After a whirlwind college volleyball season, the professional volleyball scene is heating up, and the battle between the two major leagues—Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) and League One Volleyball (LOVB)—is taking center stage. On one side, PVF is cruising into its second season with eight powerhouse teams, featuring big names like Merritt Beason (the former Nebraska Cornhuskers captain) and Ally Batenhorst (the Nebraska/USC vet). But on the flip side, LOVB isn’t backing down, showcasing Olympians like Jordan Larson and Justine Wong-Orantes, along with rising stars like Lexi Rodriguez and Madisen Skinner. The talent?
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Top-notch across the board. But when it comes to the leagues themselves, well, that’s where things get interesting. According to two volleyball experts, LOVB might be trailing behind PVF in a few key areas—but it’s not about the players or the quality of play. So, what’s the real difference?
World Champion points out basic structure issues in the LOVB season
Starting January 16, LOVB kicks off its Week 2 schedule with three matches in one day. Meanwhile, PVF doesn’t bother with ‘weeks’—they’re serving up action almost every day. According to Sarah Pavan, who won the women’s gold medal at the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships, that’s where the leagues start to show their differences—and those differences might snowball into bigger issues. On her YouTube podcast, Sarah Pavan Volleyball, the former world beach volleyball champ, broke down LOVB’s scheduling headache. With 48 regular-season matches and six teams, each team gets just six home games, plus mid-season and playoff action. So, how does PVF one-up that?
In the podcast, Sarah Pavan laid it out clearly: “PVF has eight teams; each team plays each of the other teams four times—two times at home, two times away. That’s a total of 112 regular season matches and then there’s a four-team single elimination playoff so each team will play 14 home matches and most matches last season ended up drawing like 4 to 6,000 people by the end of the season.” This setup, she says, gives fans plenty of chances to watch home games, which leads to a better turnout. According to Sarah Pavan, this is the traditional volleyball model—and, not surprisingly, she’s all for it.
On the flip side, she’s not so sold on LOVB’s scheduling. “I’m not a huge fan of the LOVB system, particularly when you’re bringing four teams to a place and a couple of those teams are only playing one match,” she said, calling out the setup. But LOVB’s hands are tied by its obligations. So, what’s the deal?
Each week, LOVB will have a head-to-head match, and then, over the weekend, three matches will all land in one city. This means the home team plays two matches against two different opponents per week. Sarah Pavan’s not having it, claiming it’s not even a European model. But the plot thickens because her spouse spotted yet another issue…
The volleyball league faced several setbacks during its inaugural season
LOVB is shaking things up by hosting four games in two cities each week. The head-to-head matchup lands in one city, while the weekend games are scattered across the program’s other towns. The result? Teams play in venues where they have no real connection, in front of neutral fans. The big question: Will fans care about games that feel disconnected from their home teams? Adam Schulz, Sarah Pavan’s husband and the men’s volleyball coach at the Waterloo Warriors, brought up a solid point.
In the podcast, he said, “That decision seemed really interesting to me because I think you’re going to have people struggle to identify with their home team because they’re not playing there very often.” With so few home games, it’s a valid concern—one that might need to be addressed sooner rather than later. But the scheduling isn’t the only issue the league’s facing.
From day one, LOVB found itself under fire over a camera issue at the Gateway Center Arena. Fans flooded social media with complaints about the poor camera angles, with some pointing out how switching to graphics or replays led to missed plays. Comments like, “I don’t know who at LOVB needs to hear this, but please stick with the sideline cameras. it is crisp and good. The cuts, the switches, the missing plays… its BAD,” and “This is really rough. You can’t miss play for a graphic or replay. Also, these camera angles are so bad,” popped up all over. LOVB issued a quick apology, but by then, the damage had already been done. So, what’s next? Any thoughts on the scheduling dilemma? Let us know!
