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International Volleyball Association
SportVolleyball
First season1975
Ceased1980
CommissionerWilt Chamberlain
No. of teams14
CountryUnited States
Mexico
ContinentNorth America

The International Volleyball Association was a short lived co-ed professional volleyball league in the United States from 1975 to 1980. Like other major sports leagues in the United States, it had two geographic divisions. However, its teams were entirely in the west. It is one of the few examples of a professional sports league where men and women competed on the same teams.

In keeping with the "International" name, the league included one team, El Paso-Juarez Sol, which acknowledged both sides of the international twin town in its name.

Divisions

The league started with 5 teams in 1975, but split into two divisions with the addition of the Tucson Turquoise in 1976. The two divisions were Western, which consisted of teams on the Pacific Coast, and a second, called Eastern in 1975 and Continental after 1977, for teams from the Rocky Mountain states.

The only team from the Eastern or Continental Division to win a championship was the Tucson Sky in 1979.

Teams

The teams and the years of existence were:

Team Years
Santa Barbara Spikers 1975–1979
El Paso-Juarez Sol 1975–1977
Los Angeles Stars 1975–1977
Orange County Stars

(Moved from Los Angeles)

1977–1978
San Diego Breakers 1975–1978
Southern California Bangers 1975
Tucson Turquoise

(Moved from Southern California)

1976
Tucson Sky

(Changed name from Turquoise)

1977–1979
Phoenix Heat 1976–1977
Denver Comets 1976–1977
Seattle Smashers 1978–1979
Albuquerque Lasers 1979
Salt Lake City Stingers 1979
San Jose Diablos 1979

Venues:

Season by year

1975

Regular Season

The league consisted of a single division. The top three teams made the playoffs, with the top team receiving a bye in the first round.

Team Win Loss Pct
Los Angeles Stars 18 6 .750
San Diego Breakers 17 7 .708
Santa Barbara Spikers 13 11 .542
Southern California Bangers 6 18 .250
El Paso-Juarez Sol 6 18 .250

Playoffs

Round 1

San Diego 1
Santa Barbara 0

Championship (Best 3 of 5)

Los Angeles 3
San Diego 1

1976

Regular Season

The league was split into two divisions: The Eastern Division and the Western Division. The top five teams made the playoffs. The top team from each division received a bye in first round.

Eastern Division

Team Win Loss Pct
El Paso - Juarez Sol 17 23 .425
Phoenix Heat 14 26 .350
Tucson Turquoise 11 29 .275

Western Division

Team Win Loss Pct
San Diego Breakers 29 11 .725
Los Angeles Stars 25 15 .625
Santa Barbara Spikers 24 16 .600

Playoffs and Championship

Best 3 of 5

Round 1

Santa Barbara 3
Phoenix 0

Round 2

San Diego 3
Santa Barbara 0
Los Angeles 3
El Paso-Juarez 0

Championship

San Diego 3
Los Angeles 1

1977

Regular Season

The league remained divided into two divisions. The Eastern Division from the previous season was renamed the Continental Division. The top two teams from each division played for the division championship, with the winners advancing to play for the league title.

Continental Division

Team Win Loss Pct
Denver Comets 22 14 .612
El Paso - Juarez Sol 21 15 .584
Phoenix Heat 15 21 .417
Tucson Sky 11 25 .306

Western Division

Team Win Loss Pct
Orange County Stars 20 16 .556
Santa Barbara Spikers 19 17 .528
San Diego Breakers 18 18 .500

Playoffs and Championships

Best 3 out of 5

Continental Division

El Paso - Juarez 3
Denver 2

Western Division

Orange County 3
Santa Barbara 2

Championship

Orange County 3
El Paso - Juarez 2

Records

Attendance

The league's total attendance during the 1977 regular season was 227,058, which set a new record for the league. Including both the regular season and the postseason, the league's total attendance was 240,803.[1]

Awards[2]

Most Valuable Male Player: Ed Skorek (El Paso-Juarez Sol)

Most Valuable Female Player: Rosie Wegrich (San Diego Breakers)

Coach of the Year: Dodge Parker (Orange County Stars)

All-IVA First Team[2]

Ed Skorek (El Paso-Juarez Sol)

Rosie Wegrich (San Diego Breakers)

Jon Stanley (Denver Comets)

Stan Gosciniak (Phoenix Heat)

Hilary Johnson (Orange County Stars)

Jon Roberts (Orange County Stars)

All-IVA Second Team[2]

Jose Garcia (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Linda Fernandez (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Bebeto DeFreitas (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Larry Benecke (Denver Comets)

Scott English (Phoenix Heat)

Dodge Parker (Orange County Stars)

Mercedes Gonzalez (Tucson Sky)

1978

Regular Season

The final standings for the season are incomplete. The latest published standings for the league that list the win–loss records for every team read as follows:[3]

Continental Division

Team Win Loss Pct
Tucson Sky 20 13 .606
El Paso-Juarez Sol 15 19 .441
Denver Comets 14 22 .389

West Division

Team Win Loss Pct
Santa Barbara Spikers 26 8 .765
Orange County Stars 20 15 .571
Seattle Smashers 15 19 .441
San Diego Breakers 10 24 .294

Before the playoffs began, the league announced that the Tucson Sky had forfeited their August 19 match against the San Diego Breakers, which had not been played due to the Sky's flight being delayed. After forfeiting the match, Tucson's final record was 21-15, while San Diego's record was 11-25.[4] The Santa Barbara Spikers and Orange County Stars finished the season with the records shown in the table above.[5] The El Paso-Juarez Sol finished with a 16-20 record.[6]

Playoffs and Championship

In the Continental Division playoffs, the Tucson Sky faced the El Paso-Juarez Sol. Tucson won the first match at El Paso on August 31 in three straight sets (12-7, 12-3, 12-5).[7] In the following match, which was played in Tucson on September 4, the Sky won 3-0 (13-11, 12-5, 12-7) to move into the finals.[8]

In the West Division playoffs, the Santa Barbara Spikers played the Orange County Stars. The Stars won the first match, which was played on September 1, 3-1 (12-3, 12-9, 5-12, 15-13).[9] On September 3, Santa Barbara won the second match 3-0 (12-10, 12-4, 12-10). With the series tied 1-1, the teams then played a tiebreaker, which Santa Barbara won 12-6 to advance to the finals.[10]

In the finals, the Sky and Spikers played a close opening match on September 6. The Sky ultimately won 3-2 (12-6, 8-12, 12-10, 3-12, 6-3).[11] Santa Barbara won the second match, which was played the following night, 3-0 (12-8, 12-5, 12-9). The match was immediately followed by a tiebreaker for the league title, which was at one point tied 8-8 before Santa Barbara scored four consecutive points to win 12-8.[12]

The players for Santa Barbara were Reede Reynolds (USA), Luis Eymard (Brazil), Jose Luis Garcia (Mexico), Bebeto de Freitas (Brazil), Larry Milliken, Sue Herrington, Rosie Wegrich and Peter Stefaniuk.

Records and Statistics

The Tucson Sky's Scott English set four playoff match records for highest average (.700), highest efficiency (.650), most service aces (four), and most service aces in a series (seven).[1] Tucson's Irma Cordero set playoff records for the highest serve receiving average (.962) and with two other players set the record for the highest serve receiving average in a match (1.000).[1] Rosie Wegrich of the Santa Barbara Spikers played in her thirty-third playoff match, setting the new league record.[1]

The Tucson Sky set three playoff match records, including highest average (.588), most service aces (eight), and most service aces in a series (24).[1]

Attendance

Tucson led the league with 2,347 fans per game, while the expansion Seattle Smashers averaged 2,306 fans per game after the All-Star break.[1] The league's total attendance during the regular season (247,661) was nearly ten percent higher than it had been the previous season. Including the postseason, the IVA's total attendance for 1978 was 264,292.[1]

Awards[13]

Most Valuable Male Player: Bebeto DeFreitas (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Most Valuable Female Player: Rosie Wegrich (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Coach of the Year: Byron Shewman (Tucson Sky)

All-IVA First Team[13]

Luiz Eymard (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Bebeto DeFreitas (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Rosie Wegrich (Santa Barbara Spikers)

Garth Pischke (El Paso-Juarez Sol)

Scott English (Tucson Sky)

Irma Cordero (Tucson Sky)

All-IVA Second Team[13]

Ed Skorek (Seattle Smashers)

Linda Fernandez (Seattle Smashers)

Jon Stanley (Denver Comets)

Jon Robert (Orange County Stars)

Dodge Parker (Orange County Stars)

Hilary Johnson (San Diego Breakers)

1979

Regular Season

The league remained divided into two divisions. Similar to the playoff format from the year before, the top two teams in each division played for the division championships, with the winners advancing to the league championship.

Continental Division

Team Win Loss Pct
Denver Comets 29 11 .725
Tucson Sky 23 17 .575
Salt Lake City Stingers 17 23 .425
Albuquerque Lasers 9 31 .225

Western Division

Team Win Loss Pct
Santa Barbara Spikers 27 13 .675
Seattle Smashers 23 17 .575
San Jose Diablos 12 28 .300

Playoffs and Championship

Best 3 out of 5

Continental Division

Tucson 3
Denver 1

Western Division

Santa Barabara 3
Seattle 2

Championship

Tucson 3
Santa Barbara 2

1980

The IVA fell apart during the 1980 season. On June 11, the owners of the San Jose Diablos halted operations.[14] On June 12, William Levy, the owner of the Santa Barbara Spikers, sold the team to Don Moger. Moger planned to move the team to Los Angeles. The league refused to approve the sale, believing that Moger planned to move the Spikers to Los Angeles during the season instead of waiting until 1981. Following the league's decision, Levy chose not to finance the team, which played no games after June 17.[14][15] Next, the partnership that owned the Albuquerque Lasers announced on June 16 that it did not have enough money to continue running the franchise.[14] Jim Matison and Don Sammis, who owned the Tucson Sky and Salt Lake Stingers, respectively, attempted to come to an agreement to purchase the league and keep it running. However, Sammis withdrew from the deal on July 9, and the league subsequently collapsed.[16]

Notable players

NBA great Wilt Chamberlain played for the Southern California Bangers in 1975, but did not play in 1976.[17] When he became an investor in the IVA and president of the league in 1977, he returned as a player for the Orange County Stars.[17] He played for the Seattle Smashers in 1978[18] and the Albuquerque Lasers in 1979.[19]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Sky set two IVA records". Arizona Daily Star. September 24, 1978. p. B14. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c "Skorek heads '77 IVA star team". El Paso Herald-Post. September 21, 1977. p. C-1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Volleyball: International Volleyball Association". Arizona Daily Star. August 27, 1978. p. 8B. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Sports in Arizona: Sky forfeits". Arizona Daily Star. August 31, 1978. p. E4. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Sky splits matches with Sol". Arizona Daily Star. August 30, 1978. p. F1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Leibson, Mark (August 30, 1978). "El Paso, Tucson Warm Up For Playoffs". El Paso Times. p. 4-D. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Hill, Sue (September 1, 1978). "No clouds in Sky as Tucson wins opener". Arizona Daily Star. p. G1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Hill, Sue (September 5, 1978). "Sky blanks Sol for division title". Arizona Daily Star. p. C1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Stars win opener in IVA playoffs". Arizona Daily Star. Associated Press. September 2, 1978. p. E1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Hill, Sue (September 4, 1978). "Sky plays Sol tonight for division championship". Arizona Daily Star. p. B1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Hill, Sue (September 7, 1978). "Sky struggles to 3-2 victory in IVA finals". Arizona Daily Star. p. E1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Hill, Sue (September 7, 1978). "Spikers beat Sky for title". Arizona Daily Star. p. E1. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c "Tucson's Shewman named to IVA honor". Arizona Republic. Associated Press. September 15, 1978. p. C-6. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b c "It's official: Sky closing up shop". Tucson Citizen. July 18, 1980. p. 1D. Retrieved July 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Baird, Joe (July 16, 1980). "Stingers, IVA collapse". The Daily Utah Chronicle. p. 7. Retrieved July 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Hill, Sue (July 11, 1980). "Arizona Daily Star". Arizona Daily Star. p. 1A. Retrieved July 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b Cour, Jim (April 26, 1977). "Wilt's job is to sell volleyball". The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California). United Press International. p. 3B. Retrieved July 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Tucson Time Capsule, Arizona Daily Star, July 2, 2007
  19. ^ Halverson, Lori (May 20, 1979). "Stingers Defeat Lasers in Opener". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. D5. Retrieved July 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Volleyball in the United States
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