History of Volleyball 1995-1998
History of volleyball with an Australian focus.
There does not seem to be any documents with a complete history of Australian volleyball, so if you are able to add or correct any of this information we would like to hear from you. volleyball@musa.net.au
1995
The Australian women's team toured Japan and competed against company teams as well as touring China to play against their strong provincial sides. VTAW made history when they defeated a Chinese team in the Healthway International Volleyball Challenge. Unfortunately, they lost the series overall.
The Australian women??s team competed in the 8th Asian Senior Women??s Championships in Thailand and finished in 6th spot; they then went onto compete in the World Cup Qualification Series where they were defeated by Kenya 2:1. This means that their last opportunity to compete in the Atlanta Olympics would be the Asian Olympic Tournament in Canberra in March 1996.
Volleyball Team Australia Men began 1995 in good form going to Canada in February and winning their third straight series. VTA played host to two Korean company teams and were defeated, they then toured Korea and Japan for matches against University teams. The men??s team then travelled to Perth to compete against the Brazilian and Italian National Junior Teams. They retained the Tasman Cup in their tour of the North Island of New Zealand and travelled to Japan to take part in the highly competitive World University Games where they finished 15th.
The major tournament for VTA Men in 1995 was Asian Senior Men??s Championships where they placed fifth and qualified to compete in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in April 1996. VTA would need to win this tournament to compete at the Atlanta Olympics.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship Series includes twenty-seven tournaments for both men and women and offers $US3.5 million in total prize money.
The FIVB Final Beach Volleyball Rankings serve as a basis to qualify the best pairs in the world for the Olympics. Some 600 athletes representing 42 countries take part in the Olympic Qualification season.
1996
Neither the Australian men??s or women??s indoor team manage to qualify for the Atlanta Olympics.
The Korean national men's team (who then went 1-4 in their pool matches at the Atlanta Olympics to miss out on a place in the quarter finals) played a four match test series in Melbourne (and Bendigo) against Volleyball Team Australia from June 20 to 23, 1996, just a few weeks before the Atlanta Olympics. The Koreans swept the series 4-0.
The Team Australia women??s team finish sixth at the Oceania Championships.
Two-person beach volleyball was added to the Olympics. Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook win the Bronze medal (as well as the country??s first volleyball medal) for Australia.
The first Olympic Beach Volleyball competition takes place from July 23 to 28 in Atlanta Beach, in a 10,000-seat stadium. Twenty-four men??s teams and eighteen women??s teams compete for Olympic medals as over 107,000 spectators attend the event. Team of the USA??s AVP tour dominate the men??s Olympic competition with a gold and silver medal sweep. Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes take home the gold as Kiraly becomes a three-time gold medalist and the first indoor and outdoor Olympic champion in volleyball. Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh win the silver medal. Canadians John Child and Mark Heese outduel Americans Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel for the bronze medal to prevent three American teams from appearing on the podium. In the women??s beach competition, Brazil dominates with Jackie Silva and Sandra Pires beating fellow Brazilians M?�nica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel for the gold medal. Australians Natalie Cook and Kerri-Ann Pottharst win the bronze.
Permanent beach volleyball nets were established at St Kilda, which allowed players to train without the hassle of obtaining and setting up their own nets.
Footscray Renegades gets its first site on the World Wide Web.
1997
Both the men??s and women??s AIS volleyball programmes were moved to the AIS Canberra campus in January.
The Australian men??s indoor team win the World Championship Qualification Tournament.
Team Australian men invited to the prestigious international Grand Champions Cup and finish 6th.
The Australian men defeat Korea at the Asian Senior Men's Championships, eventually finishing 3rd.
The Australian men win the Australia v Kazakhstan Series.
The Australian men win the Australia v South Africa Series.
The VTA Women finished 7th at the Asian Senior Women's Championships.
There was greater success for the women??s indoor team closer to home, winning the Tasman Cup in New Zealand.
International beach volleyball came to Melbourne on March 12-16, 1997, in the form of the Gillette FIVB World Women's Beach Volleyball Tour. The gold, silver and bronze medallists from the Atlanta Olympics came to play. The world??s top 32 teams from nine countries competed for $US120,000 ($25,000 first-place prize money) as 1200 tonnes of sand filled show court one at the tennis centre, Melbourne Park.
SBS Television showed the Grand United Pro Beach Tour for the first time on Australian television each Sunday afternoon.
The men and women Honours teams played their Victorian Volleyball League (VVL) grand finals at the new Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Albert Park on Saturday, October 25. Monbulk defeated Fairhills in the women and Heidelberg defeated Preston Falcons in the men.
1998
The Rally Point System and Libero rules are officially accepted and played at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, following the 26th FIVB World Congress.
The Volleyball Team Australia Men reached the World Championships in Japan (November 13-29) for only the second time (the first in 1982). They defeated Turkey in five sets during the first round and ended up in 18th place.
The Australian men finish third at the USA Champions Cup. On the same tour they also finished second in the Canada Cup after defeating USA and Canada during the series.
The Australian men win the Canberra Cup.
The Volleyball Team Australia Women??s team finished fifth at the Gileniow Cup in Poland. Again, there was greater success for the women??s team back at home, winning the 2nd Tasman Cup in Australia in a series whitewash, 6-0.
Australian Volleyball League (AVL) started by the Australian Volleyball Federation (AVF). The AVL kicked off on Saturday, April 18, in Melbourne at the Sports and Aquatic Centre. In its first year, the Australian Volleyball League ran for just four short rounds, however there was plenty of great volleyball played in that time, with the Australian Institute of Sport defeating Sydney Cedars for the men??s gold medal. The AVL season was telecast by SBS Television.
Beach Volleyball is included in major sports competitions such as the South East Asian Games, Central and Pan-American Games and Universiade.
For more information about the history of the Renegades Volleyball Club check the History of the Melbourne University Renegades Volleyball Club.
