History of Women in

Sports

 

 

Volleyball

1800's

1895- Volleyball was invented in Holyoke, MA. By the 1990’s, volleyball was the second-largest participated sport in the United States. More than 42 million people played, the game included indoor and outdoor competitions.


1900's

1900- A special ball was designed and created for the unique sport.


1900- YMCA introduced volleyball to Canada, and the Southern Hemisphere.


1907- At the Playground of America convention Volleyball was presented as one of the most popular sports to date.


1916- Within the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory in order to be struck by another player (the set and spike) was invented.


1916- The YMCA invited The NCAA to aid in editing the rules and in promoting the sport. Volleyball was then added to school and college physical education programs.


1917- The amount of points in the game of volleyball was changed from twenty-one to fifteen points.


1922- The first YMCA national championship was held in Brooklyn, NY.


1928- The United States Volleyball Association (USA Volleyball) was formed. The first U.S. Open was held.


1930- The very first two-man beach volleyball game was played.


1934- The approval and recognition of national volleyball referees was made in order to keep everything fair.


1949- The U.S. Volleyball Association began sponsoring the women's open title.


1964- Volleyball was added to the Olympic Games.


1970- Mary Jo Peppler of the United State's was voted the most outstanding volleyball player in the world at the International Games in Bulgaria.


1975- National team member and also Olympian, Debbie Green became volleyball's youngest All-American at the age of sixteen.


1975- Mary Jo Peppler was also named the International Volleyball Association's Coach of the Year.


1986- The Women's Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA) was created.


1987- The first Women's Professional Volleyball event was held in Newport Beach, CA.

 


2000's

2000- The Nebraska Cornhuskers beat Wisconsin 3-2 for the NCAA Volleyball crown.


2001- The Stanford Cardinals earned a record fifth NCAA women's volleyball title by defeating Long Beach State.


2004- Holly McPeak captured her 68th pro beach volleyball title, setting a new women’s career record for tournament wins.


2005- Stanford’s Ogonna Nnamani won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the NCAA woman athlete of the year. An outside hitter on the volleyball team and she was a member of the Olympic women’s volleyball team in Athens.


2005- 2004 Olympic gold medallists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second Association of Volleyball Professionals Open women’s title and the 2005 overall women's championship together.

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