Recruiting Overview
Empower Volleyball maintains a strong commitment to helping all players achieve their goals. From Division 1 to Junior College and everything in-between, the opportunities to play at the next level are many for Volleyball, and we are committed to helping you realize your potential and play at the next level.
Each Empower Volleyball Club player receives a complimentary profile on our college recruiting platform, Sports Recruits. With Empower Volleyball and Sports Recruits helping you on this journey, there is no need to invest in expensive recruiting services.
SPORTS RECRUITS
Sports Recruits offers a valuable experience for college recruiting research, management, video storage, sharing and creation as well as player evaluations. This platform supports the mission of our club and allows us to deliver a multitude of valuable services to our community.
Club families 8th grade and up will automatically receive access to Sports Recruits upon the receipt of team offers.
See below for details on the additional support that will be offered through Sports Recruits and Empower Volleyball.
1) College matching resource.
2) Film, highlight videos, player tagging and creating
- Unlimited, free professional highlight videos, for all players, done in minutes
-Share game film across the club and take clips for training or highlight videos
3) Analysis: See Academic and Financial Information across target list schools.
4) Evaluations tool - A tool we can use for all ages and levels in the club. This will be add transparency to future tryout processes and allow us to evaluate our athletes year-round.
5) Team Locker - Available to all age levels of the club, we can easily share training videos, event/practice schedules, and other content to all of our members.
Resources
We also recommend the following resources:
- Sports Recruits Recruiting Guide
- University Athlete (Free Recruiting Profile)
- NCAA.org (Recruiting information)
- NCAA Eligibility Center (DI & DII)
- College Board (College Search and Admission Tools)
- FAFSA (Calculates Federal Aid Eligibility)
- FreeRecruitingWebinar.org (Educates on every aspect of athletic recruiting)
- Petersons.com (College Search Engine)
- What Do I Look for in a Recruiting Video
VOLLEYBALL RECRUITING GUIDELINES AND HOW TO USE THEM
To get an idea of what it takes to be a college volleyball player, athletes need to consider the average height of college volleyball players, as well as the desired measurables for their position and necessary club experience. Here’s why each of these factors are important to include:
- Average height of a college volleyball player: These are the average sizes of current college volleyball players. At D1 colleges and higher level D2 programs, most volleyball players are close to these average heights when they start the recruiting process. However, at the NAIA, D3 and junior college levels, athletes might still be growing into their height while in high school and even as freshmen in college. In other words, recruits don’t necessarily need to be this size as freshmen to get recruited, but they probably do need to be close to these averages if they’re serious about competing at the D1 level.
Club and high school experience: In volleyball, club experience is one of the most important factors in the recruiting process. Not only does club participation increase an athlete’s likelihood of getting noticed by college coaches, but it also shows coaches that athletes have been tested against some of the best volleyball players in the country. Within the club volleyball scene, there are different levels of competitiveness. Athletes interested in competing at a D1 college need some experience competing at the most elite level of club competition to prove they’re ready for the rigors of D1 play. - Volleyball-specific stats: When coaches evaluate recruits, they do a quick check of their height, block jump, approach jump, attack jump and standing reach (position dependent) to make sure recruits have the baseline requirements for playing at that school. However, the requirements that coaches look for will change slightly from school to school. These guidelines represent an overall average, based on data from the AVCA, as well as the top 80th percentile. Athletes should also check in with college coaches of interest to discover what their specific requirements are for recruits.
- These guidelines aren’t going to answer every question on how good an athlete needs to be, but they are meant to be used as just that: guidelines. Families should use them to get a better understanding of what division levels their athlete is best suited for.
The average vertical jump for volleyball players will depend on the athlete’s position and division level. Overall, 19–20 inches is the average vertical jump for outsider hitters, right side hitters and middle blockers. The average vertical jump for setters is approximately 18–19 inches. Defensive specialists and liberos have an average vertical of about 18 inches.
Overall, the average height of a college volleyball player is around 5’10”. However, there are position- and division-specific averages that volleyball players should take into account when trying to determine their best division level. For example, the average Division 3 setter is 5’7”, but the average Division 1 right side hitter is 6’1”. Review the averages for division levels and positions below.
A 7’9” standing reach is the college average for middle blockers and outside and right side hitters. The college-level standing reach for setters is approximately 7’5”, and liberos should be around 7”.
Recruiting guidelines by position
| Skill | College Average | 80th Percentile of College Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| Standing reach | 7'9" | 8'1" |
| Attack jump | 9'3" | 9'7" |
| Vertical jump | 19.8" | 23.1" |
| Block jump | 9'3" | 9'6.5" |
Division 1
- Average height of college volleyball player: 6’1”
- Average height range: 43.2% of athletes are 6’2” and over
- Club experience: Open-level playing experience
Division 2
- Average volleyball player height: 6’0”
- Average height range: 60.3% of athletes are between 5’11” and 6’1”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
Division 3
- Average volleyball player height: 5’11”
- Average height range: 61% of athletes are between 5’10” and 6’0”
- Club experience: National and regional club level experience
NAIA
- Average volleyball player height: 5’11”
- Average height range: 60.6% of athletes are between 5’10” and 6’0”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
| Skill | College Average | 80th Percentile of College Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| Standing reach | 7'4.5" | 7'8.5" |
| Attack jump | 8'9" | 9'1" |
| Vertical jump | 18.9" | 21.5" |
| Block jump | 8'9.5" | 9'1.5" |
Division 1
- Average height of college volleyball player: 5’10”
- Average height range: 52% of athletes are between 5’9” and 5’11”
- Club experience: Open-level playing experience
Division 2
- Average volleyball player height: 5’8”
- Average height range: 54% of athletes are between 5’7” and 5’9”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
Division 3
- Average volleyball player height: 5’7”
- Average height range: 52% of athletes are between 5’6” and 5’8”
- Club experience: National and regional club level experience
NAIA
- Average volleyball player height: 5’7”
- Average height range: 47.6% of athletes are between 5’6” and 5’8”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
| Skill | College Average | 80th Percentile of College Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| Standing reach | 7'0" | 7'2.5" |
| Attack jump | 8'5" | 8'8.5" |
| Vertical jump | 18.3" | 20.4" |
| Block jump | 8'3.5" | 8'8" |
Division 1
- Average height of college volleyball player: 5’6”
- Average height range: 50% of athletes are between 5’5” and 5’7”
- Club experience: Open-level playing experience
Division 2
- Average volleyball player height: 5’5”
- Average height range: 64% of athletes are between 5’4” and 5’7”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
Division 3
- Average volleyball player height: 5’5”
- Average height range: 54.6% of athletes are between 5’4” and 5’6”
- Club experience: National and regional club level experience
NAIA
- Average volleyball player height: 5’5”
- Average height range: 48% of athletes are between 5’4” and 5’6”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
| Skill | College Average | 80th Percentile of College Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| Standing reach | 7'9" | 8'1" |
| Attack jump | 9'3" | 9'7" |
| Vertical jump | 20.5" | 23.2" |
| Block jump | 9'3" | 9'7" |
Division 1
- Average height of college volleyball player: 6’1”
- Average height range: 74.5% of athletes are 6’0” and taller
- Club experience: Open-level playing experience
Division 2
- Average volleyball player height: 5’11”
- Average height range: 41.7% of athletes are 6’0” and taller
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
Division 3
- Average volleyball player height: 5’10”
- Average height range: 52% of athletes are between 5’8” and 5’10”
- Club experience: National and regional club level experience
NAIA
- Average volleyball player height: 5’10”
- Average height range: 51. 9% of athletes are between 5’10” and 6’0”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
| Skill | College Average | 80th Percentile of College Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| Standing reach | 7'9" | 7'10.5" |
| Attack jump | 9'1" | 9'5" |
| Vertical jump | 19.9" | 22.6" |
| Block jump | 9'1" | 9'5" |
Division 1
- Average height of college volleyball player: 6’0”
- Average height range: 53% of players 6’0” and over
- Club experience: Open-level playing experience
Division 2
- Average volleyball player height: 5’10”
- Average height range: 19.8% of athletes are 6’0” and taller; 61% of athletes are between 5’9” and 5’11”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred
Division 3
- Average volleyball player height: 5’9”
- Average height range: 58.4% of players are between 5’8” to 5’10”
- Club experience: National and regional club level experience
NAIA
- Average volleyball player height: 5’10”
- Average height range: 55.7% of athletes are between 5’8” and 5’10”
- Club experience: National-level experience; open level preferred