About

Off the Block is a website that focuses on college men’s volleyball news and analysis. With its in-depth and year-round coverage of the sport, the website has become the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage. Off the Block in 2017 was presented with the AVCA Grant Burger Media Award — becoming one of the few media organizations to win the annual award for outstanding volleyball coverage.

Along with its coverage, Off the Block is responsible for coordinating and presenting numerous national and weekly awards in college men’s volleyball. It also coordinates and distributes the weekly National Media Poll and the weekly Division II National Coaches Poll.

Off the Block is an independent media organization that believes in providing all its content for free without a paywall in the effort to promote and grow the game. The website is able to sustain itself through the support of sponsors and donations from readers.

The Off the Block Team

Vinnie Lopes
Founder and Editor
Preferred pronouns: he/him/his

Vinnie created Off the Block in January 2011 and continues to serve as the editor. He has been the first to report on countless men’s volleyball stories, including the NCAA Tournament expansion. Vinnie has emerged in recent years as the nation’s leading college men’s volleyball bracketologist. Through interpreting data, Vinnie has been able to help better inform the public about the selection process of the NCAA Tournament field.

Vinnie, a graduate of Ball State University, began covering men’s volleyball for The Ball State Daily News in the 2007 season. After graduating, Vinnie continued to cover men’s volleyball — this time reporting on Purdue Fort Wayne for The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He also was a broadcast analyst for Lipscomb women’s volleyball home matches from 2014-17.

Among his awards for sports coverage, USA Volleyball presented Vinnie with the E. Douglas Boyden Media Recognition Award in 2014. Vinnie was the first college sports reporter to win the AVCA Grant Burger Media Award for newspaper volleyball reporting. In addition, he was the inaugural winner of the AVCA Grant Burger Media Award social media category in 2013 for Off the Block’s social media coverage of college men’s volleyball.

Vinnie published his first volleyball history book “The Volleyball Debate,” which examines the controversial start of the men’s volleyball program at Ball State. He currently resides in Cincinnati with his wife Ali and their daughter Adler.