Avoli Adds Some Spice To The Women’s Volleyball Shoe Scene

The Club Collection

Avoli, the first brand dedicated solely to women’s volleyball footwear, is dropping its newest club collection on Tuesday; it includes 17 new shoes built specifically for female volleyball players.  

Indoor volleyball is one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S. for both boys and girls. The women’s game, in particular, is selling out crowds around the nation at both the high school and college level. But the footwear quality is arguably lagging a bit behind. Avoli is trying to change that. 

Filling the Void

Michelle Neumayr is a former Division-1 volleyball player for University of California, Berkeley, who suffered two torn ACL’s in her career. By way of playing volleyball her whole life, she found that there were no volleyball-specific shoes for female athletes. The two co-founders of Avoli, Mark Oleson and Rick Anguilla, noticed the same problem.

“The whole basis of the brand is that our two co-founders’ daughters played volleyball,” Neumayr, now Avoli’s Head of Marketing, said to Prep Network. 

“They went to a big (volleyball) tournament…and every girl was wearing basketball shoes or cross training shoes. They realized quickly that there weren’t very many volleyball shoe options, if at all, and girls were primarily wearing shoes not made for their sport.” 

Oleson and Anguilla thus founded Avoli in 2023, hoping to fill a void in the market.

The Explosion of Women’s Sports

Women’s sports are skyrocketing across the nation. Aside from volleyball, sports like girls basketball, softball, and girls flag football are growing exponentially. For the first time, companies are starting to invest and build with female athletes in mind. 

Institutions like Harvard are doing seminal studies on female athletes, finding that they are more susceptible to injury because they land, move, and cut differently than male athletes. Some players, like American soccer star Trinity Rodman, are attempting to combat this problem by creating cleats specifically for girls. 

Avoli’s shoes have been designed specifically for girls on an indoor volleyball court, offering better support than basketball shoes or conventional sneakers.

“A huge part is the amount of jumping you’re doing,” Neumayr explained. Our shoe is a lot lighter than you’ll find with a basketball shoe. So, as you stand up, that’s huge for lateral movement, jumping, and just that feeling of feeling light on your feet. You’re also playing primarily on your toes. So, you really need that support on the forefoot of a shoe.”

The Latest Collection

Other women’s sports have shoes made specifically for their athlete’s movements — but not volleyball. Avoli changed that, though, when it became the first brand “dedicated exclusively to addressing the performance needs of women and girl volleyball athletes”.

The upcoming club collection is Avoli’s biggest color drop yet. Their eye-popping styles—with loud, bright, and unique color combinations—show that style doesn’t have to come at the expense of comfort. 

Avoli sells gear at local volleyball tournaments around the nation, at retailer Scheels, and on its website. Club collection shoes retail for $180 on their website.