SportsKnowHow.com - VOLLEYBALL HISTORY- Page 2 of 2

The NCAA added a women’s volleyball championship in 1981. USC won the first women’s collegiate title.

The first men’s NCAA volleyball championship was played in 1970. UCLA won six of the first seven men’s volleyball titles.

NCAA Volleyball Champions (mens)

Year Champion 1970 UCLA 1971 UCLA 1972 UCLA 1973 San Deigo State 1974 UCLA 1975 UCLA 1976 UCLA 1977 Southern Cal 1978 Pepperdine 1979 UCLA 1980 Southern Cal 1981 UCLA 1982 UCLA 1983 UCLA 1984 UCLA 1985 Pepperdine 1986 Pepperdine 1987 UCLA 1988 Southern Cal 1989 UCLA 1990 Southern Cal 1991 Long Beach State 1992 Pepperdine 1993 UCLA 1994 Penn State 1995 UCLA 1996 UCLA 1997 Stanford 1998 UCLA 1999 Brigham Young 2000 UCLA 2001 Brigham Young 2002 Pepperdine 2003 Lewis 2004 Brigham Young 2005 Pepperdine 2006 UCLA 2007 UC Irvin 2008 Penn State

NCAA Volleyball Champions (Womens)

Year Champion 1981 Southen Cal 1982 Hawaii 1983 Hawaii 1984 UCLA 1985 Pacific 1986 Pacific 1987 Hawaii 1988 Texas 1989 Long Beach State 1990 UCLA 1991 UCLA 1992 Stanford 1993 Long Beach State 1994 Stanford 1995 Nebraska 1996 Stanford 1997 Stanford 1998 Long Beach State 1999 Penn State 2000 Nebraska 2001 Stanford 2002 Southern Cal 2003 Southern Cal 2004 Stanford 2005 Washington 2006 Nebraska 2007 Penn State 2008 Penn State

 

 

From the Gym to the Sand
In the 1940s, another style of volleyball was developing up and down the California coast. Teams of two or four players would square off on sand volleyball courts. Young and old players would form impromptu competitions on the beach. Spectators would often gather to watch the volleyball matches. Before long, the best teams were traveling up and down the coast to play in beach volleyball tournaments. The first two-man volleyball tournament was held at State Beach, California in 1943.

In 1965, The California Beach Volleyball Association was founded. It was responsible for standardizing the rules of the beach and for organizing official tournaments. By 1976, the very best players on the beach were competing for prize money as professionals. Male players formed the AVP, the Association of Volleyball Professionals, in 1983. Women beach volleyball players formed their own association in 1986.

When former college and Olympic indoor volleyball stars began playing on the beach the sport became even more popular. Beach volleyball spread from California to Florida and then to other states—even to some that don’t have beaches. In some areas, beach volleyball is played indoors in arenas filled with sand. By 1993, beach volleyball had become so popular in the United States, that tournaments were broadcast on national television.

In 1987, two-men beach volleyball teams competed in the first world championships. The first two-women’s world championships were played in 1993. Four-player beach teams became popular in the 1990s.

Volleyball Goes for the Gold
Today, men’s and women’s competition in both indoor and beach volleyball are part of the Olympic games. Indoor volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1964. The host team, Japan, won the women’s gold medal. In the first four women’s Olympic volleyball competitions, Japan and the Soviet Union met in the finals. The Soviets prevailed in 1968 and 1972. Japan won again in 1972.

In the men’s medal competition, the Soviet Union has been dominant. After winning gold at the first Olympic volleyball competition, the Soviet men won a medal in each of the next five Olympics they competed in—three golds, one silver and one bronze. The US men’s team won back-to-back gold medals in 1984 and 1988.

Beach Volleyball became on Olympic sport at the 1996 Atlanta games. The US, Brazil and Australia have been the teams to beat on Olympic sand.

Olympic Volleyball Champions

Year Mens Indoor Gold Womens Indoor Gold 1964 Soviet Union Japan 1968 Soviet Union Soviet Union 1972 Japan Soviet Union 1976 Poland Japan 1980 Soviet Union Soviet Union 1984 United States China 1988 United States Soviet Union 1992 Brazil Cuba 1996 Netherlands Cuba 2000 Yugoslavia Cuba 2004 Brazil China 2008 United States Brazile

Olympic Volleyball Champions

Year Mens Beach Gold Womens Beach Gold 1996 United States Brazil 2000 United States Australia 2004 Brazil United States 2008 United States Unites States

 

A Game for the Best
Hardly anyone watching the fast, powerful sport of modern volleyball would recognize it as a game originally designed as a less-strenuous form of recreation for middle-aged men. Today, some of the world’s very best athletes are digging, setting and spiking the ball in gyms and on beaches throughout the world.

 

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