League One Volleyball (LOVB)

Want a peek into the life of a professional volleyball player? Meghan L. Hall caught up with LOVB players Asjia O'Neal and Jess Mzurik for USA TODAY's For The Win to learn more about what it takes to be a pro, what pro volleyball looks like at the elite level, and why it's so important to both of them to work with and support junior players. "I knew immediately once LOVB approached me that this is something I wanted to be a part of. I just love the fact that LOVB has their grassroots side. I think it's really important for younger kids to see that there's professional volleyball. When I was younger, I had no idea that pro volleyball even existed. It wasn't until I got to college that I really realized that was a thing. So I think it's just really cool to have this right in front of the youth's eyes, and they get to see us all the time and realize that it's not far from them at all. They can totally accomplish this, and that's really what stuck with me," said O'Neal. Mzurik said: "I worked with LOVB in college in the NIL space, and working more with clubs and youth volleyball players; that's been something that I've always loved ― coaching whenever I would go home. I would always go back to my club and help out and just be in the gym and even just play with some of the girls. I loved how they're in basically every facet of volleyball. They're in youth, they're in club, they're in college when I was in there, and now they're pro. So I thought that was really cool also that they are involved in so many different ways." Read more https://lnkd.in/gaXQPZNP

At the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, our Co-founder & CEO Katlyn Gao spoke to how to new leagues are redefining competition, engagement and sport consumption. For LOVB, that has meant building from the grassroots up with vision-aligned investors and partners who are deeply committed to building LOVB as a brand, and not just a sports league. As Katlyn shared: "For a pro product to emerge, it can't just be a competition product, it needs to be a cultural product." Watch the full panel here with panelists from SailGP and TMRW Sports: https://lnkd.in/eAi-UY33

Thanks to Anna-Louise Jackson and Fast Company for the in-depth look at women's professional sports, the progress made, and what’s needed for the next stage of growth. Stemming from the FastCo SXSW panel moderated by Tania Rahman featuring our own LOVB Austin athlete Logan Eggleston and LOVB Pro President Rosie Spaulding, much of the conversation centered around women's sports as an asset class and having not a moment, but rather, momentum. Rosie said it best: “When we first started League One Volleyball, I thought women’s sports were on the rise back in 2020. I think now we can all say that it's on fire.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/ghS5HhhC

Excited for LOVB Austin Outside Hitter and one of our Founding Athletes, Logan Eggleston, to speak at Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment's 3rd annual Business of Women's Sports Summit on April 22nd at Chelsea Factory in NYC Logan joins superstar athletes Ellie Hartje from PWHL and, Lauren Betts and Sienna Betts from UCLA basketball to talk about how athletes are building their brands off the court, and becoming major influencers and drivers of the economic growth in women’s sports. Moderated by the 6x Grand Slam winner Rennae Stubbs. For more information, visit: https://lnkd.in/epkBdRwt

What a week at SXSW! ?? ?? LOVB Salt Lake’s two-time Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Poulter joined The Female Quotient team to discuss the legacy athletes are building on and off the court. LOVB Austin star Logan Eggleston and LOVB Pro President Rosie Spaulding stopped by the Fast Company Grill to elaborate on the strategy behind creating a women’s league as a sustainable business and the value of building that ecosystem in collaboration with our athletes. Finally, LOVB Austin and Texas Longhorns standout Asjia O'Neal O’Neal stopped by the Sportico House for a live interview on their “Business Beyond the Game” podcast to share more about her experience at the professional level with LOVB and the role social media has played in her career. As we continue to elevate the sport and inspire the next generation of athletes, SXSW provided an amazing platform to connect, collaborate and showcase our vision for the future of volleyball. We were honored to be a part of this amazing event where innovation, culture and sports collide, and to share the stage with other powerful voices across the sports, business and media industries! #SXSW2025 FastCo: https://lnkd.in/gpQi9YmH FQ: https://lnkd.in/gnNaxbzY

This International Women's Day, we honor every women who is making our world a better place. At LOVB, we have incredible women - from our pro players and junior athletes, coaches across the ecosystem, our team members, investors, partners and supporters - who are working to champion the sport of volleyball and every one who plays it. Thank you all for making LOVB such a special community, and for everything you do, every day.

Our Co-Founder and CEO Katlyn Gao joined Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg's The Deal this week to talk about the rapid growth of volleyball in the United States and how to serve that market through a purpose and profit approach, as well as how we're driving commercial success to ultimately help create better life outcomes for those who play the sport. Watch the full episode of The Deal on the Bloomberg app or listen wherever you get your podcasts https://trib.al/e0u2rdB

We’re excited to announce our partnership with global luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. on the LOVB Championship Trophy, which will be awarded at the LOVB Finals on April 13 in Louisville. Tiffany & Co’s first collaboration in the sport of volleyball, the LOVB Championship Trophy made of sterling silver and stands approximately 21 inches in height and weighs approximately 13 pounds. The base is stamped with the logos of the league’s six founding teams and will include engravings of the winning team and players of each championship. At LOVB, our youth-to-pro connection is at the foundation of everything we do, so our approach to trophy design was no different. Last year, we turned to our LOVB Clubs community – who submitted sketches, essays and videos about what a new trophy for pro volleyball should look like – and selected KC Power junior club athlete Chanya Kitchaiya's idea. Tiffany & Co. took inspiration from her concept to design the trophy, embracing our full ecosystem in this exciting collaboration.? “As LOVB sets out to create the next major league, we are both humbled and incredibly proud to be working with partners like Tiffany & Co. that set the standard for the future of women’s sports,” said Rosie Spaulding, President of LOVB Pro. “As a youth-to-pro league, Tiffany & Co. understood our vision of taking inspiration from our community in the ideation stages of the trophy process, and we can’t wait to see the looks on our players' faces as they lift this magnificent trophy as professional league champions.” Handcrafted at the Tiffany & Co. hollowware workshop in Cumberland, Rhode Island, artisans employ the age-old silversmithing techniques such as flat layout, sawing, fitting & filing, soldering, filing & stoning, hardware fabrication, hand stamping, polishing and hand assembly with state-of-the-art technologies such as electroforming and sandblast etching to create the trophy over a course of approximately 20 weeks and a total of 37 hours of labor. Tiffany & Co.’s collaboration with LOVB represents the House’s nearly 200-year history of designing and handcrafting some of the world’s most revered sports trophies.? In addition to the trophy, each player on the winning team will be awarded a Tiffany T Smile Pendant in Rose Gold as a keepsake of the LOVB Finals Championship Match. Read More: https://lnkd.in/egQ4C_dd

Introducing the LOVB Icons ?? ? Starting today, League One Volleyball fans can vote for their favorite players to be recognized as a LOVB Icon – our version of an All-Star program – which honors the players who are making a difference on and off the court this first season. Recognizing more than their performance, LOVB Icons also highlights players who are helping grow the sport of volleyball and inspiring the next generation. “We’re excited to introduce a program that will recognize both the incredible talent of our LOVB players and the impact they have both on and off the court,” said Stephanie Martin, LOVB’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. “As a youth-to-pro ecosystem, it’s important that we create opportunities for fans of all ages to honor these exceptional women, and with LOVB Icons, we can bring the voices of our fans, athletes and coaches together in real celebration.” Based on a weighted scale broken down by fans (50%), players (25%) and coaches (25%), LOVB Icon voting goes through April 1,?with one lucky fan winning a trip for four to the LOVB Finals in #Louisville.

At League One Volleyball, we are focused on creating better life outcomes for girls and women through the sport of volleyball. As Women's History Month begins, we'd like to recognize the women who play in our pro league for the impacts they are making both on and off court. #womenshistorymonth