When the First Serve goes live Wednesday night at the Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta, it will mean much more than just the start of a volleyball match to so many people.
The six-team pro league has 91 athletes - not a small number - but it's part of a larger League One Volleyball community that boasts 58 junior clubs and more than 17,300 players and 3,000 coaches. What's more, there are so many people behind the scenes making this new pro league happen.
"The level of belonging we've already created is what I'm most proud of," said LOVB CEO and Co-Founder Katlyn Gao.
"It's exciting to get started," said Rosie Spaulding, President of LOVB Pro. "It's a really big milestone. We have big dreams to make volleyball a major league sport and this is a huge step in that direction."
On Wednesday, January 8, that step happens when LOVB Salt Lake and LOVB Atlanta start the inaugural LOVB pro season.
The quick facts:
LOVB Salt Lake, coached by U.S. Olympic assistant Tama Miyashiro, features two U.S. Olympians, setter Jordyn Poulter and middle blocker Haleigh Washington. It's a team loaded with talent and a strong mix of veterans and youngsters and punctuated with former area players.
LOVB Atlanta, led by Brazilian coach Paulo Coco, is anchored by Kelsey Cook, a three-time Olympian who is not only the team's Founding Athlete, but the first athlete signed by the league. LOVB Atlanta features several U.S. and foreign national-teamers.
"It’s fitting that the first match will take place in Atlanta, the home city of our very first signee," Tom Hogan, LOVB VP of Sport Tom Hogan added.
The First Serves continue Thursday in the Fort Bend County Epicenter southwest of Houston when LOVB Houston plays host to LOVB Austin. On Friday in the same venue, LOVB Madison opens its season against LOVB Austin, followed by LOVB Omaha doing the same against LOVB Houston.
The teams have played test matches, simulating the real thing. The big takeaway from those? Good luck with predictions.
"One of the interesting distinctions for LOVB is that we're centrally owned, and they really have tried to make these teams as even as possible," said LOVB Madison's Annie Schumacher, another two-time Olympian for the USA.
"I think we saw it when we went to Salt Lake for the scrimmage. No one knew who was going to do what or who was going to play or who was even going to be good."
She smiled.
"If I had made a bracket or predictions on how those scrimmages would go, I would have lost all my money. These teams are even, and that's really cool. It's not like a traditional pro structure where certain franchises have different budgets."
Annie said having completed rosters from the start adds to that balance.
"Coaches are not having to build their teams," she said. "You have great coaches who are assigned great players and we're making it work. And that's really interesting."
The concept of competing changes because of that, she said.
"In pro volleyball, you go somewhere where you match their system or you would work well under their coach or you have a good connection with their setter. That's not the case here, and that's really cool. That means the championship is completely up for grabs."
Which circles us back to Katlyn Gao, who is both giddy with excitement and anxious for this to begin.
"Anyone who says they're only excited and not worried about a thing has never launched a pro league before," she said with a laugh.
By all indications, it's all systems go. There have been test matches, every detail has seemingly been considered, and the volleyball world gets to watch the 7:30 p.m. Eastern start on ESPN+. Not that Katlyn will sit back and relax.
"I will be watching and thinking of a million ways for us to improve it and adjust and make it better,” she laughed.
“But I will also be full of gratitude for how many people self-elected into this with a unified collective vision of what this can be.”
