United States. The Women’s Professional Volleyball Association lasted for two years in the late 1980s. Most elite college players from the United States go overseas to play professionally. The Women’s National Volleyball Association formed in late 2009 for pro competition but as of mid-2010 no games had been played.