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Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2009 Inductees
The Volleyball Hall of Fame announced today the names of six volleyball greats who will be inducted as the Class of 2009 into its hallowed halls
in Holyoke, Mass., the sport's birthplace.
The newest induction class consists of Ana Beatriz Moser of Brazil, Ivan Bugaenkov and Nikolai Karpol of Russia, Paul Libaud of France, Holly McPeak of the United States and Siegfried Schneider of Germany. Libaud was selected as an administrator, Karpol was honored in the coach category and the four remaining individuals were selected as players.
"The six members selected for the 2009 Volleyball Hall of Fame show a remarkable distinction of success in the sport of volleyball," said Doug Beal, co-chair of the Volleyball Hall of Fame Selection Committee. "This induction class exemplifies diversity among represented countries and gender in areas of administrative leadership, coaching and both indoor and beach disciplines. This group continues to expand the excellence already inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame."
With the Class of 2009, the Volleyball Hall of Fame showcases its worldwide theme of recognizing the top individuals within the sport. Russia will have its ninth individual enshrined into the Hall, while Brazil will have its fourth inductee. Germany and France are having their first countrymen inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame. A total of 17 different countries are represented in the Volleyball Hall of Fame with at least one inductee.
"As the Hall continues to become more internationally focused, we are delighted to showcase the talents of this class and help recognize the sport's best players, coaches and leaders," Volleyball Hall of Fame President David Casey said.
For additional information on attending the 2009 Volleyball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, contact the Volleyball Hall of Fame at
info@volleyhall.org.
2009 Volleyball Hall of Fame Class of 2009
Ana Beatriz Moser (Brazil)
Despite being short in stature (1.85 meters), Ana Beatriz Moser is considered one of the greatest attackers of all time. She played in three Olympic Games (1988, 1992, 1996) and helped Brazil to the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic Games, marking her country's first-ever medal in the Olympic Games after losing in the 1992 Olympic Games bronze-medal match. Using a powerful jump serve, Moser was tabbed as the Best Server at the 1992 Olympic Games. She helped Brazil capture its first-ever FIVB World Championship medal with a silver at the 1994 event after leading her country to that season's FIVB World Grand Prix. Moser and Brazil added a silver medal at the 1995 FIVB World Cup. She continued playing for the Brazilian National Team through the 1999 FIVB World Cup as she attempted to a four-time Olympian. However, she retired after the 1999 tournament due to a knee injury that also nearly cost her a chance to compete in the 1996 Olympic Games.
Ivan Bugaenkov (Latvia)
Ivan Bugaenkov, a Latvia native but a competitor for the Soviet Union, was a star on the Soviet Union (USSR) teams that captured back-to-back Olympic gold medals, the first at the inaugural Olympic volleyball competition in 1964 at Tokyo and the second in 1968 at Mexico City. At the Tokyo Olympics, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia tied with identical 8-1 record, but the USSR's 25-5 set record was better than Czech silver medalist's 26-10 set record. In addition, USSR won the head-to-head match with a 15-7 score in the fifth-set tiebreaker. In Mexico City, the Soviets had to recover from a first match loss to the USA to win the gold. Bugaenkov also starred on the USSR teams that won the World Championship in 1960 and 1962, and the European Championship in 1967. He was honored with the USSR Honored Master of Sport in 1964.
Nikolai Karpol (Russia)
Nikolai Karpol, the former USSR/Russian women's volleyball coach, is considered to be one of the most successful and long-serving international coaches in the history of the game. Known as "The Howling Bear," Karpol retired from the post of national team coach after leading the Russian women to the silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. His USSR/Russian teams accumulated over the years two Olympic gold medals (1980, 1988) and two Olympic silver medals (1992, 2000), a gold medal at the FIVB World Championship in 1990, three FIVB World Championship bronze medals (1994, 1998, 2002), three FIVB World Grand Prix titles (1997, 1999, 2002) and eight times European championships (1977, 1979, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 & 2001). Karpol was elected Coach of the year by the FIVB in 1989 and 1991.
Paul Libaud (France)
After holding the position of president of the French Volleyball Federation from 1945-1947, Paul Libaud was elected the first president of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) at its founding Congress in 1947 in Paris, and served in that role until 1984 - a total of 37 years. He is credited with growing the FIVB from its original 13 founding members to over 150 members in 1984, while starting the Men's World Championship in 1949 and adding the Women's World Championship in 1952. He is also credited with getting volleyball on the Olympic Games schedule commencing in Tokyo in 1964. The charismatic Libaud enlisted the services of numerous world leaders in various FIVB roles that promoted volleyball and resulted in the FIVB being one of the great sport federations when he retired in 1984. On his retirement, he was awarded the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Order and given the FIVB title President Emeritus. Libaud died at the age of 89 on April 2, 1994.
Holly McPeak (United States)
Holly McPeak, a three-time beach volleyball Olympian for the United States, competed in the first three Olympic Games events for the discipline - 1996, 2000 and 2004. She earned the Olympic bronze medal in 2004 with partner Elaine Youngs after consecutive fifth-place finishes with Nancy Reno in 1996 and Misty May-Treanor in 2000. She holds 72 career beach titles, including 19 FIVB titles, two FIVB Grand Slam events titles and 53 domestic titles. In 2002, McPeak became the first woman worldwide to surpass $1 million career earnings and retired in May 2009 with over $1.5 million in career earnings. She was named the MVP in three different USA leagues, along with being an eight-time Best Defensive Player of the Year in those three leagues.
Siegfried Schneider (Germany)
As one of its veteran players, Siegfried Schneider sparked the German Democratic Republic (DDR or East Germany) team to the silver medal at the 1972 Olympic Games. East Germany defeated the Soviet Union during the semifinals of the 1972 Olympic Games, but lost its chance for the gold medal with a four-set loss to Japan. Schneider played a key role in East Germany winning its first-ever FIVB World Cup in 1969 and its first-ever FIVB World Championship in 1970 with a dramatic five-set win over Bulgaria. During the 1968 Olympic Games, he helped East Germany to a fourth-place finish in which he played all nine matches. East Germany was 6-3 in the round robin format at the 1968 Olympic Games.
ABOUT THE VOLLEYBALL HALL OF FAME
The Volleyball Hall of Fame, incorporated in 1978, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the great men and women of the sport, and the promotion of volleyball worldwide. Prior to 2009, a total of 88 individuals have been enshrined into the Volleyball Hall of Fame, which is located in the birthplace of the sport.
Jerry Fitzsimons, Volleyball Hall of Fame Public Relations Department info@volleyhall.org
Bill Kauffman, USA Volleyball Manager of Media Relations and Publications bill.kauffman@usav.org
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