2024 International Volleyball Hall class: Hovland, Henkel, Bell, Zorzi, Guimares, Rezaei, Pereyra, Lemaire, Panini
American beach legend Tim Hovland and one of the most versatile players to ever pick up a volleyball, Brazilian Ana Paula Henkel, are the headline selections for the 38th International Volleyball Hall of Fame (IVHF) induction class.
The superb crop of 2024 inductees also include three-time Olympic gold medalist Regla Bell of Cuba; the Italian terminator, Andrea “Zorro” Zorzi; and Brazilian coach Jose “Ze Roberto” Guimaraes.
The foremost Para Volley coach in the world, Iran’s Hadi Rezaei, referees Juan Angel Pereyra (Argentina) and Sue Lemaire (USA) and Italian leader Giuseppe Panini will also be honored by the IVHF at the annual gala ceremony in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the birthplace of volleyball, on Saturday, October 19.
There are four special award winners for their contributions to the IVHF and/or the sport of volleyball: Legendary USA Volleyball figure John Kessel (Mintonette Award); the late Bill Kauffman and Ed Chan (Inaugural Award for Media Excellence); and still to be named, the Mayoral Award. Kauffman was the longtime USA Volleyball public relations director. Chan was a volleyball photographer with few equals and, at the time of his death in 2021, co-publisher and photo editor of VolleyballMag.com.
“We are thrilled to announce this year’s class of Hall of Fame inductees, a group that truly reflects the diversity and global reach of our sport,” IVHF executive director, George Mulry said.
“These remarkable individuals come from varied backgrounds and have made significant contributions to volleyball in different parts of the world. Their unique stories and achievements exemplify the spirit of inclusivity and excellence that defines our sport. We hope the entire volleyball community will come together to experience their enshrinement, whether in person, or online, as we honor their legacy and celebrate their impact on the volleyball world.”
Hovland (honored as a male beach player) was one of the greatest characters to ever set foot on the sand. “The Hov” and his longtime partner, Mike Dodd, were the “fire and ice” combination that grew the beach game from a strictly Southern California South Bay/Westside curiosity to a global enterprise.
Hovie/Dodd were known as the “Big Game Hunters” for their ability to step it up when it mattered most.
“I appreciate it. I put in a lot of hard work, we won a lot of Opens, and I like all the names that are on there and it is my honor to be put there,” Hovland said. “We grew the game — (Ron) Von Hagen, and (Jim) Menges got the ball rolling.
“Hovland, Dodd, (Sinjin) Smith, (Randy) Stoklos, Karch (Kiraly) took it to another level in the 1980’s, and then it started cooking on the international level. My partner Mike Dodd had a lot to do with this, being the glue that kept it all together. We would go down to Marine Street darn near every day for six or seven hours. Sideouts could last 45 minutes before you would score a point. You had to be in insane shape.”
The combination of Dodd and Hovland won a whopping 53 tournaments, fourth all-time.
Hovland began his career at Westchester High School in the mid-1970s and was a three-sport standout in football, basketball and volleyball. Many will argue he was one of the greatest all-around athletes ever to come out of the city of Los Angeles. He was an NCAA indoor champion at USC in 1980, and runner-up in 1979 and 1981.
Although “The Hov” was not on the USA Olympic gold-medal-winning indoor team in 1984 — he chose to stay on the beach — there are some who feel he was the best indoor player in the world from 1981-1983. In 1984, Hovland led Kappa Turin of the Italian Serie A1 to its league title and was named MVP, becoming one of two Americans to ever accomplish the double feat. His coach on that team, Silvano Prandi, was inducted into the IVHF just last year.
Hovland was an instant winner on the beach. At the age of 20 he won his first Open with Kiraly in Hawaii. That was the first of 59 titles won over the span of 15 years. But it was the “quality” of titles that Hov won: Five Manhattan Beach Opens, two World Championships, and a USA Championship (the latter two events were held sporadically otherwise the trophy cabinet would probably have boasted more hardware).
Hov’s and Dodd’s rivalry with Smith and Stoklos helped burnish the sport in the consciousness of the average American sports fan. Hovland becomes the 13th male beach volleyball player to be inducted into the IVHF, and the ninth American. In 2023, the IVHF inducted another USA beach great Phil Dalhausser.
Henkel, like Hovland, excelled on both the beach and indoors. On the hardwood, she was a key member of the Brazilian national team that won a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (she also represented Brazil indoors at the Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona). In 1994 she was named the MVP of the prestigious World Cup.
On the beach, Ana Paula won FIVB World Tour gold medals with a whopping five different players. While partnered with Shelda Beda in 2008, the combination was named FIVB team of the year. A wicked server, Ana Paula won that category among players five years running between 2003-2007. A two-time beach Olympian, Henkel was fifth in Athens in 2004, and fifth again in Beijing in 2008, when she was a last-minute replacement for the injured Juliana Felisberta Silva, and partnered with Larissa Maestrini, also an IVHF selection in 2023.
Ana Paula was the top vote getter by far in the public fan vote for this year’s Hall class.
“I started to shake like I was 15 years old,” she said when Mulry informed Henkel of the IVHF’s Board of Directors’ decision.
“My legs were shaking,” Ana Paula said. “My face was burning. I could not control myself. A lot of faces came to my mind about people who helped me get to this point. My father, he is not with us (anymore), and he was always my number one fan and my mentor. He believed in me more than my own dreams. He said every day ‘you are going to do it!’”
Ana Paula becomes the 12th female beach volleyball inductee and the sixth from Brazil.
“Zorro” Zorzi was a fearsome opposite for the Italian national team. He was part of a group that won two consecutive World Championships gold medals in 1990 and 1994, and was a part of three Italian teams that won European Championships, as well as an Olympic silver in an epic final in Atlanta in 1996, won by the Netherlands 17-15 in the fifth in the old sideout scoring format. Zorzi was also an Olympian in 1988 and 1992.
Zorro was the MVP of the prestigious World League competitions in 1990 and 1991. He was also declared the world’s best player by the FIVB in 1991. Additionally, he made a huge impression on USA audiences at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle where he led the Italians to the gold medal. He played with a certain panache and stood out on an Italian team that includes four other IVHF members (Lorenzo Bernardi, Andrea Gardini, Andrea Giani and Samuel Pape) and their coach Julio Velasco.
Bell, an outside hitter, was one of four Cuban teammates to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1992-2000, two of whom are already Hall members, Regla Torres, and Mireya Luis. Bell’s resume also includes two World Championship golds (1994 and 1998) and an incredible four World Cup titles. The southpaw was the MVP of the 1993 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Grand Champions Cup.
Ze Roberto is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of volleyball. Under his guidance, the Brazilian women have been one of the world’s best handful of teams since he took over the senior national team in 2004. He led them to the country’s first ever indoor gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing, and then repeated the accomplishment four years later in London in 2012. In the most recent Games in Tokyo (2020), the Brazilians took the silver. In the World Championships his teams captured silvers in 2006, 2010 and 2022.
Before he took over the Brazilian women’s program, Ze Roberto, 69, guided the Brazilian men to the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. As a player, the diminutive 1.77m setter was a member of the 1976 Brazilian Olympic squad.
“Maybe that was the reason why I became a coach,” Ze Roberto said. “The setter is that player that keeps contact with all the team. It is easier for him to get used to the attack style of other players, who gives him a better vision of the game and creates a closer relationship between the setter and the coach.”
Hadi Rezaei, like Ze Roberto, is a coaching legend. The 63-year-old has led the Iranian sitting men’s volleyball team to an unprecedented four golds and two silver medals at the last six Paralympics. As a player, and team captain, he won three golds as a part of the Iranian national team in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Paralympics.
More detailed history and backgrounds on all the inductees will post here before the IVHF ceremony in October.
For more on the International Volleyball Hall of Fame: https://www.volleyhall.org/
And click here for tickets to attend the 2024 special weekend: https://www.volleyhall.org/induction-tickets.html
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