Misty May-Treanor will be honored as an All-Time Great Female Beach Award recipient for 2019 at the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame induction gala May 22 in Columbus, Ohio. Ron Von Hagen will be honored with the All-Time Great Male Beach Player award.
The 25 honorees include:
John Kessel — Harold T. Friermood “Frier” Award
Misty May-Treanor — All-Time Great Female Beach Player Award
Ron Von Hagen — All-Time Great Male Beach Player Award
Kendra Lancaster — All-Time Great Female Player Award – Sitting
Beth McLachlin — Flo Hyman All-Time Great Female Player Award
Bryan Ivie — Tom Haine All-Time Great Male Player Award
Bill Stratton — All-Time Great Player Award – Pioneer Division (2019 Only)
J. Rashin — All-Time Great Player Award – Pioneer Division (2019 Only)
Bjorn “Joe” Johansen — All-Time Great Player Award – Pioneer Division (2019 Only)
Bernie Specht — All-Time Great Player Award – Pioneer Division (2019 Only)
Stephanie Schleuder — Bertha Lucas All-Time Great Coach Award – Pioneer Division
Pete Hanson — Donald S. Shondell All-Time Great Coach Award – Contemporary Division
Steve Bishop — George J. Fisher Leader in Volleyball Award
Gloria Cox —George J. Fisher Leader in Volleyball Award
Joel Reinford — Wilbur H. Peck Referee Emeritus Award
Tom Sullivan — Nancy S. Sharpless Scorekeeper Emeritus Award
Lori Okimura — William G. Morgan Award
More information on the banquet can be found at USAVolleyball.org.
Hawai’i beach gets Duke Kahanamoku grant: Hawai’i received a $3,000 grant from the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation. The team grant is awarded to sports teams that support Hawai’I’s waterman community, help develop Hawai’I’s best athletes, and connect keiki to Duke’s legacy.
The funds will be used to assist with post-season travel costs.
“The team continues to not only compete at the highest level,” foundation representative Billy Pratt said, “consistently contending for a national title, but they also proudly represent the state of Hawai’i by sharing the aloha spirit which uniquely defines us.
“The team’s emphasis on representing Hawai’i with pride, dignity, and respect has bred a culture that aligns with the legacy of Duke Kahanamoku. We congratulate and wish the best of luck to the Rainbow Wahine beach volleyball program.”
The SandBows’ season opener is February 23-24, with Stanford, Saint Mary’s, Pepperdine, and defending NCAA champion UCLA competing.
DiPierro inducted into Cardinal Gibbons hall: Professional beach volleyball player Mike DiPierro has been inducted into the Cardinal Gibbons High School hall of fame in Pompano Beach, Fla. DiPierro has competed on the pro beach tour since 2000, including a 2016 NVL win with Steve Grotowski in Port St. Lucie, FL.
The 6-foot-6 DiPierro played football, basketball, and volleyball at Cardinal Gibbons High School, graduating in 1999 after earning player-of-the-year honors for volleyball.
50th year for Volleyball Vacations/South of the Border: Volleyball Vacations held its 50th event at the Park Royal hotel in Ixtapa, Mexico this week. The event allows 192 players to play with pro beach volleyball pros, who included April Ross, Geena Urango, Caitlin Ledoux, Kerri Schuh, Janelle Allen, Kelley Larsen, Sean Rosenthal, Ty Loomis, Billy Allen, Troy Field, Ty Tramblie, and Miles Evans. VBV’s next event is Cabo San Lucas, March 9-16.
FIVB adds two-star women’s event in China: The city of Zhongwei will host a women’s-only two-star event in Zhongwei, China, August 22-25. Last year Zhongwei hosted a two-star event in September. Jingzhe Wang and Shuhui Wen of China won it, while the highest USA finishers were Brittany Howard and Kelly Reeves and Lara Dykstra and Kendra VanZwieten, who tied for fifth place.
China has seven events on the 2019 FIVB calendar including Xiamen (April 24-28), Jinjiang (May 22-26), Nantong (May 30-June 2), Nanjing (June 6-9), Qidong (July 4-7), and Zhongwei, plus another event September which hasn’t been announced.
FIVB announces 11 goals: The FIVB has updated its strategic plan, moving from 2015’s nine goals to 11 in the current plan.
1. To move volleyball from group 2 to group 1 in the IOC ranking by 2020.
2. To increase the relevance of volleyball through its digital platforms and have 50 million engagements by 2024.
3.To increase the integrated audiences in key markets by 100 percent in 2020.
4. To sign four new global sponsors by 2020 with a goal of $10 million USD annually.
5. To grow the average FIVB annual income from media rights sales, sponsoring, digital and event hosting from $31 million to $66 million USD by 2020.
6. To have a competitive, effective and sustainable bidding process by 2018 for all FIVB main events.
7. To directly manage content production pre, during and post all key FIVB events by 2019.
8. To calculate accurately the number of licensed / amateur players by 2020 and increase that number by 33 percent by 2024.
9. To become the number one sport that serves the needs of the family through social development and humanitarian programmes.
10. To implement the best universal standards of good governance and make FIVB 100% compliant by 2020.
11. To launch the volleyball OTT channel by 2018 and have one million subscribers by 2024.
FIVB sets Tokyo Olympic test event: FIVB officials confirmed that the FIVB four-star Tokyo event July 24-28 will also serve as the Olympic 2020 test event. It will be at Shiokaze Park, the 2020 beach volleyball Olympic venue.
To further simulate Olympic conditions, the Tokyo 2019 event will adopt the Olympic competition format, with 24 teams in six pools and a 16-team single elimination playoff.
Whalen leaves Wisconsin for beach: Wisconsin’s Mariah Whalen will transfer to a program with a beach volleyball program, Madison.com reported.
Whalen, a 6-1 outside hitter from Wausau, Wisconsin, was a redshirt freshman last season and played in five matches. Whalen was limited by left knee issues.
Whalen won the USA Volleyball Junior Beach National Championship in 2014 with Rylie Vaughn. Her sister Carissa competes on the pro beach volleyball tour and trains with the p1440 development team.
