2008 USA Olympic gold medalists Reid Priddy and Ryan Millar headline the 2021 fifth honoree class for the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame (SCIVBHOF).
Olympians Wink Davenport, John Hyden, Tammy Leibl, Holly McPeak, Sharon Peterson, Fred Sturm and Sue Woodstra also made the list.
The final inductees are indoor stars and beach legends Tim Hovland and Bernie Holtzman. 1964 Olympian Linda Murphy is the Lifetime Service selection.
Priddy was a four-time USA Olympian (2004, 2008 Beijing gold, 2012, 2016 Rio bronze) and Millar was a three-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008 Beijing gold). Both were collegiate All-Americans at Loyola-Marymount and Brigham Young University (BYU) respectively. Millar led BYU to its first NCAA title in 1999.
Peterson, who is in the Cal State Long Beach Athletics Hall of Fame, was part of the first two USA Women’s Olympic teams in 1964 (teammate of Linda Murphy, who played at Cal State Northridge) and 1968. Davenport, who is in the Wesleyan University in Connecticut HOF for basketball, was a key member of the 1968 USA men’s Olympic team and went on to be the most recognized NCAA referee in history. Woodstra, who led USC to the 1977 AIAW title, would have started on the 1980 USA Olympic Team, which boycotted Moscow. She won a silver medal as captain of the 1984 team and was an assistant coach for the 2008 USA Olympic silver medal team in Beijing. Sturm, a top UCLA player on three NCAA title teams (1972, 1975, 1976) and the first Stanford men’s and women’s NCAA finals coach, went onto be the USA Olympic Coach in 1992 (bronze in Barcelona) and 1996.
Leibel, who was the Pac-10 Player of the Year at Arizona State, was a three-time Olympian (1988, 1992 Barcelona bronze, and 1996). Hyden, who is part of the San Diego State Athletics Hall of Fame was a two-time Olympian (1996, 2000), while McPeak, who set UCLA to the 1990 NCAA title, was a three-time USA beach Olympian (1996, 2000, 2004 Athens bronze).
Hovland, who led USC to the 1980 NCAA title, had a legendary beach career after retiring from the indoor game. Holtzman, who is part of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, was also a beach legend and was regarded as one of the greatest all-around players in world history.
“We are very excited that our fifth Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame induction class covers so much USA volleyball history and has such a great USA Olympic team presence,” said Mike Gallups, president of the SCIVBHOF.
“We are very hopeful we can honor this group and the 2020 class by having a major induction event in the fall if our honorees have been able to obtain the vaccine for COVID-19 and the health situation has improved.”
The 2020 class included Harlan Cohen, Terry Condon, Dixie Grimmett, Jack Henn, Ernie Hix, Alan Knipe, Duncan McFarland, Jeff Nygaard, Manny Saenz, Gary Sato, Troy Tanner, Jane Ward, and Tee Williams. Lifetime Service winners were Charlie Brande and Sue Gozansky.
