Baton Rouge, La. – LSU Volleyball head coach Russell Brock announced Wednesday that AVP announcer Mark Shuermann is set to be the voice of the Death Volley Invitational, March 29–30, and that the tournament will be streamed on VBTV thanks to partnership with Volleyball World.
The Death Volley Invitational will highlight top teams from across the nation. LSU will host UCLA, USC, Stanford, California, FSU, TCU and FAU; all are expected to be AVCA Top-25 teams at the start of the invitational.
“The event will be one of the biggest our sport has ever seen,” said head coach Russell Brock. “The level of competition with the teams who are coming, our facility, Mark, VBTV…it’s going to be a fantastic weekend for any beach volleyball fan.”
Shuermann has been the voice of AVP for the past nine years. He was the English announcer at the indoor volleyball arena for the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Games.
NBC Universal signed Shuermann for The Golf Channel’s World Long Drive tour, a youth-infused, high-energy alternative to traditional golf. He works closely with the NCAA, hosting the National Championships for Hockey, Volleyball, and Lacrosse, the College World Series, and the Regionals and Final Four Friday of the NCAA Men’s March Madness. Mark has announced for several universities, including UCLA, USC, and LMU, as well as Conference Championships with the Pac-12 and ACC.
Shuermann has been live on ESPN, NBC, NBC Sports Network, The Golf Channel, and Amazon Prime. He’s interviewed sports Hall of Famers and A-List celebrities. His skills range from one-on-one interviews to sports play-by-play and analysis to in-arena hosting. He’s done nationally-syndicated commercials, voiceover, narration, and athlete introductions. He’s hosted live events, virtual events, podcasts, and fundraisers.
“Mark is the gold standard for announcing in our sport,” said Brock. “When we started talking about trying to get him to come, it was really just a pipe dream. There really wasn’t a precedent to make us think that it would even be possible. Cati Leak reached out through Instagram, and he replied pretty quickly that he’d be interested. That was the crack in the door that we needed! I’ve enjoyed watching and listening to how Mark works at beach events, like the conductor of a symphony, and I can’t wait to experience it for our team and our event.”
Volleyball World is a partnership between the FIVB and CVC Capital Partners aimed at growing volleyball around the globe. VBTV is the digital streaming service that gives fans around the world access to thousands of hours’ worth of the world’s best live and on demand volleyball content.
Though VBTV is a streaming service, the Death Volley Invitational will be free to anyone who wants to watch it. VBTV can be accessed via browser, iOS app, Android app, Apple TV and Chromecast. LSU will be the first collegiate beach volleyball on-campus broadcast that VBTV has done.
“VBTV has become the premier provider for the very best digital volleyball coverage in the world,” said Brock. “If you follow the sport, you have to subscribe to their service. For them to be interested in our event and to be committed to coming to Baton Rouge to broadcast the Death Volley Invitational to the world is an incredible honor. We are delighted to partner with them for their first on campus NCAA Beach Volleyball broadcast. We hope it will be the first of many moving forward!”