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HISTORY
The University of Iowa Men's Volleyball Club was founded in 1985 and completely reorganized in the Spring of 1998. The purpose of the club is threefold: to promote the sport of volleyball on campus, to increase the skills of the club members through a higher level of competition than is generally available recreationally, and to field competitive teams at the intercollegiate and regional levels. There is not much documented history between 1993 and 1996 or from 2005-2012. The following is a brief overview of the history of Iowa Men's Volleyball:
In the 1987-1988 season, the club only had one team that travelled around the Midwest. Half of the matches played this season were against other college club teams, while the other half were against local clubs. The coach, Jody, was from Winnipeg, Canada, and coached while working on her Doctorate at Iowa. She played collegiate in Canada and, in April of 88, the team drove up to Winnipeg to play several teams in her home city.
The 1988-1989 season was very similar to the previous season. The team played more collegiate clubs and fewer local clubs. Very little funds and very little fundraising resulted in the team not competing in any real tournaments.
The 1989-1990 season was a break-out year. The team replaced their t-shirts with numbers on them with actual jerseys. This was also the first year an official tryout was held. This is also the year the Big Ten Men's Volleyball Association (BTMVA) was formed, and Iowa worked closely with Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State to make this conference possible. Every match this season was against a college club team, no more local clubs.
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At the end of the 89-90 season, Iowa made it first appearance at Club Nationals, held at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
The 1990-1991 season was the first financially stable season. The school gave the club team money for the first time, and received a sponsorship from Nike and Zubaz (The colorful, tiger striped workout pants). The team received full warm-ups from Zubaz. Tryouts for the 90-91 season yielded enough players to field two full teams for the first time ever. The BTMVA had its first preseason tournaments, and the first ever BTMVA championships. Iowa played a full Big Ten season this year, and went on to compete in the Club Nationals for the second time, held at the Air Force Academy this year.
The 1991-1992 season was the most successful and organized season to date. Almost 60 people showed up for the tryouts. Also, this season, Iowa played host to one of the BTMVA preseason tournaments in the newly constructed South Gym. This was also the inaugural season of the Barnstorming tour. The idea behind the Barnstorming tour was to travel to small towns around Iowa and play matches in local gyms and local high schools against other Iowa teams, such as Iowa State and Graceland. One trip, to the small town of Hull, IA (population 1,000), had big signs welcoming the teams on Main Street. The entire High School gym was filled to capacity, and after the match the players were mobbed by people asking for autographs and pictures. Celebrities for a night. This year ended with the team competing at the Club Nationals tournament at SUNY in Buffalo, NY.
The 1992-1993 season was another successful season for the Iowa men's team. This year led the Hawkeyes to Austin, TX, for the national championship tournament. The team ended up placing 28th in the nation after beating up on both Virginia and Virginia Tech, ultimately losing, ultimately losing to UC Davis in a very close match.
1993-1996: The dark ages.
Since we reformed in 1998 we have joined and successfully competed in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), Big Ten Men's Volleyball Association (BTMVA), and the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball Association (MCVA). In addition, we also hosted the 1st Annual Hawkeye Spring Classic in March 1999.
The 1999-2000 season was a very successful one. We had two very successful tournaments. The 1st Annual Hawkeye Fall Invitational ran flawlessly, and the 2nd Annual Hawkeye Spring Classic featured 23 teams. There was great competition, not to mention a great party that night. In addition to our successful tournaments, we performed well on the court. We placed 3rd in the BTMVA, 5th at MIVA's, and tied for 24th place in our first appearance at the NIRSA national tournament in Reno, NV.
Our 2000-2001 season was one of the most successful to date. We hosted two solid tournaments (The 2nd Annual Hawkeye Fall Invitational and the 3rd Annual Hawkeye Spring Classic) and played very well. We finished tied for 5th at MIVA's, and surprised everyone at the NIRSA national tournament by finishing 5th in the nation.
The 2001-2002 season proved to be another great season. This year, we hosted the 3rd Annual Hawkeye Fall Invitational and the 4th Annual Hawkeye Spring Classic, and both were a great success. The competition in the Big Ten this season was the toughest I have ever seen, and we still managed to finish right in the middle. We also played some varsity programs this year, and fared very well against them.
The 2002-2003 season was our third year at the NIRSA National tournament, held in Dallas, TX. We had match point to go to the Gold division for the second year in a row, but couldn't pull through, and ended up in 24th place.
The 2002-2003 season was another good year for the program. This year, we hosted the 4th Annual Hawkeye Fall Invitational and the 5th Annual Hawkeye Spring Classic, and both were a great success. The Midwest teams were very strong this year, with six teams seeded in the top 20 at Nationals. Iowa finished the season strong, tying for 5th at the MIVA championships and finishing 25th at the NIRSA national championships, held in Columbus, OH. The NIRSA national tournament had the most teams ever entered, with over 230 teams total and 58 teams in men's division 1. Once again, the Hawkeyes missed the Gold division at nationals by a few points
The 2003-2004 season started off very promising, but injuries plagued the team. At one point, the Black team roster was down to five players. This year, we hosted the 5th Annual Hawkeye Fall Invitational and the 6th Annual Hawkeye Spring Classic, and both were a great success. The Midwest teams were very strong again this year, with seven teams finishing in the top 10 at Nationals. Things were rough and Iowa ended up in the Men's Div 1AA at the NIRSA national championships, held in Charlotte, NC. Once again, the NIRSA national tournament had the most teams ever entered, with 236 teams.
2004-2013: The Ice Age
2014-2015: This season brought a large class of seniors and freshman together. With the age gab came its difficulties and it took some time for the chemistry to develop. During our 7th Annual Black and Gold Spring Challenge we were able to place 2nd in our own tournament falling in the finals to UW Oshkosh. We were able to finish in the top 8 at the Michigan State Hardwood Classic and finished strong in our other tournaments in the Fall. When the regular season arrived we were playing the best volleyball we had all year. We competed with the very best teams all year long and had some great games and some bad. At nationals we played in the Division 2 level and we finished 3-4.
2015-2016: Another year with a lot of ups and downs, but the season ended on a high note. During the pre-season the team started off strong and placed 2nd in the Mizzou Tournament, but didn't have another top finish in the following tournaments. However, the regular season showed some promise. We were able to finish 2nd at our own tournament and playing well in the Big Ten Championships right before nationals. The 2016 NCVF National Tournament ended up being one of our best finishes yet. After starting out the tournament 1-4, we strung together 4 straight wins to win the Silver Bracket Championship.
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2016-2017: With the success we have at Nationals the previous year we had high hopes for the new season. In the pre-season we finished 3rd at our home tournament and finished in the top 5 at Mizzou. The regular season brought even more success as we won our home tournament, finsished top 10 at the MIVA Championships and placed 6th at the Purdue Round Robin. With players missing and injuries plaguing the team our record at nationals wasn't great, but we still had fun!