Analysis: No conference bias selecting voters for national coaches poll

Despite consistent discussion each season about a regional bias in the national coaches poll, each conference will have almost equal representation on the 18-person voting committee this year.

The AVCA as part of announcing its voting committee Monday unveiled that the EIVA, MIVA and MPSF will each have five head coaches voting in the weekly NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball coaches poll.


Along with these conferences represented, the Conference Carolinas will have a conference-record three members on the voting committee — one more voter than last season.

MPSF teams historically have held the majority of spots in the national rankings. In addition, 10 of the 15 teams in the latest coaches poll released Monday are from the MPSF.

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Check out the 18-person voting committee for national coaches poll this season and each member’s conference affiliation.

Coaches poll voters from Conference Carolinas
David Heller, Mount Olive
Paul Lawson, Pfeiffer
Jeff Lennox, Barton

Coaches poll voters from EIVA
Brian Baise, Harvard
Fred Chao, George Mason
Mark Pavlik, Penn State
Mike Rumbaugh, St. Francis
Sam Shweisky, Princeton

Coaches poll voters from MIVA
Shane Davis, Loyola
Dan Friend, Lewis
Pete Hanson, Ohio State
Nicolette Sanlin, McKendree
Joel Walton, Ball State

Coaches poll voters from MPSF
Bill Ferguson, USC
David Kniffin, UC Irvine
Alan Knipe, Long Beach State
Chris McGown, BYU
Charlie Wade, Hawai’i

Coaches poll voters from independent teams
None