Cassell Coliseum

Renovated Volleyball Locker Room

Directions to Cassell Coliseum
675 Washington St SW
Blacksburg, VA 24061

From the north or east, take Interstate 81 south to exit 118B, following US 460 west to Blacksburg.
From the south, take Interstate 81 north to exit 118B, following US 460 west to Blacksburg.
From West Virginia, take Interstate 77 south (West Virginia Turnpike) to exit 9. Exit and turn left onto 460 east. Follow 460 east to Blacksburg.
Once in Blacksburg, use the 460 bypass around the downtown area. Follow 460 to the signal at Southgate Drive (Va. 314). Turn right onto campus. Take the second left onto Spring Road, Cassell Coliseum will be on your right.

The Virginia Tech volleyball team plays and practices at Cassell Coliseum, which also serves as the home to the Hokies' basketball teams and the wrestling team.

Cassell Coliseum, the 9,847-seat arena, is home to a winning tradition for volleyball. Rivals have had little success playing the Hokies in Cassell, winning only 29.9 percent of visits (as of 2010).

Construction of the main portion of the coliseum began in 1961. It was completed in December of 1964 at a cost of $2.7 million. Built by T.C. Brittain and Company of Decatur, Ga., it houses an arena, locker rooms, two auxiliary gymnasiums, offices and other athletic facilities.

Cassell Coliseum has undergone extensive renovations over the years. Prior to the 1988-89 season, a new spring-loaded playing floor was installed. In 1996-97, workers replaced the roof of the facility and installed structural access to the heating and lighting systems. They also restored and resealed the exterior concrete walls and buttresses.

Since that time, the seats have been stripped of their paint and refinished to retain their natural wood look (in 2001-02), and new video boards have been added to both ends of the coliseum to provide for live action and video replays during all games (2000-01). Prior to the 2003-04 season, the concourse area was renovated and now features more accessible concession areas, new flooring, video monitors that allow fans to watch the action when not in the arena and the addition of Hokie Stone to many of the entrances to the seating area. Through new projects, renovations and maintenance reserve projects, Cassell Coliseum has undergone approximately $2.5 million in improvements over the past six years.

Additionally, the back gym downstairs in Cassell is reserved exclusively for the volleyball team's use. They have access to this facility at all times, for official practices as well as outside individual work.

The coliseum also contains the locker room for the Tech volleyball team. In 2010, that locker room was expanded and renovated.

The team conducts most of its strength and conditioning training in the weight room and the speed and agility center housed in the Merryman Center. The $10.6 million facility contains 17,000 square feet of strength and conditioning space.

The Merryman Center was dedicated Sept., 26, 1998, and is named for the F.W. (Sonny) Merryman family of Rustburg, Va., which presented the university with a major gift to kick off a fund-raising campaign.