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Some of the top coaches and players throughout the 58-year history of the MIVA are now officially in the conference’s hall of fame.
The MIVA in its second year since establishing the honor formally inducted the 10 individuals to the MIVA Hall of Fame on Saturday in O’Fallon, Illinois.
The second-year class of inductees features Arnie Ball, Lloy Ball, Tom Beerman, Mick Haley, Terry Hitchcock, Terry Liskevych, Bill Neville, Bruce Nowicki, Blake Sebring and Bob Stein.
Ball State led all schools with five former players inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. In addition, Ohio State and Fort Wayne along with former MIVA schools George Williams and Earlham each had at least one representative make the hall of fame.
Arnie Ball as the founding coach of Fort Wayne guided the Mastodons to six MIVA championships and six NCAA Tournament appearances while compiling more than 500 career wins. He also was a two-time All-MIVA selection as player for Ball State in 1966 and 1967.
Lloy Ball was a three-time All-American and two-time MIVA Player of the Year who led Fort Wayne to three NCAA Tournament appearances in the 1990s. The setter also led the United States to an Olympic gold medal in 2008 and the annual Lloy Ball Award that is presented to the top setter in college men’s volleyball is named in his honor.
Arnie Ball and Lloy Ball are the first father-son combination to be inducted into any college men’s volleyball hall of fame.
Beerman was selected as the 1963 MIVA Player of the Year. In addition, Beerman played for the United States in the 1969 Zonal Championship and the 1970 World Championship.
Haley earned the 1965 MIVA Player of the Year as the setter led Ball State to back-to-back conference championships. The future U.S. Women’s National Team, Texas and USC head coach also coached former MIVA member Kellogg Community College to four junior college national championships.
Hitchcock was a member of the inaugural Ball State team in 1960 and helped the Cardinals finish with a winning record. Following his playing career, he was a longtime official in the MIVA.
Liskevych after starting his coaching career at George Williams in 1972 became the Ohio State head coach for three seasons and won the MIVA Coach of the Year in 1975 and 1976. He also was the U.S. Women’s National Team head coach from 1985-96 and guided the team to a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics.
Neville was a two-time All-MIVA selection with George Williams in 1965 and 1967. In addition, Neville became the Canadian Men’s National Team head coach in 1972 and as an assistant coach helped the United States win the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics.
Nowicki was a four-time All-MIVA selection for Ohio State. In his senior season, he also won the 1966 MIVA Player of the Year to become the first Buckeye to win the honor.
Sebring as a sports reporter for The News-Sentinel has covered Fort Wayne and the MIVA for almost 30 years. The 1994 E. Douglas Boyden Award recipient also co-wrote Lloy Ball’s autobiography “The Biggest Mistake I Never Made.”
Stein was a three-time All-MIVA selection and was named the 1967 MIVA Player of the Year. He also helped lead Earlham to a fifth-place finish at the 1967 USA Volleyball Championships.
With these inductions, the MIVA Hall of Fame now features 21 members. The conference inducted 11 members as part of its inaugural hall of fame class last year.