Women of
the Halls of Fame
Volleyball Hall of Fame
Paying Tribute to Premier Female Hitters, Blockers, Setters, and Spikers
In 1985, nearly 100 years after volleyball was first invented as a sport in the town of Holyoke, Massachusetts, the Volleyball Hall of Fame was opened. The project had begun much earlier, in 1971, when the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce first formed a committee with the intention of honoring the sport that had been founded in its city.
By the year 1978, this committee had made significant process. They created a not-for-profit organization, Holyoke Volleyball Hall of Fame, which sought to promote and maintain a memorial for the sport of volleyball and all its players.
In 1985, the Volleyball Hall of Fame inducted its first member -- William G. Morgan, inventor of the sport of volleyball. The Hall was first opened to the public on June 6, 1987.
Morgan, 25 at the time, had realized that basketball was too strenuous a sport to play for older men. He sought to create a new sport, which he originally called "Mintonette." For the first part of volleyball history, there were no limits to the number of players who could be on the court at one time, and each team could hit the ball as many times as necessary before sending it back over the net to the other team.
Eight months later the sport was renamed volleyball, a more fitting title since the purpose of the game is to volley the ball back and forth between the two participating teams.
Between 1985 and 2005, the Volleyball Hall of Fame has inducted 70 members. 54 honorees are men, and only 16 are women. 10 of these women are from the United States.