Get ready Cougars, because the ‘House is about to have visitors.

During May 7-9, the 2009 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship will call the Smith Fieldhouse home.

“It gives us great pleasure to have the visiting teams and members of the NCAA on our campus,” BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe said. “The Smith Fieldhouse is a great venue for volleyball and the national championships.”

BYU will host the two semifinal matches, scheduled at 7 and 9 p.m. MT on Thursday, May 7, and the final match, which will be played on Saturday, May 9, at 5 p.m. MT and televised nationally on ESPN2.

So who’s coming to visit? The champions of the three major men’s volleyball conferences (which include the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, and the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) receive an automatic bid, and the NCAA selects one at-large team to round out the field.

This is the first national championship at BYU since the 1989 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

According to Matt Nix, BYU’s tournament manager for the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship, the university has been discussing hosting the event ­— officially referred to as the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship — for a few years. BYU even submitted a bid to the NCAA in 2007, but had to withdraw it due to conflicts with the university’s annual Women’s Conference.

“In 2009, we saw that Women’s Conference, for whatever reason on the calendar, was the week before [the championship],” Nix said. “It was justhow the dates worked out and we knew we could host the championship. So, we were very aggressive in our bid.”

Nix explained that the bid submitted to the NCAA included projected preparations for the event, an evaluation of BYU’s facilities, and financial issues, like how much ticket revenue BYU expected to generate versus the cost the university would incur to host the event.

“Any Division I school can bid for the championship,” Nix said. “Then it goes to the Men’s Volleyball Committee and they discuss it and choose a site. [Their] decision then goes to the Executive Committee and they usually approve the decision made by the [Men’s Volleyball Committee].”

BYU was selected in October 2007 to host the 2009 championship.

Also, the NCAA chose Provo in an attempt to diversify the list of championship sites.

“When the chair was here for the site visit back in October, he said they’ve been trying to go to places that haven’t hosted before, because the championship is usually held in California,” Nix said. “[The committee was] excited about bringing the championship to other venues.”

The NCAA men’s volleyball championship has been held in California for 19 of the past 39 championships.

BYU also wanted the NCAA to know the university is capable of hosting a great event, Nix said.

“We wanted to bring the national championship to Provo,” Nix said. “One of our main focuses is that, hopefully, our team will be able to compete for the national championship on their home court. That’s really the driving force.”

BYU head coach Shawn Patchell said the Smith Fieldhouse is a great place to host the national championship.

“We’ve been there and done that, and we’d like to do it again,” Patchell said.

BYU won national championships in 1999, 2001 and 2004.

Libero Joel Silva said that playing in the Smith Fieldhouse would give the Cougars the confidence to win the title.

“If we make it, we are the national champions,” Silva said. “If we’re here at home in Provo, we can beat anyone.”

Co-captain Andrew Stewart agreed, adding that the fans in the Smith Fieldhouse are hard to beat.

“We’ve got the best crowd in the nation, “ Stewart said. “I don’t think we’ll lose here if we get here.”

In addition, BYU knew the publicity from the event would benefit the community as well as the school.

“It’ll bring a lot of notoriety to the City of Provo,” Nix said. “It’ll be the center of the volleyball world that weekend.”

The American Volleyball Coaches Association (ACVA) holds its convention in conjunction with the NCAA championship each year, drawing coaches from across the nation to Utah Valley. Add that to the coaches, players and fans that will be in town for the championship, and it is evident that Nix is right.

Currently, BYU is coordinating with ESPN and the NCAA to ensure that both organizations are fully accommodated.

“Most of what we’re doing now is working with the NCAA and ESPN to bring our facilities to meet their requirements and to satisfy the needs for the media, “Nix said.

Nix added that he’s been coordinating with the City of Provo, the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Utah Sports Commission to get the word out to the community.

Melissa Nielson, sales manager for the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she and her staff are working to promote the event, get the community involved and welcome visitors.

“We’ve been working with Provo city to get the word out,” Nielson said. “The championship is featured in our newsletters and it’s a featured event on our Web site.”

In an effort to extend another hand to the community, the annex of the Smith Fieldhouse will be converted into “Volley Village,” which will give fans an opportunity to get active in the event in addition to cheering in the stands.

“It’s a luau theme,” Nix said. “There will be a luau actually taking place in Volley Village.”

The activity will last from May 4-9 and features interactive, family friendly activities like games, live entertainment, food, prize giveaways, interactive booths, and merchandise sales.



Copyright Brigham Young University 7 Apr 2009