The increased participation has coincided with the United States' emergence as a world power in the sport. Team USA has medaled in five straight Olympics, including gold in 2020 and silver this year in Paris. And the amount of exposure college volleyball receives on television and social media is unprecedented.

Girls volleyball has never been so popular. Participation has increased every year since at least 1980 — excluding the 2020-21 pandemic — and has accelerated the last decade.