The Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame (SCIVBHOF) has announced its final group of 27 nominees for 15 induction spots for the May 5, 2019 third annual event at the Highway 39 Event Center in Anaheim. The 27 finalists consist of players and coaches that range from the 1940s to the 2000s, and includes LMU Hall of Famer Paul Sunderland.
The leading colleges are UCLA with eight finalists having either played or coached there, with USC in second with six, followed by Stanford, San Diego State, Long Beach State and Pepperdine having three apiece.
Numerous finalists have already been inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, and others have been inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Hall of Fame. Almost all nominees have won NCAA, AIAW or USVBA National Championships, and over two-thirds have competed or coached in at least one Olympic Games.
Sunderland started his athletic career as a football and basketball player at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks and went to Oregon on a basketball scholarship. While also playing on the beach, he played indoors on the Duck Club team before transferring to LMU to begin his NCAA college volleyball career. While also competing in basketball with the Lions, he was a collegiate All-American in volleyball and started playing with the USA National Team after the team failed to qualify for the 1976 Olympics. The USVBA MVP in 1977, 1979 and 1982, Sunderland made the 1984 Olympic Team and won the Gold Medal. Following his retirement, he has enjoyed a 30-plus year broadcast career, including being featured on NBC indoor Olympic broadcasts from 1992-2016. He has also commented on numerous other sports for networks like ESPN, Fox Sports and Turner Broadcasting with his vast sports knowledge. Sunderland has won two Emmys for his talents, and in 1986 he was inducted into the USVBA and LMU Athletic Hall of Fames.
"The SCIVBHOF committee had the unique job of reviewing nearly 100 nominees to reach the 27 finalists and I know it be a challenging process to reach the 15 hall of fame inductees," said Michael Sondheimer, SCIVBHOF Executive Director. "Anyone associated with USA and Southern California indoor volleyball should be proud of the first two years of accomplishments for the SCIVBHOF in recognizing the legends of the sport and in efforts to grow the future of the indoor sport through making non-profit youth volleyball donations."
The SCIVBHOF is located at American Sports Centers in Anaheim and is a free display open to the public in the Sidelines Café. A full list of current members can be found at
www.socalindoorvolleyballhof.com and the charity can be followed on Facebook or Twitter
@scivbhof.
2019 SCIVBHOF FINALISTS FOR INDUCTION MAY 5, 2019-ANAHEIM
(15 selected will be announced in early January, 2019)
Jeanne Beauprey-Reeves
Dain Blanton
Patti Bright
Denise Corlett
Jean Gaertner
Dixie Grimmett
Mick Haley
Tayyiba Haneff-Park
Jack Henn
Bernie Holtzman
Kirk Kilgour
Alan Knipe
Debbie Landreth Brown
Holly McPeak
Beverly Oden
Bill Olsson
April Ross
Manny Saenz
Eric Sato
Liane Sato
Dave Saunders
Ken Stanley
Fred Sturm
Paul Sunderland
Rudy Suwara
Bob Yoder
Elaine Youngs
