Purdue's Dave Shondell asks why NCAA volleyball doesn't receive more national exposure

WEST LAFAYETTE — On the back of consecutive NCAA Elite Eight appearances, coach Dave Shondell's program is one of the most recognizable in women's college volleyball.

But even as the popularity of the sport continues to rise, getting matches aired on major networks to appeal to a wider fan base has been a challenge.

Shondell and a group of fellow coaches from across the country are asking why.

"We’re trying to come up with ideas to see how we improve our game, improve our sport," said Shondell, who is entering his 20th season as Purdue's head coach. "One of the things I told them, look where we’ve gone the last 15 years. We have improved, but it’s not because of ESPN or because of major networks."

Because of the Boilermakers' postseason success combined with being a member of the Big Ten, which has a network that uses ample air time showing volleyball matches and highlighting the league's best teams and players, Purdue found its way onto many television screens.

Purdue played eight matches on the Big Ten Network and one on ESPN2 last season, channels that air nationally via many satellite and cable providers. Fifteen more regular season matches were on Big Ten Plus, the network's subscription-based channel.

Most are not in a similar situation. 

For many college volleyball programs, coverage is rare or nonexistent, even in power conferences.

That's why Shondell and a group of 15 to 20 of the nation's top coaches have banded together, trying to leverage whatever platform they have.

They witnessed women's basketball coaches and athletes, through the power of social media, strive for gender equality during the 2021 NCAA tournament. The men's and women's tournaments were played in a bubble and it became apparent the men and women were far different in the form of luxuries provided.

Social media popularity for volleyball has exploded in recent years and for a lot of college programs is the primary way to keep fans in the loop with their program.

Purdue, for example, has more than 30,000 Twitter followers, nearly 22,000 Facebook followers and 41,000 Instagram followers. Those followings trail only men's basketball and football among Purdue athletics social media accounts.

Coaches across women's volleyball are using social media outlets to push the message across. Several have posted a graphic comparing coverage of women's basketball versus volleyball and how it is presented from a television viewing perspective.

Women's basketball had all 67 NCAA tournament games televised for the 2022 tournament. Volleyball's NCAA Division I tournament in December had 12. 

Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield noted via Twitter that it is not a volleyball versus women's basketball battle. Shondell noted the same in two separate interviews this month. 

Volleyball coaches are in favor of all 67 women's basketball games being aired, but wonder why there's such a discrepancy between the two sports.

Sheffield's Badgers defeated Nebraska in the national championship on Dec. 18, a five-set match that aired on ESPN2 and drew nearly 1.2 million viewers, according to ESPN public relations, an increase of 71 percent over the previous year's title match between Kentucky and Texas and up 119 percent from the 2019 final between Stanford and Wisconsin.

Seeking why the entire first two rounds of the NCAA tournament only aired via streaming services seems to have fallen on deaf ears and now coaches are pushing back.

"If we're not going to be champions for our own sport, who is going to be," Sheffield said in a Zoom call posted by VolleyballMag.com.

The simple answer, and the one most often heard when arguing why volleyball doesn't get more national exposure, is football. 

Women's volleyball is a fall sport and runs concurrently with college football and the NFL, which far outweigh the sport in terms of popularity and viewership. College football bowl games compete with the women's volleyball tournament for air time.

Volleyball coaches are spitballing ideas of how both can benefit without taking away from the other.

"We've been willing to adjust our season. We're playing on different nights," Creighton volleyball coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said via Zoom posted by VolleyballMag.com. "We're trying to do whatever we can. And honestly, it's been in a small committee. That's why we're trying to go national with this."

The inquiries don't stop there. 

Questions regarding gambling on college volleyball have been posed and how that may increase popularity and exposure. 

There's a lot more questions.

New ones come up weekly. Right now, many of them are unanswered because volleyball hasn't been presented on a level playing field. 

"We’re fortunate in our society, women are starting to take over jobs and responsibility. There’s women out there who have a lot of money," Shondell said. "You saw the Buick ad that 40 percent of the athletes are women and only 10 percent of it was on TV. I think there are women out there who are going to start demanding there are more women on those broadcasts.

"There’s two things I think they look at. No. 1, what else do they have to put on there? Is Indiana State playing Ball State in basketball going to draw more than Purdue (volleyball) playing Illinois State in an NCAA tournament? I don’t know the answer to that. It may very well be the basketball game. Right now we’re not part of this big package."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.