Volleyball has long been synonymous with Southern California – and now Los Angeles is getting a professional franchise.
League One Volleyball Los Angeles will play its inaugural season in 2027, alongside new LOVB teams Miami, Minnesota and San Francisco – bringing the professional women’s indoor volleyball league to 10 teams.
“Often the world’s biggest opportunities are hiding in plain sight,” LOVB LA President Ana Mendy said. “That, to me, is women’s sports. It’s certainly volleyball.”
From one side of things, Mendy – who spent more than four years at PayPal, last serving as Head of Channel Partnerships, before joining LOVB LA – sees the City of Angels’ newest professional sports team, which will hold a launch party 3 p.m. Saturday at California Surf Club in Redondo Beach, as a low-risk gamble with high rewards.
Girls volleyball participation has grown every year since at least 1980, with the only exception being the pandemic-stricken 2020-2021 school year, the Associated Press reported in 2024.
Boys volleyball is the fastest-growing high school boys team sport, according to the NFHS’ 2024-25 survey, with a 51% increase in participation compared to figures from the 2018-2019 school year.
Additionally, Anaheim will serve as one of the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Cup sites before Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics in 2028.
“When you think about volleyball, it’s impossible not to think of L.A.,” Mendy said. “SoCal is the world’s premier volleyball talent hub. … You take a look at all of that, and you’re like, ‘My gosh, how hasn’t there been a pro team for women in L.A.?’ It’s so obvious. So that’s what we’re finally building.”
On a personal note, however, Mendy said she’s always been an avid supporter of women’s professional sports and played field hockey growing up in Uruguay. She added that she has been an Angel City FC season-ticket holder since they were made available and she’s happy to build on the city’s growing professional women’s sports infrastructure.
Outside hitter Kathryn Plummer Boden, a Stanford graduate from Aliso Viejo, will get to play close to home after spending her professional career in Italy, Japan and Turkey.
Venturing overseas has long been the default option for collegiate stars like Boden, a three-time NCAA champion and two-time AVCA Player of the Year, to keep playing at their highest level.
“When the opportunity came up to play close to home, I couldn’t pass it up,” Boden said. “I had other options, and I could have done that, but to be close to my house, close to my mom and my brother and my niece, and just my whole family and friends from when I grew up, it’s just a really cool thing.”
Despite how big collegiate volleyball is in the United States, LOVB held the first season of its professional league in 2025, marketing itself as the first youth-to-professional volleyball ecosystem in the United States
Rachel Fairbanks, one of LOVB LA’s two setters – the other being former Cal standout Carli Lloyd from Bonsall, north of San Diego – has spent two seasons in the league, but is similarly excited to return home.
The Foothill High alumnus spent four years at Pitt and both the 2025 and 2026 LOVB seasons with Atlanta. Fairbanks added that she essentially went from college to playing in LOVB in less than a week.
“LOVB (pronounced “Love”) just does a really good job of supporting their athletes, and it was just awesome to play with so many people that have so much more experience than I did, than I do, but especially than I did at the time,” Fairbanks said. “Coming back to the West Coast, to Southern California, makes me so happy and grateful. I’m really pumped.”
Fairbanks added that the resources LOVB provides have been especially helpful to her and her teammates – for instance, helping the then-recent graduate with her taxes.
Middle blocker Samantha Francis, a San Diego local who played at Stanford, and middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu, who’s from Cerritos and played at Oregon, round out the team’s five Southern California-born players. Additionally, outside hitter Madi Kingdon Rishel hails from Phoenix.
However, LOVB LA will boast international talent as well. Middle blocker Ana Malešević is from Belgrade, Serbia; outside hitter Hannah Duchesneau is from Ontario, Alberta, Canada; and liberos Keyla Alves and Kotoe Inoue are from Brazil and Japan, respectively.
Pin hitters Mychael Vernon and Annie Drews Schumacher, along with middle blocker Haleigh Washington fill out the team’s 13-player roster.
LOVB LA has yet to announce its head coach.
Los Angeles may not have an active professional indoor volleyball team just yet, but LOVB LA will have competition.
Major League Volleyball, another US professional indoor women’s volleyball league, plans to launch MLV LA – also playing its inaugural season in 2027.
But perhaps it’s fitting that the city, which claims two MLB teams and two NFL teams, has a pair of women’s indoor volleyball teams.
“I think it’s stupid that we have two leagues in the U.S.,” Boden said. “It’s kind of diluting the talent maybe a little bit. I think if we can combine the two leagues and make it more profitable on both sides, provide better opportunities for the athlete, be able to provide higher compensation – that’s always beneficial.”