USA Volleyball announces 75th Anniversary Beach All-Era Teams (Part 1)

by Paul Soriano USA Volleyball Manager, Public Relations & Publications

As part of the 2002-03 Diamond Jubilee Celebration, USA Volleyball staff worked with many USAV Member Organizations, including the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) and other regional outdoor associations and groups, to select the sport's best in the Olympic sport of Beach Volleyball.

A cross-section of beach volleyball leaders, including Chris Marlowe, Tim Simmons, Art Couvillon, Don Patterson and many others from across the nation, helped determine the top eight players in each gender for two time periods: from 1928-1987 (the National Game Years) from 1928-1987 (the National Game Years) and from 1988-2003 (the International Era).

In Part 1, here's the list of players from 1928-1987.

The National Game Years: Men -- (1928-1987)

Bernie Holtzman:Holtzman, who once said that "Volleyball is God's gift to the beach bum," first started to play volleyball on the beach in 1935-when he was just 13-years-old. His first tournament championship came when he paired-up with Manny Saenz at the 1948 State Beach Men's Open. They formed a nearly unbeatable combination. Together, they won virtually every event that they entered, during a period when there were only two or three "Open" tournaments a year. Holtzman and Saenz ended-up with 10 "Open" titles together. Holtzman later teamed with Gene Selznick, forming another "almost" unbeatable combination. Together, Selznick and Holtzman won 18 championship matches together. Holtzman also excelled in the indoor game and was honored as a member of the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary Men's 1928-52 All-Era team earlier this year.

Ron Lang: Lang started his beach volleyball career on Hermosa Beach-in the early 1950s-when he noticed a group playing volleyball and decided to give it a try. He liked the game immediately and the rest is beach volleyball history. Eventually he paired-up with Gene Selznick and later Ron Von Hagen to form two of the most successful partnerships of all time. Lang won more than 50 "Open" tournaments during his career, most of them with Selznick and Von Hagen. With Selznick, he earned over 20 tournament championships. With Von Hagen, he won 28 events. Lang was also an indoor volleyball All-American from 1957-1968 and a member of the 1964 Olympic Team. A member of three National Championship teams in (1960, 1966 and 1968), Lang was honored as a member of the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary Men's 1953-77 All-Era team earlier this year.

Greg Lee: Lee was primarily known for his basketball abilities at UCLA, where he played with the great Bill Walton. He never played volleyball while at UCLA but was lured to the sand by older brother, Jon, who had a "AAA" rating on the beach. In 1972, Greg Lee played in his first "Open" at the Laguna Beach Open and finished second with Ron Von Hagen. His first "Open" victory came with Tom Chamales at the 1972 Santa Barbara Open. Lee's enjoyed the most success when he teamed-up with Jim Menges. From 1973-1982, Lee and Menges played in 28 tournaments together, winning 25 of them and finishing second in the other three. They were in the finals of every tournament that they entered together. Lee had additional victories with Von Hagen and Jay Hanseth. In all Lee entered a total of 37 "Open" tournaments and reached the finals all 37 times while collecting 29 tournament titles.

Jim Menges: Menges, tied for ninth on the all-time wins list with 48, started playing beach volleyball in 1968 at Santa Monica's Sorrento Beach. He went to the beach with a group of friends and they all learned by watching the greats, such as Ron Von Hagen and Ron Lang. He started playing on the "outside courts" and eventually graduated to the "first court," playing with Tom Chamales, Greg Lee and Randy Niles. His first "Open" win came at the 1973 Marine Open, with Greg Lee. From 1973-1982, Menges and Lee played in 28 tournaments together, winning 25 of them and finishing second in the other three. They were in the finals of every tournament that they entered together. Menges teamed-up with Matt Gage for 17 events, winning eight of them. This team was also in the finals of every tournament that they entered together. Menges enjoyed success with all of his partners through 1982, winning with Chris Marlowe five times and once each with Von Hagen, Chamales, Gary Hooper, Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos and Jon Stevenson.

Mike O'Hara: O'Hara was a prominent beach volleyball player who started to play the game in the early 1950s. His first "Open" victory came with Don McMahon at the 1954 State Beach Men's Open. After a fairly successful partnership with McMahon (and others) he eventually teamed-up with Mike Bright in 1960 for a win at the Laguna Beach Men's Open. O'Hara and Bright went on to win 13 tournaments together, including the first five Manhattan Beach Opens. O'Hara's career included a total of 20 championship victories. O'Hara was also an indoor volleyball star as evidenced by seven first-team All-America and two Player of the Year honors. He was a member of the 1964 Olympic Team and was recognized as a member of the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary Men's 1953-77 All-Era team earlier this year. In 1989, O'Hara was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Manny Saenz: Saenz won his first major tournament at the 1948 "Pacific Coast Outdoor Volleyball Championships" with Al Harris. Later, Saenz teamed-up with Bernie Holtzman to win just about every match that they played in together, including both pick-up games and tournaments. Saenz went on to win 12 beach tournaments during a period when there were only one or two tournaments a year. He was also credited for creating a method of determining when teams changed sides, during games, so as to even out the effects of wind and sun conditions. In the early days teams would switch sides one time: when the first team reached a score of eight. Saenz used his influence on the beach to persuade the other players that teams should change sides when the total of each teams scores were divisible by five, i.e., 5-5, 13-7, etc. He was also a very successful indoor player and coach, as evidenced by his selection to two different USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary All-Era teams as a player (Men's 1928-52) and coach (Women's 1949-77).

Gene Selznick: Selznick was one of the best to ever play beach volleyball in the "early years." A true innovator, he is credited with bringing the "spike" to the beach game. Although other players used to spike the ball occasionally on the beach, Selznick was the first to use it as his main weapon. His first "Open" tournament win came with Everette "Ev" Keller at the 1950 State Beach Men's Open. Selznick later enjoyed a great deal of sand success with Don McMahon, Bernie Holtzman, and Ron Lang. With Holtzman and Lang combined, he won more than 40 events. Selznick also passed on his knowledge as a highly successful coach. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, he coached Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel to a near upset of eventual gold-medal winners Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes. In 2000, he helped Misty May and Holly McPeak qualify for the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Selznick, who was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1988, was also one of the best indoor volleyball players. He was named the Most Valuable Player of USA Volleyball's 75th Anniversary Men's 1953-77 All-Era Team.

Ron Von Hagen: At 6-feet-1 and 190 pounds, Von Hagen was one of the first players to include weight training in his workout program. He was also one of the first players to train for beach volleyball year around. Most volleyball enthusiasts agree that Von Hagen had more desire-and was in better shape physically-than any of the other players. Von Hagen won his won his first tournament with Clyde Grosscup and his first Open tournament with Rand Carter. The "Open" win was the 1964 Laguna Men's Open. Later in his career, Von Hagen teamed-up with Ron Lang to form one of the most successful partnerships in the history of beach volleyball. Nearly half of his victories (28) would come with Lang. Von Hagen was able to adapt to the styles of different partners as he went on to win 62 open tournaments from 1964 through 1977. During an incredible, 100 Open tournament stretch, Von Hagen won 60 times, was second 23 times and took the third spot seven times. He won his final tournament at the age of 38 years and nine months.

Women -- (1928-1987)

Jean Brunicardi: In 1956 Brunicardi started playing beach volleyball in Santa Monica, Calif., where she was tutored by Manny Saenz to become the first "beach queen" of beach volleyball. Brunicardi played outstanding defense, had the ability to read her opponent's shots like no other player and she moved through the sand with unmatched effectiveness. Her stamina was also unmatched by any of her opponents. Brunicardi was successful with nearly all of her partners. When Brunicardi paired-up with Johnette Latreille, they formed one of the most successful female duos ever. They won virtually every pick-up game and tournament that they were involved in together. In 1974, prior to the State Beach Women's Open, the 42-year-old Brunicardi was approached by 14-year-old Nancy Cohen to play with her. This was to be Cohen's first-ever open tournament. In the championship match, Brunicardi and Cohen defeated Barbara (Grubb) May and Eileen Clancy to become both the oldest and the youngest players to ever win an open women's doubles tournament.

Eileen Clancy: Clancy starred in the sand at an early age, teaming up with Butch May to dominate the mixed-doubles scene when she was only 12-years-old. The tandem played-and won-together for 10 years. In 1995, Clancy was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Kathy Gregory: The number speaks for itself. With 49 career victories in the sand, Gregory ranks fourth in overall wins and is tied for second in domestic wins. She enjoyed most of her success with a trio of partners. Gregory, who embarked on a beach career in the 1960s, earned 14 tournament wins with Miki McFadden, 13 victories with Nancy Cohen and 12 "W's" with Kathy Hanley. She also captured half-a-dozen titles with Janice Harrer. On the court Gregory was a talkative dynamo who would interact with the beach crowd as well as her opponents. After being awarded Women's Beach Tournament Player of the Year honors in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1983, Gregory was crowned "Queen of the Beach." Gregory excelled at the indoor game as well. A former member of the USA national team and the recipient of numerous All-America honors, she became only the third woman to be inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1989. Earlier this year, she was selected to the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary Women's (1949-77) All-Era Team. Since 1975 Gregory has been the highly successful head coach of the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball program. She was named National Coach of the Year in 1993 and began the 2003 season ranked sixth all-time in NCAA Division I victories.

Johnette Latreille: In 1955 Latreille showed up at Sorrento Beach and noticed a group of people playing "doubles beach volleyball." She decided to see if she could play. Eventually, Latreille met her future husband, Dave Heiser, who was instrumental in her increased involvement with the beach game. While she was still learning the game, Heiser taught her many good basics of the game and helped her move from the Sorrento Beach "D" court to "C" and eventually up to the "B" court. Later on in her career, Latreille was coached by Bernie Holtzman and then Gene Selznick. She went on to become one of the best women's beach players of her era. Teamed with Jean Brunicardi, Latreille was one-half of the top women's team of the late 1950's and early 1960's. Latreille was also a top mixed-double's player on the beach and an accomplished indoor player. She played on four-straight national championship teams (1963-66) and earned honorable mention All-America honors twice.

Nina Grouwinkel Matthies: Matthies, one of the best beach volleyball players of her time, won 43 tournaments during her legendary career with a variety of partners but enjoyed a majority of her success with Linda Hanley. Together, Matthies and Hanley earned 30 tournament titles to rank No. 1 on the all-time team victory list along with Brazil's Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede. For her career, Matthies played in 139 events with 43 championships, 26 runner-up finishes and 24 third-place results. The 43 titles place Matthies seventh on the all-time individual wins list. She was a force off the sand as well. Matthies spearheaded a successful effort in the mid-1980's to create the Women's Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA)-an organization which laid the foundation for the dramatically enhanced national visibility of the women's beach tour. Matthies was inducted into the WPVA's "Hall of Fame" in 1995 and was honored as one of the "20 Legends of Beach Volleyball" in a ceremony at UCLA in 1997. Matthies, a former member of the USA women's national team, is currently in her 21st year as the head coach of the Pepperdine women's volleyball program.

Mary Jo Peppler: Peppler is acclaimed for helping to establish women's volleyball in the United States. At 6-foot-1 and 125 pounds, the southpaw also probably had the greatest physical talent of any women's player (beach or indoor) during her time. Her success at the indoor game has been well documented. Peppler, a 1964 Olympian, earned numerous All-America honors and played on numerous national championship teams. She was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1990 and honored as a member of the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary Women's (1949-77) All-Era Team earlier this year. But Peppler had a successful career on the beach playing with various partners. She was also an outstanding coach who was known as an innovator, visionary and crusader. Peppler later coached one of the top women's beach volleyball teams of all time when she coached Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan.

Jane Ward: Ward did not discriminate; she excelled at both beach and indoor volleyball. Ward was a force to be reckoned with outdoors in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In recognition of her talents with the indoor game, Ward was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1988 and honored as the Most Valuable Player and one of three coaches of USA Volleyball's 75th Anniversary Women's (1949-77) All-Era Team earlier this year.

Norma Weir: Weir was one of the top players of her generation during the 1950s. She partnered with Lois Haraughty and later Jean Gaertner to win a number of early tournaments, including the Women's "AAA" Tournament in Santa Monica in 1950, the Pacific Coast Championship in Santa Barbara in 1957 and the Sorrento Beach Women's Open in Santa Monica in 1958.

For more information, go to the USA Volleyball web site.