Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
American volleyball players Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor
American professional volleyball somehow reached the point where Kerri Walsh Jennings had to choose a side in an actual league war. The three-time Olympic gold medalist picked Major League Volleyball, and in doing so, she essentially declared war on a rival organization that longtime teammate Misty May-Treanor aligned with.
Walsh Jennings is a founding owner and chief impact officer of the newly named NorCal Rumble, an MLV expansion franchise debuting in San Jose in 2027. She told Front Office Sports that MLV’s ownership setup appealed to her because it feels “more traditional to U.S. sports” than rival League One Volleyball’s centrally controlled structure.
Kerri Walsh Jennings Wanted Actual Franchise Owners
That sounds like an extremely boring business-school distinction until you realize how differently the two leagues are constructed.
MLV operates more like the NFL, NBA or MLB. Individual franchises belong to separate ownership groups that can run their own operations, build their own cultures and, ideally, spend years trying to beat one another.
Walsh Jennings’ NorCal ownership group includes venture capitalist Theresia Gouw, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, Andre Iguodala and former Warriors big man Zaza Pachulia.
That collection of investors is part of the appeal for Walsh Jennings.
She argued that independent owners bring their own experience, ideas and competitive instincts instead of having every major decision flow through one league office. She described LOVB as being more centrally controlled, saying teams, rosters and coaches operate inside a system with significantly more direction from the top.
LOVB is not exactly hiding that structure.
The league built itself as one connected volleyball ecosystem stretching from youth clubs to the professional level. It still owns its teams centrally, although clubs have increasingly taken control of local business operations including ticketing, sponsorships and fan experience.
Basically, MLV wants franchises.
LOVB wants an ecosystem.
Welcome to the least expected sports-business turf war of 2026.
Misty May-Treanor Is On The Other Side
The funniest twist involves Walsh Jennings’ most famous teammate.
Misty May-Treanor, who won three consecutive Olympic beach-volleyball gold medals alongside Walsh Jennings, is now a member of the Founding Advisory Board for LOVB Los Angeles.
So one of the most dominant partnerships in Olympic history has accidentally split itself across competing professional volleyball leagues.
Walsh Jennings is helping own an MLV team in Northern California. May-Treanor is helping advise an LOVB team in Southern California.
You could not storyboard this any better if the leagues hired WWE writers.
The rivalry is also becoming increasingly real. MLV currently has eight teams and will expand to 12 in 2027, including the Rumble. LOVB has six existing clubs and is adding four more for the upcoming season.
Both leagues are chasing the same basic opportunity: women’s volleyball is enormously popular at the youth and college levels, but the United States has never maintained one dominant professional indoor league.
Walsh Jennings said she appreciates that having two leagues creates more jobs and opportunities for players.
She also admitted the obvious endgame: eventually, one league becoming dominant would be pretty nice.
For now, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor are once again involved in the same volleyball story. They just happen to be wearing different uniforms this time.