Above photo is of Coach Hans W. Vogel

This Blog may be amended and/or added to from time to time as need dictates.

Hans William Vogel of North Tustin was born in Cologne, Germany on March 14, 1922. He was the only child of Elsie F. and J. Jean Vogel who emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1929 via the Panama Canal disembarking in San Pedro Harbor, California. He lived and attended public schools in Long Beach, graduating from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in February 1940.

On September 2, 1942 Hans married Barbara (Bobbie) Bogart, also of Long Beach. As of Thursday, May 20, 2010, they have three children, 17 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

Hans entered into Army Service on October 16, 1942. After a brief period of orientation at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, he was transferred to the Infantry at Camp Roberts, California - first as a trainee (Private) and then as a Drill Instructor (Corporal.)

In late 1943 Hans was reassigned to the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) at the City College of New York (CCNY) in New York City, New York for in-depth studies in German language and culture, after which he received Interrogation and Counter-Intelligence training at the Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC) at Camp (now Fort) Ritchie Maryland.

In June 1944 Hans was shipped overseas as a Staff Sergeant, Military Intelligence to the Military Intelligence Pool in Broadway, England. After receiving additional training at the Order of Battle School in London, he was assigned to the Interrogation of Prisoners of War (IPW) Team 98 at Headquarters, G-2, 94th Infantry Division - a part of Patton's Third Army - as an Interrogation and Counter-Intelligence specialist.

For 'Actions Above and Beyond the Call of Duty' in February 1945 during combat at the Siegfried Line in Alsace-Lorraine, which involved going behind enemy lines in the company accompaning patrols on several occasions and talking 82 German soldiers into surrendering, Hans received a Battlefield Commission, two Bronze Star Medals and the Combat Infantryman's Badge as a special award - his branch of service was Military Intelligence. Other awards included the World War II Victory Medal, American Theater Service Medal and the European African Middle Eastern Theater Medal. He participated in all five European Theater of Operations (ETO) campaigns - Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Central Europe and Rhineland. He was honorably separated from active duty in November 1945.

Hans served in the U.S. Army Reserve and the California State Military Reserve attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Judge Advocate General Corps. He retired from military service in May 1987.  Throughout his military career both while on active and reserve duty, he had attained every rank from Private through Lieutenant Colonel except Private First Class and Buck Sergeant.

After returning to Long Beach from active military service in Europe, Hans attended the University of Southern California and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from USC in 1947. He entered the USC graduate program and joined the German Department at USC as Instructor of German for two years from 1947 through 1949. Beginning in the Fall of 1949 he was Instructor of Scientific German at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) for one year.

To earn extra money, Hans also translated Top Secret captured German Rocket Science documents for the Office of Naval Intelligence located on the USC campus. In 1947 he was interviewed and invited to become an agent for the newly-created Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - an offer he did not accept.

In 1948 he organized, recruited and coached USC's first men's volleyball team. In May 1949 Los Angeles hosted the United States Volleyball Association's (USVBA's) first ever National Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship Tournament at the Naval Reserve Armory in Chavez Ravine (now the site of Dodger Stadium.)

USC won that tournament, placing five players on the first or second All American team. A USC team member, Richard Archer, was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. In May of the following year (1950) Hans took the USC team to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to make it back-to-back championships by successfully defending its title and placing four players on the first or second All American team. Again, the Most Valuable Player of the tournament was a USC team member, Robert Duron.

In 1948, Vogel - USC '47, Emil Breitkreutz - USC '06 (a 1904 Olympic track Bronze Medalist) and Dr. Leonard Stallcup - USC '28 (USC Welter-weight boxing champion) co-founded the Southern California Collegiate Volleyball Association which sponsored the first Southern California intercollegiate men's volleyball tournaments.

After leaving the education field in 1951, Hans spent the next 25 years as an entrepreneur in the construction industry, which he continued concurrently with a return to education in 1968. He served as an administrator with the former Tustin Union High School District (25% of Orange County.) When the high school district was restructured by state mandate into three unified school districts in 1973, he opted to join the Tustin Unified School District administration in various as-needed capacities, including handling employee relations and legal affairs until his retirement in 1984.

In 1971 he received a Master of Arts degree in European History from Chapman College (now University) in Orange, California by writing a Master's Thesis - An Inquiry into Violations of Dualan Treaty Rights in German Kamerun, 1884-1914 (Kamerun is German for Cameroon.) The majority of the research was performed in the U.C.L.A. Library using primary source material written in German.

In 1976 he received his Juris Doctor degree from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California.

From 1984 through 1990 Hans consulted in employee relations, labor contract negotiations and other matters with various school districts in Southern California, including the Tustin Unified School District. He also taught School Law for Public School Administrators (a California administrative credential requirement) at Pepperdine University, California Lutheran University and California State University in Fullerton.

In 1967 Hans was one of the five individuals elected to the founding Board of Trustees of the Saddleback Community College District, whose jurisdiction is the southern 48% of Orange County. In recent years it has been renamed the South Orange County Community College District. He was the founding Board's first president and held that position a total of four times during his nearly eight years in office. Hans resigned in 1974 after temporarily taking up residence outside his trustee area while building a new residence within his former trustee area, which he has occupied since 1976.

In the early 1970's Hans was appointed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to a Blue-ribbon Commission on Voting Systems. The Commission visited various jurisdictions throughout the United States to study and evaluate the voting systems they were using. Based on their findings, the Commission made recommendations for a new voting system to the Board of Supervisors of Orange County.

History of 1949 & 1950 USC Men's Volleyball

Note:

• Appendices A through C follow Chapter IX.
• Appendices D through G are accessed by clicking the Older Posts button at the end of Appendix C.
• Appendices H through J are accessed by clicking the Older Posts button at the end of Appendix G.
• Click on an image once to for a larger view.
• Click on it again for the largest view.
• Click the Return arrow in the upper left corner of the screen to revert image to original size.

Table of Contents

Introduction:      USC Volleyball

Chapter I:          USC Volleyball - Overview

Chapter II:         The Pre-USC Volleyball Year

Chapter III:        USC Volleyball - The 1948/1949 Season

Chapter IV:        USVBA's First Collegiate Nationals

Chapter V:         USC Volleyball - The 1949/1950 Season

Chapter VI:        USC Volleyball Defends National Crown

Chapter VII:       USC Response to the Team's Accomplishments

Chapter VIII:      Summary and Recommendations

Chapter IX:        Events Since First Publication on June 19, 2002

Introduction

Introduction: USC Volleyball
It took just two volleyball seasons - 1948/49 and 1949/50 - for the University of Southern California to establish itself as a volleyball power with which to reckon by capturing local, state and national titles. Volleyball was not a recognized sport at USC, but that didn't prevent the president of the university, the student body government and the alumni association from readily and openly welcoming and heralding the accomplishments of a very fine group of dedicated players on the men's team. They won back-to-back national collegiate titles and had a total of nine players named to the All-American teams based on play in those two tournaments. To this day the achievements of those USC volleyballers remain obscure, not only to the university, but also to the sponsor of those tournaments, the United States Volley Ball Association.

Fifty-two years later, I, as the coach of the USC team during both years, seek to remedy that lack of recognition by utilizing long-misplaced documents to share with USC and the volleyball world in general a detailed description of what was surely a unique period in collegiate volleyball history.The chapters that follow will detail the events occurring during those two years in more or less chronological order. Each specific event or item mentioned is footnoted to one or more documents in nine appendices, A through I. The footnotes direct the reader to a document, e.g., E-5, meaning Appendix E, Document 5, to substantiate a statement or claim made in the text. Some documents are further subdivided into parts or pages. It is recommended that they be read in their entirety. Lengthy newspaper articles are shown first in scanner letter-size capacity format followed by enlarged sections of the article to make the print readable. Well over 125 documents are presented to the reader in this manner. The intent of such a large array of documents is to leave no doubt in the reader's mind regarding the authenticity of the statements or claims made in the text.The labor of evaluating, organizing and making this presentation has been time-consuming, monumental and often overwhelming. Just the prospect of scanning and making numerous copies of such a large amount of material would make one hesitate to take on the task of producing this work. The author feels the importance of making these data public, nevertheless, has been well-worth the effort.

Hans W. Vogel
Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Chapter I

Chapter I: USC Volleyball - Overview
On September 25, 2001, while reviewing my past, I decided the time had come to revisit my long love affair with volleyball. It had always been my favorite sport and true love - second only to my wife, of course. She might tell you there were quite a number of times she felt it was the other way around, particularly back in 1949 and 1950 at the University of Southern California.

I was prompted by the fact that I wasn't getting any younger and was about to reach a milestone, the big '80.' So, I began surfing the internet to determine what, if anything, had been memorialized about the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans' brief, but highly successful brush with collegiate volleyball fame and glory throughout 1949 and 1950. During that brief span of time a young, strong and enthusiastic USC men's volleyball team managed to win back-to-back national collegiate titles first in Los Angeles and then in Knoxville, Tennessee; See Appendix G-19 nine USC players were selected on the first and second United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) Collegiate All-American teams - five in 1949 See Appendix C-4 and four in 1950 See Appendix G-7. I was the coach.

Using the 'Google' search engine, I was led to the USVBA site www.volleyball.org/history, through which I brought up onto the screen the '100 Year History of Volleyball.' An accurate, but all-too-brief reference to the 1949 and 1950 period reads as follows:

"1949 USVBA added a collegiate division for competitive college teams. For the first ten years collegiate competition was sparse. Teams formed only through the efforts of interested students and instructors. Many teams dissolved when the interested individuals left the college. Competitive teams were scattered, with no collegiate governing bodies providing leadership in the sport."

That paragraph could easily have been written with me in mind, characterizing my own experiences at USC. I was both an interested graduate student and a German instructor at USC in 1949. In 1950, while continuing my post-graduate work at USC, I was a Scientific German instructor at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) in Pasadena See Appendices D-4 & D-5. I encouraged and coached volleyball teams at both institutions; at the same time I fostered the College of Medical Evangelists (CME) team by obtaining authorization from USC officials to allow these future physicians and surgeons to use the gym for practice with my team See Appendix G-21 Pages. 1 & 2. CME was located in Los Angeles at that time, although always a part of the Seventh Day Adventist Loma Linda University.

In 1950 Emil Breitkreutz (USC '06,) See Appendices C-9, C-13, F-1, F-2, F-3, F-5, F-6, G-16 & G-18 Dr. Leonard Stallcup (USC '28,) See Appendices C-9, C-12, C-13, F-4 & G-16 and I, Hans Vogel (USC '47,) See Appendices A-1, A-5, C-1, C-3, C-9, E-2, E-7, F-1, G-5, G-8 Pg. 1, G-9 Pg. 2, G-10 Pages. 1-3, G-13 Part 1, G-16, G-19, H-4, H-6, H-7, H-9 & I-1 through 5. founded the Southern California Collegiate Volleyball Association (SCCVA.) Emil was a former 1904 Olympics Bronze Medalist and track star at USC; he designed, built and furnished the necessary equipment; he also permitted SCCVA to take full advantage of the prestige and influence of his USVBA board position and Amateur Athletic Association (AAU) official affiliation. SCCVA also utilized Emil's extremely close relationships with Paul Helms and Bill Schroeder of the Helms Athletic Foundation. The latter was founded by Paul Helms of Helms Bakeries to support and record for posterity athletic achievement of all types. Bill Schroeder was the executive director of the foundation and Paul Helms' right-hand man.

Dr. Stallcup, a dentist, had been a former welterweight boxer at USC; he was on the USVBA public relations committee, and took on the duty of public relations director for SCCVA. I was charged with contacting other colleges and universities, primarily those in Southern California, in an endeavor to encourage their athletic departments to cooperate in SCCVA's venture of developing and establishing volleyball as a recognized sport on the collegiate level. Athletic directors See Appendix F-12 were asked to help create and sponsor volleyball teams at their institutions, and to permit them to participate in SCCVA activities and tournaments.

In the year prior to SCCVA's founding, USC officials had already sponsored and held an intercollegiate doubles tournament See Appendices B-1 through B-4 the purpose of which was to alert and draw out volleyball talent on the various college and university campuses in Southern California. It seemed only logical that since many local college students played volleyball on Southern California beaches during the summer months, they might become interested in participating in volleyball activities sponsored by their respective colleges and universities. The Helms Athletic Foundation graciously and generously supplied the medals and a trophy for this inaugural event See Appendix F-6. At the same time my USC team had begun to participate in local AAU- and USVBA-sponsored volleyball tournaments. Relegated initially to playing in the 'A' league, our young, but talented players developed rapidly and didn't waste any time to establish themselves as serious Double A title contenders.

By the time USC had successfully repeated its 1949 Los Angeles National Collegiate Championship performance in Knoxville in May 1950, a number of volleyball's movers and shakers began having second thoughts about the wisdom of their involvement in sponsoring intercollegiate volleyball. Obviously, things were moving a bit too rapidly for these volleyball old-timers who had controlled the sport since it was first played. They could not have anticipated that collegiate volleyball teams could become so strong a force in so short a time. The rapid rise of USC volleyball prestige on the national scene caught USC authorities by surprise as well. It put them in the uncomfortable position of feeling obligated to give serious consideration to official university sponsorship and financial support which presently lagged far behind what was warranted by the volleyball team's actual achievement.

Not too long after our Knoxville victory, I left teaching and coaching to enter a more remunerative business world. My fervent desire and goal had been singular - to encourage others to build on the foundation I had helped to lay for establishing volleyball on the collegiate level. Unfortunately, that did not happen. USC officials were not prepared to fund yet another negative-income minor sport. With the strongest collegiate volleyball team in the nation unable to obtain the support of its university, the new Beverly Hills YMCA, very much in need of a volleyball program, offered to provide USC players a home base and me the position of coach. I could not accept, in all good conscience, what I considered to be nothing short of a retreat to the former status quo; such a move would effectively nullify whatever gains had been made in bringing volleyball to the colleges as a recognized and sponsored sport.

For me it was gut-wrenching to witness that which remained of USC's team in such a disorganized, disintegrating and leaderless condition. It was not unlike watching one's own child die. In 1951 USC did not even enter the national collegiate tournament in order to defend its national title See Appendix G-20. For me personally a very important consequence of leaving the field of education was facing the fact that I had given up any hope of witnessing the acceptance of collegiate volleyball nationwide at any time in the near future. It would be more than a decade before that would become a reality; but, sadly, it had to happen without my involvement.

After contacting USVBA in September 2001 over 50 years later, I was delighted to receive a very friendly and encouraging response from John Kessel, one of that organization's top officials. I tried to piece together from memory some of the specifics about that early period. Unfortunately, as any lawyer can tell you, there develops over time an inevitable erosion of the ability to recall just what took place where and when with any acceptable degree of accuracy, especially more than 50 years after the event.

I made the mistake of stating that the highly-regarded UCLA volleyball coach, Al Scates, had been one of the participants in the doubles tournament USC had sponsored in 1949. That was an incorrect assertion. It was brought to my immediate attention that in 1949 Al would have had to be attending UCLA at about the same time he entered puberty. I also stated that my granddaughter, Heather Steele, had received a volleyball scholarship to the University of California (UC) at San Bernadino. Of course, there is no UC in San Bernadino and I should have said that it was to UC at Riverside where she did play on the women's volleyball team coached by one the finest in the sport.If I persisted in making errors, even minor ones, I would very quickly lose credibility. What I needed were facts - hard demonstrable facts.
Relying on my memory was definitely not the answer to my problem.
Misstatements, no matter how unintentional, could jeopardize the likely success of achieving my goal of shedding light on collegiate volleyball during the 1949 and 1950 period.

Somewhere in my attic filled with over a 50-year accumulation of trivia and junk lay a box full of volleyball news clippings, documents, photographs and other memorabilia from my volleyball experiences at USC during 1949 and 1950. Those were a priceless two years of working with a truly talented and wonderful group of volleyball players at USC, Cal Tech and the College of Medical Evangelists. I had also been privileged to work with two fine former USC legends and gentlemen who encouraged and helped me to try to achieve that gargantuan task of establishing volleyball as an intercollegiate sport. Fortunately, nobody tried to dissuade me in advance by telling me just how difficult and challenging a task that might prove to be or, worse yet, that its time would have to wait a considerable while longer. I truly regret that I didn't succeed at that time, but I have never been sorry that I made the attempt. It was and continues to be an important part of my life.It became obvious that if I were ever to succeed in garnering acceptance of the factuality and truth about my claims concerning the events of 1949 and 1950, I would first have to find sufficient documentation that would back up my claims; and, that meant I had to find that box in the attic. Motivated by the absolute necessity of maintaining my credibility, I did find it. It proved to be a literal treasure throve of volleyball material from that early period which I found stored in a very dusty shabby box back in a dark corner of my attic.

My first priority was to find something that would justify my mistake in thinking that Al Scates had been a doubles tournament participant in 1949. I not only found a list of all the doubles tournaments' participants See Appendix B-2, but, best of all, also the original entry blanks submitted by each doubles team. You can imagine my elation when I found an entry form submitted by a team consisting of an Al Linnick and Herman Sater See Appendix B-3. Even the most jaded cynic would have to admit that the names Al Sater and Al Scates bear a resemblance sufficient enough that the two could be confused in someone's memory over a half a century later. I immediately sent a copy of it to Al Scates, because after hearing of my claim, he had written to tell me that he would have been much too young to have participated in that tournament.

In the following chapters I will attempt to aggregate a chronological documentary about the events leading up to and including collegiate volleyball at USC in 1949 and 1950. Also, included will be enough of my personal volleyball history to put the events leading up to the achievements during those two years into proper perspective. The report will incorporate hard-copy documents, news clippings, photographs, etc. from those two years of what I call my 'Volleyball Camelot' era. The sheer amount and undeniable quality of the material I found and plan to present should leave no doubt in anyone's mind about what truly and factually took place during those two years. How this report is received will be up to those interested enough to read and evaluate my offering.

Chapter II

Chapter II: The Pre-USC Volleyball Years
When I was attending Long Beach Polytechnic High School from 1937 through 1940, my family lived only four city blocks from the love of my life, the beach, on Linden Avenue in Long Beach, California. At the foot of Linden Avenue to the south on the ocean side of the Rainbow Pier there was a short stretch of beach which had two great assets - wonderful waves for bodysurfing and a volleyball court. That is where I learned to play the game. Most of us 'beachies' were dirt poor; volleyball and bodysurfing, which were free-of-charge, probably helped a lot of us to stay out of serious trouble. Linden Avenue was one terminus of the former horseshoe-shaped Rainbow Pier which was about a mile long. At the other end was Pine Avenue. The ocean was on the outside of the pier with a lagoon inside.

From Linden Avenue, following the shore-line for about one-half a mile to the north, one reached the foot of Pine Avenue. Located immediately to the south on the lagoon side, there was a volleyball court with a different quality of play. Pine Avenue had the premier beach volleyball court of Long Beach. Players had the luxury of using a rope for line markers and a water faucet with a hose to wet down and compact the sand court. The net was kept taut and was measured constantly to see that its uniform eight-foot height was maintained; it was taken down each night and stored in a locked box to keep it safe. There was also an official's platform on one of the poles holding the net. The ball was leather, not rubber like the one we used at Linden Beach. This was where the elite of Long Beach volleyball played during the summer months and on week-ends throughout the balance of the year. The quality of play was every bit the equivalent of that found at the better-known volleyball beach in Santa Monica. Many of the Pine Avenue players were members of Long Beach Y's 'A' and 'Double-A' teams.

Bob Allen, my beach buddy and a fellow Poly High student, and I were considered a couple of the better volleyball players at Linden Avenue. Very frequently he and I walked that one-half mile to Pine Avenue to play on that court; eventually, after proving that we met the Pine Avenue standard of play, we were accepted as regulars. As a result of that exposure, Bob, who was 18, and I, at 17, were given free memberships to the Long Beach Y as members of its volleyball team. This was quite an honor since the next youngest player on the team was 25 years old. Over the years a number of the Long Beach YMCA volleyball team members were rated among the top players in AAU- and USVBA-sponsored tournaments in Southern California, statewide and nationally.

At Poly Bob Allen was a star high jumper for the track team. When he spiked a ball, he achieved tremendous altitude combined with a very good sense of timing. He would arch his back, and like a spring, unwind and drive the ball with a great amount of force at a great speed. Once, while he and I were playing in a mixed men's and women's volleyball tournament - three men and three women on each team - he spiked the ball so hard it broke the wrist of a girl who tried to field it.

Bob and I played extremely well together as a team, so we decided to enter a Southern California Men's Doubles Volleyball Tournament being held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. We placed third after being barely edged out by the Hazard brothers, also from Long Beach. It had been such a hard-fought and fatiguing match, that the Hazards, being older than the young sprouts they had just played, were so exhausted that they lost the championship match to a team Bob and I could have defeated quite handily. In those days men's indoor doubles was played on a full-court hardwood floor without any protective gear. Cuts and bruises went with the territory.

Upon graduating from Poly High in 1940, I had been offered a $100.00 scholarship by the University of California at Berkeley. I decided that it just wasn't going to be enough to sustain me very long - it would cover tuition and books, but nothing else. So, I turned it down and worked for a year, saving over $500.00. This was enough to meet the basic costs at Berkeley for one year starting in the fall of 1941. A week-end job at a Sears, Roebuck & Co. store in Oakland brought in enough to pay for extra expenses. I rowed on the Cal freshman crew and was fortunate enough to be permitted to keep up my volleyball interest by practicing regularly with the highly-regarded Embarcadero YMCA team. I knew most of the team members, having played against them when I was on the Long Beach YMCA team.

On December 7, 1941, a Sunday, I and my dorm mates at Berkeley were engrossed in studying for final examinations when one of the fellows, who had been listening to the radio in his room, yelled for all of us to drop whatever we were doing and join him quickly. The Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Because I had not completed one year of college work, I was unable to qualify for any of the programs which would have granted me a military deferral to remain in school until I graduated. I returned to Long Beach and enrolled at Long Beach Junior College where I met the girl I married in September of 1942.

Six weeks later in October 1942 I became an Army private, receiving my basic training in Infantry at Camp Roberts, California. From there I attended the City College of New York under the Army Specialized Training Program to study German language and culture. After two quarters at CCNY, I was shipped to Camp Ritchie, Maryland, the Military Intelligence Training Center, for intensive training in interrogation and counter-intelligence fundamentals.

From Ritchie we were shipped to the Military Intelligence pool in Broadway, England. I joined five others to make up Interrogation of Prisoners of War Team (IPW) 98 which in turn was assigned to the 94th Infantry Division. The 94th became part of George Patton's Third Army shortly after the Germans launched their counter-offensive at Bastogne. The 94th fought with Patton from France across Germany reaching Czechoslovakia in early 1945. There our IPW team established a counter intelligence headquarters in one of the villages. Each Czech village had a volleyball team including ours - it was the national sport. I was accepted as a member of the Czech team from my village See Appendix I-1.

After being discharged in November 1945, I enrolled at USC in the spring of 1946 and graduated in June 1947. Upon entering graduate school at USC, I was assigned a teaching position in the German Department. I played a little volleyball here and there on a hit and miss basis.

Chapter III

Chapter III: USC Volleyball - The 1948/1949 Season
I had started my studies at USC in 1946 much too soon after arriving home from 18 months of overseas Army duty. During that period I had seen combat in front of and behind enemy lines serving in all five major European campaigns in General George S. Patton's Third Army. I was 23 years old when I came home - the past three of which had been spent in the Army. Starting my studies only three months after being discharged just was not long enough to allow me to adjust to civilian life; especially as a former student now married and lacking a job or career to which to return.

After graduating from USC in June 1947, my teaching career began that September as an instructor in the Department of German at USC. I was still on the GI Bill of Rights which paid for my tuition for graduate school plus a $95.00 per month subsistence allowance. My wife had given up her architecture studies at USC to take a full-time position as the patent draftsperson for North American Aviation in El Segundo. It paid very well, since she was solely responsible for comprehending and converting the patentable ideas of North American's largely European scientists and researchers into acceptable drawings to be submitted to the U.S. Patent Office in cooperation with the company's patent attorneys.

Our first child, a son, who was born in May 1947, was left in the care of daytime baby-sitters. In addition to teaching German, I was offered the opportunity to translate a never-ending supply of German documents on microfilm rolls dealing with jet propulsion and rocketry for the Office of Naval Research at USC. Given the choice of working at the rate of $5.00 per page or $5.00 per hour, I chose the per page option. Although I was able to complete an average of 5 pages per hour in two-hour stretches, because the work was so intense and fatiguing, I was able to work for no more than two hours each day two to three days per week.

The pressure of pursuing graduate studies in German and International Relations, teaching, translating, remaining active in the Army Reserve, being a husband and new father was extremely nerve-wracking. After one grueling year of that routine, I felt a need for some sort of physical diversion to help me maintain a mental equilibrium. I contacted Dr. Alex Aloia, USC's Director of Recreational Activities, in order to determine whether he was aware of any student interest in establishing a volleyball club and eventually a recognized team. He indicated he could give me the names of some volleyball players on campus, but, as far as he knew, nothing had been done to form a club or team. He encouraged me to take on the task, all the while admonishing me that funds for such an endeavor were extremely limited. If I desired, he said he would have interested students contact me, and suggested I speak with the Daily Trojan sports editor to see if the paper would run an article about my interest in forming a volleyball team. Alex said that he would allow us to use the USC gym once and possibly twice a week for practice and for holding matches with other college teams.

He informed me that any team expenses would be have to paid by me out-of-pocket - he would do his best to see that I was reimbursed. After I explained that my income was limited, he suggested that I contact Al Ewen, USC's Director of Finance See Appendix I-4, to see if he could use me in some capacity, perhaps, as a gatekeeper or usher in the Coliseum on football game days. I started as a gatekeeper, eventually assuming the responsibility for supervising 25% of the gates and tunnels . The money I earned for my game duties were used to fund tournament entry fees and other expenses for my future volleyball teams.

Quite a number of interested volleyball players called me. I had heard of others who had already established themselves as being very fine players. However, when I contacted the latter, some were a bit skittish about joining a group that had no standing in the volleyball community and was not recognized by USC. The players that did come out for practice shaped up quite rapidly, most of whom had never played competitive volleyball in a gym on a hardwood floor. They were your typical undisciplined, self-taught Summer beach volleyball players.

I made contact with some of my former volleyball associates from my YMCA and AAU days before the war in order to get information about entering my team in tournaments planned for the 1948-49 season. As an unknown and untried team we were relegated to the 'A' league at first. As we put a few tournaments under our belt in which we finished mostly at the top, we were allowed by volleyball officials to participate with the "big boys" in the 'AA' tournaments. With that recognition from the volleyball community, we had no difficulty enticing the better players at USC to join the team.Our first major tournament was held in Pomona in December 1948; the USC team placed a surprising third. By February 1949 the team had gained in experience and strength sufficiently to win the Whittier Tournament defeating the former Long Beach Y state champions. The team went on to win the State YMCA-Open and AAU championship on March 12, 1949 and the Southern California YMCA Olympics on April 2, 1949 See Appendices A-2, A-4 & A-5. The USC team was now firmly established as a power with which the volleyball community had to reckon.

USC's style of play was known as 'power volleyball' which literally blasted opponents off the floor See Appendix G-14. We used four spikers and two set-up men who shifted into the center after the ball was served. Our blockers formed a semicircle of three See Appendix C-15 to deflect an opponent's spike from any direction. Our spikers were trained to face the net head-on giving them the option of seeing opposing blockers and spiking the ball in any direction, either through the blockers or off their hands with the ball landing out-of-bounds. Their timing was honed to such a point that they could make a successful inbounds spike from half-way back in the court. Our players were young enough to learn and adapt to new concepts of play as opposed to their opponents who for the most part were older and more set in their self-learned style of play.

At the same time that USC was achieving recognition as a first-rate volleyball team, I determined that what had been wrought at USC was not an anomaly. This same scenario could be reenacted at any college or university in the country; particularly, in Southern California where so many students played beach volleyball during the Summer months. A collegiate volleyball program had the advantage of working with young trainable talents who had not yet firmly established a possibly-corrupt style of play. They were pliable and could be trained to develop and employ successful and effective ways to play the game.

It became obvious to me that the future of volleyball lay in the hands of our youth. It was just a matter of time and circumstance before volleyball was firmly ensconced in the athletic departments of the colleges and universities. I determined to hasten that process to the best of my ability and available time to devote toward that end.
Eventually, it would have to become an officially recognized Olympic sport. By the time we had won our second consecutive national volleyball title in 1950, some of volleyball's movers and shakers also saw the handwriting on the wall and began placing obstacles in my path. They succeeded in delaying, but not halting the inevitable for a period of about ten years; however, their tactics, in conjunction with a slow and laborious sport recognition policy in place at most institutions of higher learning, effectively prevented me from continuing to play a role in that process.

In early 1949 I requested Alex Aloia to allow me to hold a Southern California Collegiate Doubles Volleyball Tournament at USC. See Appendix B-1 My intent was to draw out whatever players were available on campus at Southern California institutions of higher learning. The names of those participating could then be turned over to their respective athletic directors in order to establish a nucleus around which six-member teams could be formed. The tournament was held on March 26, 1949 under the auspices of the USC Volleyball Club and the USC Recreation Association at USC. Thirty-two doubles teams entered See Appendix B-2 representing a number of colleges and universities. The team of Ives and Morey from Long Beach City College See Appendix B-4 eked out a win over the team of Archer and Solari from USC. After graduation these players went on to become members of nationally-recognized YMCA and Athletic Club teams.

Chapter IV

Chapter IV: USVBA's First Collegiate Nationals
I can't say with any degree of certainty whether the United States Volleyball Association's addition of collegiate volleyball to the annual USVBA nationals held in Los Angeles in May 1949 had already been planned or whether the sudden upsurge of interest on the part of Southern California colleges impacted that decision. In any case it was a stroke of good luck for the USC team. We had jumped over all the hurdles and through the necessary hoops, established our credentials and were raring to prove that our ascension in the volleyball world was no fluke. Officially recognized collegiate volleyball teams already existed in the United States. Springfield College, the University of Florida and the University of California at Berkeley come quickly to mind. Everyone wondered how this Johnny-come-lately, upstart group from USC would fare against these established teams.

The 'International 1949 Volley Ball Championships' were scheduled to be held at the U.S. Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Armory in Los Angeles, California in Chavez Ravine (present site of Dodger Stadium) on May 12, 13 and 14, 1949 See Appendices C-1 & C-2. When asked to serve as a member of the tournament committee See Appendix C-9. I accepted for what it signified - a compliment to the USC team for its outstanding sportsmanlike playing as true champions for the past six months. Five other Trojans Ibid. were represented on the committee: Webb Caldwell, former USC basketball captain; Emil Breitkreutz, former USC trackster and 1904 Olympic Bronze medalist; Dr. Leonard Stallcup, former USC welterweight boxing champion; Joe Holt, prominent Trojan Club member and later US. Congressman; and W.L. 'Larry' Barr. Other USC notables involved in volleyball at that time were See Appendix H-4: Jim Ward, former USC trackster; Dr. Les Meisenheimer, former USC quarter miler; George Brandow, president of the USC Engineering Alumni Association and member of the General Alumni Association Board of Directors; and Dr. Francis Conley, President-elect of the General Alumni Association.

USC was one of eight collegiate teams that entered the tournament. Of the other seven, six actually competed: Whittier College, UC Berkeley, College of Medical Evangelists, Santa Barbara, Long Beach City College and Stanford. The University of Mexico had submitted an application, but did not show up. The crème de la crème consisted of four teams: USC, Cal Berkeley, Stanford and Long Beach City College. Their final standing after tournament play was finished was one, four, two and three respectively.

In the winner's bracket Long Beach advanced by the default of Mexico to play and knock off Cal; USC defeated the College of Medical Evangelists and Stanford; then USC eliminated Long Beach to emerge as the team that would play the winner of the loser's bracket. Stanford, relying heavily on the talent of George Yardley, an All-American basketball player and later an outstanding professional player for the Phillips 66 Oilers, defeated Cal, then Long Beach to meet USC again in the double-elimination playoff. But, by then USC had attained its finely-tuned, machine-like 'power-volleyball' stride for which it had earned a reputation; they put away Stanford 15-2 and 15-4 See Appendix C-14. USC had five members of its team named to the National Collegiate All-Americans teams: See Appendix C-4 Dick Archer and Ray Solari on the first team and Robbie Duron, Paul Newberry and Kenyon Lee on the second.

While there was no doubt in most volleyball aficionados' minds that the USC team deserved the accolades that were now heaped on them, doubters still persisted. "What about Springfield College," they asked, "the home of volleyball's beginnings and the University of Florida which also boasted players that learned the game on the Florida beaches, much as was the case in Southern California?" These naysayers still felt that USC had yet to be tested.

For whatever reason, those two institutions had chosen not to participate in this first annual collegiate championship competition. So for some, USC would have to wait until next year when these and other national teams would go to Knoxville, Tennessee for the second year of the national collegiate championship tournament; then, and only then, would the USC team have its opportunity to prove that they are truly of national champion muster. Fair enough! We would certainly have preferred a greater turnout of collegiate teams in Los Angeles. In the meantime we would just have to continue doing what we had been doing - entering as many official and demonstration tournaments or matches as our full-time college students could fit into their busy schedules.

The volleyball team's accomplishments, nevertheless, were sufficiently impressive and important enough to gain the attention of USC officials. The Southern California Alumni Review magazine for October 1949 See Appendices H-3 & H-4 wrote proudly about ours being yet another USC team that was marching in the footsteps of a long list of sports that have contributed to building USC tradition. The article on page 15 extolled the pride and glory that this team had evoked and brought to the University. It enumerated many of the former Trojans who had gone on to achieve fame in the volleyball world. There was even an action photo of three of our All-Americans blocking a spiker from the Long Beach City College team See Appendix H-4. But, the ultimate compliment came from the President of the University, Fred D. Fagg, Jr., in his official President's Report to the Alumni 1949 See Appendices H-1 & H-2. On page 9 he includes the fact that the volleyball team won the national championship in his section titled 'The Athletic Record.'

Obviously, the University was proud of the volleyball team's accomplishments. The Alumni Review article and photo and the President's Report to the Alumni 1949 reference were ample testimony to the fact that USC felt that this was something Alumni Association members as well as the Alumni in general should be informed about and take pride in.

Chapter V

Chapter V: USC Volleyball - The 1949/1950 Season
USC had a policy regarding its faculty that discouraged the practice of what is best referred to as "inbreeding." Simply stated it means that anyone who wanted to teach at USC must be hired from "outside" - some other university or college. In my case, I was taking post-graduate courses toward a doctorate at USC and teaching there at the same time. To get around this dilemma, an agreement was reached with Cal Tech to hire me in its Humanities Division as a Scientific German instructor for a few years until I had completed the requirements for my Ph.D. in German with an International Relations minor. Presumably I would then be employed as a regular faculty member in the German Department at USC. In the Fall of 1949 I began teaching at the prestigious California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California See Appendices D-4 & D-5.

Since my services as volleyball coach at USC were strictly voluntary, and because I continued to be a graduate student at USC, nothing changed in regard to the USC volleyball team. After surveying the sports situation at Cal Tech, I came to the conclusion that there was no reason why I couldn't form a team there, much the same way that had been accomplished at USC. The Athletic Department at Cal Tech gave me the green light to contact the student houses on campus See Appendices D-1 & D-2 to elicit interest in such an enterprise.

Having moved from Long Beach to Altadena near the Institute, I was now able to spend less time commuting to USC and Cal Tech. I felt that my new schedule would allow me to include coaching a Cal Tech team while continuing to do the same at USC. I arranged a limited schedule of matches for the Cal Tech team See Appendix D-3 that took into consideration the study habits of its highly-motivated student body. Cooperation by Cal Tech officials and the athletic department could not have been greater, for which I was extremely grateful. Naturally, the fact that I had an established track record of accomplishment at USC was key to being able to achieve that degree of concord at Cal Tech. Success breeds success.

Arrangements had been made during the prior year with Dr. Alex Aloia, Director of Recreational Activities at USC, to enable the College of Medical Evangelists to practice with the USC team in the gym See Appendix G-21 Pages. 1 & 2. That permission was renewed for the 1949-1950 volleyball season. I had never presumed to coach their players in any manner; however, there is no question that the Seventh Day Adventist team had profited from the unique advantage of being able to practice with and compete against a proven USC volleyball team on a regular basis. CME had entered the 1949 collegiate nationals in Los Angeles and played very well. In May 1950 these future medical doctors would make the trip to Knoxville, Tennessee in order to participate in the second outing for the collegiate nationals.

The cooperation of Dr. Aloia was outstanding considering the constraints under which he had to operate - particularly those of a financial nature. In those cases where he was unable to make direct requests on behalf of the volleyball team to USC officials, he created entrée for me to make them. In the latter case, he instructed me very carefully in the art of successfully persuading certain individuals by being aware of and factoring in their personalities and propensities. I can't thank him enough for going the extra mile for our team on those occasions when it was needed most.

The 1949-1950 volleyball season opened on November 26, 1949 with the Sixth Annual Fellowship Volleyball Tournament held in Long Beach. See Appendices E-1 & E-2 Three tournaments followed one another in quick succession during January 1950 at Santa Monica, Pasadena and Los Angeles. See Appendices E-3, E-4 & E-5 The latter was a Double A invitational tournament in which the USC team had earned the right to participate based on its performance in the prior tourneys. The Los Alamitos Naval Air Station volleyball team invited USC to play in an exhibition match on February 10, 1950 See Appendix E-6 as a public relations event prior to the State AAU Annual Tournament to be held at the base on March 12, 1950. USC was the defending champion of that tournament. See Appendix E-7 The March 12, 1950 event boasted a field of 12 teams, two of which were from USC, placing first and fourth. See Appendices E-8, E-9 & E-10 The highly successful inaugural 1948-1949 volleyball season at USC had attracted a large number of talented players in late 1949 and early 1950. The future for USC volleyball couldn't have looked any brighter.

Representatives from three generations of USC graduates, Emil Breitkreutz '06, Leonard Stallcup '28 and Hans Vogel '47, See Appendix F-1 were serendipitously thrown together in the Southland volleyball world to found the Southern California Collegiate Volleyball Association and sponsor the first annual Southern California Collegiate Volleyball Championship Tournament held on the Trojan campus See Appendix F-7 on April 22, 1950. See Appendix F-5 Through Emil Breitkreutz' association with the Helms Foundation, medals and a trophy for this event were funded by that philanthropic athletic organization. See Appendix F-6 & F-14 through F-18 Pages. 1 & 2.

Coincidentally, about that same time Lance Flanagan, UC Berkeley volleyball coach, was attempting to organize a state-wide intercollegiate volleyball tournament in Fresno on the same date as our event on April 22, 1950. See Appendix F-8 I wrote to Mr. Flanagan, suggesting we organize our respective regions before attempting a statewide event. I told him that Emil Breitkreutz was currently in San Francisco on AAU business and that he would be contacting him before he returned to Los Angeles. See Appendix F-9 Emil did have a meeting with Lance at which time he reiterated the comments and recommendations in my letter to Lance. Apparently, Lance received very few favorable responses to his self-funded letter to California institutions of higher learning in which he was soliciting participants in a statewide collegiate volleyball tournament. See Appendix F-10 I subsequently received a nice letter from him in which he repeated his complaint of no cooperation from Northern California colleges and universities in his endeavor to organize collegiate volleyball on a regional basis. See Appendix F-11 Pages. 1 & 2 He said he would work with us in order ultimately to achieve statewide collegiate volleyball.

The Southern California Collegiate Volleyball Tournament was held on April 22, 1950 See Appendix F-12 with USC fielding three teams which placed first, second and fourth. The always strong Long Beach City College team placed third, behind two of the three participating USC teams. See Appendix F-13 Unfortunately, this was the only year this event was held. Apparently, after I left teaching and coaching the following year, the USC team more or less disbanded and no one stepped in to fill the position of continuing the progress that had been made over the past two years.
Dr. Leonard Stallcup, subsequently abrogated his association with USVBA and SCCVBA. He chose instead to concentrate on his Jonathan Club volleyball team which included such former USC alumni as George Brandow '36, president of the Engineering Alumni Association and a board of director member of the General Alumni Association; Dr. Francis Conley '31, then president-elect of the General Alumni Association; and, Joe Holt '47, prominent member of the Trojan Club and future U.S. congressman See Appendix H-4. Leonard kindly asked me to become a member of the Jonathan Club and play for its volleyball team. I felt honored to be asked to join such a prestigious private club. I had to decline the offer, however, primarily on the basis that the distance we would have to travel from our residence in Orange County and the club facilities in Los Angeles and Santa Monica was so far that my family would be unable to justify a membership for the very few times we would take advantage of it.

After Emil Breitkreutz accepted his recognition from the Helms Foundation for his many contributions toward the furtherance of volleyball at the USVBA Region 13 Awards Banquet at Helms Hall on January 29, 1951, See Appendix G-18 he too dropped his interest in and affiliation with collegiate volleyball. It spelled the end of a brief, but glorious era of collegiate volleyball which might have continued on the same successful path with a little more foresight on the part of and cooperation from institutions of higher learning.

Chapter VI

Chapter VI: USC Volleyball Defends National Crown
One major challenge remained for the Trojans before an otherwise highly successful 1949-1950 volleyball season drew to a close - the defense of the national collegiate crown they won in Los Angeles in 1949. Although USC's showing thus far throughout its second year of competing had gone a long way toward allaying the doubts of some who thought USC's championship last year was a fluke because it lacked the participation of some of the so-called collegiate powerhouses, there still lingered a wait and see attitude on the part of a few die-hards. Some college volleyball teams had been around much longer than had USC, such as Springfield College, Earlham College and the Florida State University. Then there were the south-of-the-border champions from the University of Mexico that had claimed the Mexican and Central American titles. Perhaps, by calling it an international collegiate volleyball tournament, USVBA organizers had thought it might serve as a first step in creating a climate for ultimate acceptance of volleyball as an Olympic Games sport. The attitude of some to USC's 'sheer attack' style of volleyball is best summarized in the May 12, 1950 article in the Knoxville Journal Sports section:

"The wiry University of Mexico players, appearing like midgets in comparison with the Trojans, were a sentimental favorite with the crowd. But, it was Southern California physical strength that carried them through the matches. See Appendix G-8 Pg. 6"

The primary problem that the USC team had to face lay in finding a means of financing the transportation and housing requirements for sending the team to Knoxville, Tennessee on May 12, 13 & 14, 1950. Dr. Alex Aloia went to bat for the team with a memo to Dean Hyink requesting a minimum of $200.00, which would cover only a portion of the expenses for the trip. See Appendix G-1 Paul Helms of the Helms Foundation sent me a check in the amount of $100.00. See Appendix G-2 In the final analysis the university responded generously by issuing an expense voucher for $450.00; and, the team was able to obtain special train chair-car rates from USC supporter, George Moran, Los Angeles City Passenger Agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad. See Appendix G-3 Team members had to make advance arrangements with the chapters of their fraternities at the University of Tennessee to furnish basic housing and meals for themselves and those members of the team who did not belong to a fraternity. See Appendix G-4 Some funds were also raised by passing the hat around at USC sporting events. Team members were left to their own devices to finance their personal needs - proud parents came in handy. Entry fees were paid from money I had earned during the previous USC football season supervising the gates and tunnels of the Los Angeles Coliseum. See Appendix I-4

USC and the College of Medical Evangelists were the only two California colleges represented in the Knoxville nationals. However, the teams USC hoped to meet in order to prove once and for all that they were true champions did participate: Springfield College, Florida State University, Earlham College and the University of Mexico. During the double elimination tourney CME routed Florida State 15-1 & 15-4 See Appendix G-22, while Mexico had a more difficult time with Springfield 10-6 & 15-12 Ibid.. Earlham lost to the University of Tennessee 13-10 & 15-9 Ibid.. USC drew a bye and then dumped Tennessee 15-7 & 15-3 Ibid.. Mexico had a tough match with the doctors-to-be from CME, but prevailed in close games 15-12 & 14-12 Ibid.. USC then met Mexico for the winner's bracket final game, winning the first game 12-10 Ibid., then losing the next two by two points each 14-16 & 12-14 Ibid.. The low passing, low set-ups and quick spiking of the smaller Mexicans was a type of play which USC had never encountered anywhere in California tournaments. It took them by surprise.

Now relegated to the loser's bracket which they must win if they were to retain their crown, USC met their practice mates, CME, in the final match. CME had dispatched Earlham and Springfield in order to meet USC. The plucky players on the CME team had the spirit and the heart, but lacked depth. In all fairness, they were exhausted when they lost to USC in the loser's bracket final 15-4 & 15-6 Ibid.. Now USC was finally in position to meet Mexico again, this time for the national title. They had to defeat the scrappy Mexicans in two matches - the first, to even the score by giving each team one match lost; the second, to saddle the Mexico team with two matches lost to only one for USC.

Because USC had not lost until the third round in the winner's bracket, they had only to meet one team to win in the loser's bracket - CME, giving them time to rethink their loss to Mexico and to make adjustments for their unorthodox style of play. The USC team also regained self-esteem by playing and defeating in a practice session the Houston YMCA See Appendix G-10 Pg. 6 which ultimately placed third in the Open division of the tournament. In retrospect, it was a rather amusing experience because Houston did not take USC very seriously at the outset of play, using mostly reserves. As USC was in the process of making a rout of the game, more and more of the better Houston players entered the game. When USC finally won, the entire first-string Houston team was on the floor including two players who were later named first-team All-Americans for their tournament play: Joe Johanson and Sid Nachlas.

The ripples from the shockwave created by that event were felt in every corner of the building. Suddenly, USC had won unprecedented respect. When they later defeated Mexico 15-8, 7-14 & 13-10 See Appendix G-22 in the first finals match, and then continued by overpowering the south-of-the-border team 13-9 & 14-8 Ibid. in the second and final match, USC had won the admiration of everyone involved with the tournament, including those who had openly expressed doubts about USC's ability to come from behind. It was a very emotional and satisfying moment for this underrated team like no other. They had proven that they were true champions in every way, dispelling all doubt.

Four members of the USC team were chosen to be on the first and second All-American teams See Appendix G-7: Robbie Duron and Don Patterson on the first team; John Brame and Ed Colburn on the second. In 1949 Robbie had been named to the second All-American team. Brame, a quarterback on the USC freshman football team, had been brought to Knoxville as a reserve spiker. Given the opportunity to play in the tournament, he rose to the occasion and came completely into his own. I was never more proud of any group of men in my life See Appendix G-17, with the exception of those with whom I served overseas in combat during World War II. I was also very proud of the CME team for its third place finish and the naming of Bob Voelker to the first-string All-American team See Appendix G-7 & G-21 Pages. 1 & 2. After their hard-fought victory the USC team received a great deal of much-deserved media attention both in Knoxville and Los Angeles. See Appendices G-8 All Pages; G-9 All Pages; G-10 All Pages; & G-11 Official volleyballdom was also very kind in its write-ups. See Appendices G-12, G-13 Parts 1 & 2, G-14, G-15, G-16 & G-19.

Chapter VII

Chapter VII: USC Response to the Team's Accomplishments
It became quite obvious to me and the volleyball team that the University of Southern California administration and Alumni Association were quite cognizant and proud of their volleyball team and its successes. We knew that we had brought additional fame and glory to a university that fostered athletic endeavors and thrived on the fame from the championships they won. Without the collective support of administration, faculty, students and alumni, no college or university can expect to enjoy a climate conducive to athletic success. USC football, track and field, baseball, swimming, basketball among others had over the first half of the Twentieth Century achieved national and, to a great extent, international recognition. It was in that tradition that the USC volleyball team wanted to share its achievements with the university.

The President of USC customarily published an annual President's Report to the Alumni, describing the university's achievements and accomplishments academically and athletically over the past school year. One section of that report is captioned 'The Athletic Record,' in which President Fred Fagg's 1949 Report proudly reveals to the Alumni that "...the volleyball team won the national championship." See Appendices H-1 & H-2 That same year the October issue of the Southern California Alumni Review devoted nearly one-half a page to "SC Volleyballers Take National Title" which included a photo of three USC All-American volleyballers blocking "a foe's play." See Appendices H-3 & H-4 The article goes on to name a number of prominent alumni who have achieved national recognition for their involvement with volleyball.

After the USC volleyball team successfully defended its national title in mid-May 1950 in Knoxville, Tennessee, The Alumni Review did not wait until October to let the Alumni know that the 1949 championship had not been a fluke. The May 1950 issue See Appendices H-5 & H-6 of that monthly played up the fact that the volleyball team had successfully defended its crown. It pointed out that Robbie Duron, a second team All-American in 1949, was named to the first team All-Americans in 1950 Ibid. The article inadvertently omitted mentioning that Trojan Don Patterson was also named to the first team All-Americans. USC volleyballers John Brame and Ed Colburn were credited with being named to the second team. Ibid The USC volleyball team was lauded for "...put(ting) on a tremendous rally to once again bring (sic) the national collegiate title to S.C...." Ibid. In the same issue of the Alumni Review the column called 'Arnold Eddy on Sports' included the following statement:

"In Knoxville, Tenn., the volleyball team again won the National Collegiates. Volleyball is not a recognized intercollegiate sport and has no athletic dept. appropriations. Funds for the trip were raised by contributions from students and faculty through a campaign headed up by graduate student HANS VOGEL. The fraternities contributed. See Appendices H-5 & H-7."

USC alumni are renowned for their ardent and generous support of their university's athletic program, particularly when it comes to opening their pocketbooks to recruit the best in athletic talent available in the nation. Naturally, their reward comes from the successes and glory the athletic department brings home. During the first half of the Twentieth Century, before many households owned television sets, USC football teams were able to come close to filling the Coliseum with spectators for nearly all at-home games. The revenue that football generated both from ticket sales and alumni contributions went a very long way toward supporting the university's other sports. Minor sports that brought in little or no income were supported to the extent that they were popular with the students and Alumni, and achieved a reasonably acceptable measure of success. The team and I hoped volleyball would become one of these by proving that we were champions in the true Trojan tradition. We felt that after two consecutive successful years culminating in back-to-back national championships and boasting nine All-Americans, the volleyball team had successfully met the threshold requirements for support.After our come-back win in Knoxville, I thought it timely to make a move once again toward obtaining university recognition of volleyball as a sport, having tried unsuccessfully to achieve that goal the year prior. I sent a combination two-year summary of the team's achievements and request for recognition to Dr. Alex Aloia, Director, University Recreation Assn. on May 18, 1950 See Appendix H-8 Pages. 1 & 2. It listed the names of the team members during both volleyball seasons: 1948-49 and 1949-50. Their collective and individual achievements, i.e., tournament championships and All-American recognition were carefully enumerated. In addition letter awards were requested for regular team members for both seasons.

I pointed out that the University of California at Berkeley had given full recognition to men's volleyball over the past four years, but failed to send a team to the Knoxville tourney. Florida State University was given as an example of an institution of higher learning which had recognized volleyball over the past two years and granted the sport a budget of $1,500.00 during the 1949-50 season. Although the Florida State volleyball team did participate in the Knoxville nationals, it fared quite badly in the final standings See Appendix G-22. Based on the record of those two examples compared to what USC had achieved without recognition or funding, I requested greater support and recognition than had been given up to that time.

As mentioned above, I had made a similar request in the fall of 1949 and subsequently was granted a hearing before the Faculty Athletic Committee on September 29, 1949. See Appendix H-10 The USC student senate, famous for its bitter political wrangling, was able with few exceptions to agree that volleyball should be recognized as a sport by the faculty committee. See Appendix H-9 The recommendation to the senate had been sponsored by Don Gevirtz, then student head of the University Recreation Assn. Ibid. No recognition was granted then, and, unfortunately, the answer would be the same this time around. However, volleyball and crew were allowed to issue award letters at their own expense to their team members See Appendix H-10. The insignia, however, could not be similar to those granted and issued by the university for officially recognized sports. For me, it was the final straw. I came to the conclusion that nothing that we had done or could accomplish in the future was going to convince the university that it was in the school's best interest to make volleyball a recognized intercollegiate sport. Time, and time alone would have to make that come to pass.

In addition to my studies in fields of German and International Relations, I had begun taking some courses in Elementary School Administration at USC from Dr. Norman Wampler, guest professor and Superintendent of the Bellflower Elementary District. After making a nation-wide survey regarding the prospects for obtaining a position teaching German on the college level, it became quite obvious that German professors were a hardy breed who remained on the job into a ripe old age. My best offers to teach German were from the University of North Dakota in Fargo, access to which had just been become inaccessible due a severe snowstorm, and Northwestern University. North Dakota's offer paid around $4,000.00 per year for teaching a normal class load - a reasonable entry-level sum; the Northwestern offer was for $5000.00; however, in addition to teaching a normal daytime load, I would have to instruct evening and summer school classes as well to receive that sum of money. Both offers were contingent upon my receiving a doctorate within the next two years. These salaries become significant when compared with those received by university professors during that time frame. The head of the Classical Studies Department at USC with a 30-year tenure and a doctorate from Harvard was receiving $2800.00 per year.

Salaries for elementary school teachers in Southern California entering on the lowest step averaged $3,000,00. This amount rose incrementally every year and increased even more for additional coursework completed. Dr. Wampler suggested I teach a third grade in his district for a couple of years while I was earning credits for my administration credential. He would then promote me to a principal's position at a much higher salary. My son was quite ill and required expensive medical attention. My wife continued to work because the $1,600.00 salary I earned at Cal Tech plus the G.I. education stipend of $95.00 per month did not cover our expenses. The position as translator for the USC Office of Naval Intelligence had been a perk reserved for USC personnel. It went to someone else when I began teaching at Cal Tech.

After having reached a dead end in my attempts to obtain recognition for volleyball at USC in spite of winning two national championships, I decided to accept Dr. Wampler's offer to teach in his district. I terminated my German and International Relations doctoral program at USC, and notified Cal Tech that I would not be teaching German there in the future. I concentrated on my education studies at USC toward an administrative credential. My coaching days were over as well. Dr. Stallcup asked me to join the Jonathan Club and play volleyball for his team. USVBA District 13 director, Clive Graham, invited me to work on week-ends obtaining listings for his real estate firm and play for a team he was coaching and sponsoring at the Pacific Coast Club in Long Beach. I did play a bit for Clive, but did not go to work for him - probably a bad mistake considering the tremendous upswing in the real estate market at that time.

I began teaching third graders, but sold home improvements on a commission on week-ends. I had started my selling career in 1936 at the age of 14 at Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Long Beach. With a booming housing market, I was soon earning as much selling home improvements during a week-end as I was making teaching third grade for one month. After turning down offers two times to become the sales manager for the home improvement firm that employed me, I finally relented when I was guaranteed a salary of $15,000.00 per year plus a bonus based on volume of sales. I resigned my teaching position in Bellflower, quit taking classes at USC, and began to concentrate on supporting a family with a stay-at-home wife and sick child.

I was given one more opportunity to contribute something to this sport that has remained so close to my heart. In 1967, as founding trustees of the Saddleback Community College District (now called the South Orange County Community College District), I and my four fellow charter board members had the opportunity to build a community college district literally from the ground up. As we sat around a table in a local high school cafeteria, we began to develop plans for a new community college district serving the southern 48% of Orange County. Doing so presented a unique, but daunting challenge. We had only our educational philosophies to guide us, and we hoped we could find sufficient common ground to be able to launch an institution that would serve the students and residents well and make them proud of its accomplishments.

We were able to agree on academic goals without too much wrangling; but, concurring on a prioritized list of sports to support demanded quite a bit of intense discussion; differences of opinion became quite pronounced. The debates that followed made each trustee realize the absolute need to present recommendations in an unbiased manner and to avoid appearing self-serving . Unfortunately, after learning that our district was going to be making some weighty decisions about the community college district's athletic future, the Orange County Register decided it timely to publish an update See Appendix I-5 Parts 1 through 5 of an article the newspaper had done several years earlier about my volleyball history. The sports reporter who wrote it had checked each trustees' personal athletic background, and found a copy of the previous article in the Register's archives. He asked for an interview, so that his story would be current. After the updated article appeared, it seemed unwise and probably counter-productive for me to appear to be influencing my fellow trustees to place volleyball high on the priority list. The district eventually instituted Women's volleyball. Six of the past eight women's volleyball teams at Saddleback College have qualified for the post-season playoffs, including state tournament qualifying teams in 1997 and 1998 and the state championship tournament runners-up in 1998.

Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII: Summary and Recommendations

I believe the assertions and claims made in the foregoing pages and the attached documentation that lends authenticity to them have made a strong case for acceptance of the fact that the University of Southern California developed a very powerful and nationally recognized men's volleyball team in only two short years during 1949 and 1950. In addition to winning tournaments on the local and state levels, the USC team successfully captured the national collegiate titles in those two years. Nine USC team members distinguished themselves by being named to the United States Volleyball Association All-American teams for their outstanding play in those two national tournaments. Five were named in 1949 and four in 1950.

Unfortunately, in spite of the volleyball team's amassing of such an impressive record, it was unable to obtain the necessary recognition which would assure its future growth and development. As a result, beginning with the 1951 volleyball season, the team did not persist in a role of leadership in a pursuit of establishing volleyball as a regular competitive sport among the colleges and universities. What remained of the USC team, after a number of its players left to join local YMCA and athletic club teams, floundered and was no longer a viable force with which to reckon as had formerly been the case. USC did not participate in the national collegiate championship tournament in 1951 to defend its title. The College of Medical Evangelists team which had practiced with the Trojans in the USC gym, and which had gained acclaim by garnering a third place behind USC and the University of Mexico in the 1950 nationals in Knoxville, Tennessee, also defaulted on the opportunity to play in the 1951 nationals. 1951 spelled the end of a brief, but glorious collegiate volleyball era.

It is not the intent of this report to place blame. Many factors contributed to the decline of collegiate volleyball in Southern California during the years following a very encouraging beginning during 1949 and 1950. Ordinarily, one would simply write such things off as being past history. But, that is exactly the point of this report - USC and USVBA historical accounts have completely ignored and/or forgotten this early successful experiment to bring the sport of volleyball to the colleges and universities as a supported competitive athletic activity. This, then, is precisely why I undertook the task of attempting to correct those omissions. I believe it is fair to say that I am perhaps the only one who is in possession of the documentation necessary to arouse the interest of the University of Southern California administration and/or trustees, and the officials of the United States Volleyball Association in order that they might give serious consideration to bestowing belated recognition of the effort put forth during 1949 and 1950 to create intercollegiate volleyball competition.

I would suspect that the majority of those involved in volleyball during the 1949-1950 era must now be quite aged or no longer alive. That is why physical documentation becomes so critically important to back up any present-day revisitation of that period in volleyball history. There must surely be some former USC and CME players alive today. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there has been no attempt made over the past half-century to bring any of them together in order to reminisce about a brief two years of the existence of a collegiate volleyball Camelot. Perhaps this report, if sufficiently accepted and publicized, can serve that end as well. In any case, the amazing accomplishments of the USC volleyball team should become a permanent part of Trojan athletic history. USVBA, which sponsored the collegiate nationals in 1949 and 1950, should record the facts presented herein in its history book in much greater detail than it has up to now.

As I wind up this rather onerous, but rewarding work, I have already reached and gone beyond my 80th birthday. Therefore, it would be pleasant, to say the least, to be around to witness some positive responses to this report.

Chapter IX

Chapter IX: Results from Submitting the Report

Results from Submitting the Report Their exploits obscure for over fifty years, the champions of the two first-ever men's national collegiate volleyball tournaments were recognized and heralded by their alma mater, the University of Southern California on October 10, 2003. USC hosted a celebration dinner honoring the 16 surviving members of those two teams and their coach, Hans W. Vogel See Appendix J-1 Pages 1-2, at Heritage Hall on campus. Later that evening the honorees were introduced between games two and three of a USC women's volleyball match against Arizona State.

Mike Garrett, Athletic Director at USC, made the opening remarks lauding the landmark achievements of the two USC teams who captured the crown for the first two years intercollegiate men's volleyball national tournaments which were held in 1949 and 1950.

Of the 16 surviving players, 12 attended the dinner. Garrett introduced Katherine B. Loker See Appendix J-2 Pages 1-2, an honorary member of the USC Board of Trustees. Ms. Loker, recently deceased, is among the five largest individual donors to USC in its history. She was there as a special guest of the coach of the 1949 and 1950 teams, Hans W. Vogel. They were longtime friends.Garrett then called on Robbie Duron to make some remarks about the history of those championships from a player perspective. Duron was a second team All American in 1949 and a first team All American, team captain and MVP in 1950. He then introduced Coach Vogel.

Another special guest was Kerry J.W. Klostermann, Secretary General of USA Volleyball, who awarded each player and Vogel a volleyball signed by the present USA men's and women's volleyball teams mounted on an inscribed pedestal on behalf of his nation-wide organization recognizing their ground-breaking and historic contribution to the sport of intercollegiate volleyball.

In 1949 and 1950 the first two men's national collegiate volleyball championship tournaments were held and sponsored by the former United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) which now operates as USA Volleyball. The May 1949 double-elimination tournament was held at the Naval Armory in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles. In the final match, the USC team, known for its power-volleyball style of play, met and defeated a Stanford team led by basketball Hall-of-Famer, George Yardley, by scores of 15-4, 15-2. That year USC placed two players on the First All-American team and three on the Second. One year later in May 1950 the USC team successfully defended its crown at the national tournament held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Two USC players were named to the First All-American team and two to the Second.

It all began in late 1948 when USC volleyball enthusiasts were first recruited and coached by Hans W. Vogel, an SC German language instructor. Before entering Army service in 1942, Vogel played the sport at the beach and as a member of the Long Beach YMCA volleyball team. After serving overseas in Europe during World War II under General George S. Patton, Jr., the former Military Intelligence Officer enrolled at USC in early 1946, majoring in German and International Relations. He received a Bachelor's degree from USC in 1947, and immediately entered USC's graduate school, simultaneously teaching in the university's German department. Two years later In 1949 he accepted a position as a Scientific German instructor at Cal Tech. The USC volleyball team disbanded shortly after Vogel left university teaching in mid-1950.

In September 2001 Vogel decided to find historical references to his teams' 1949 and 1950 exploits. Unearthing literally nothing, he contacted a director (John Kessel) of USA Volleyball headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kessel encouraged him to write a thorough report backed up by verifiable documentation regarding those USC championships. In June, 2002, after nine months of research, Vogel had assembled a report consisting of 34 single-spaced pages in eight chapters. Newly updated to 60 pages, 9 Chapters & Appendix J As authentication for claims made in the report, they are footnoted to over 120 pages of attached copies of documents composed of photos, newspaper articles, receipts, correspondence, pages from journals and more.

After the completed report was sent to Kessel in June 2002, Vogel was visited at his home in North Tustin, California twice - in July and December 2002 - by Kerry J.W. Klostermann, Secretary General of USA Volleyball. Along with cover letters by Klostermann See Appendix J-3 & J-4, copies of the report were mailed to Dr. Steven Sample, President of USC, Mike Garrett, USC Athletic Director and the Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Mass.

Garrett made a phone call to Vogel requesting additional information, which he followed up with a letter See Appendix J-5 asking him to locate and contact any surviving members of the two teams. Mike indicated that USC was considering holding a ceremonial dinner and introductions later at a volleyball match on campus properly memorializing the team members' achievements. He also said he would arrange to publish in perpetuity a brief statement94 See Appendix J-7 concerning those accomplishments in the USC Men's Volleyball annual media package beginning with the 2003 season. Dr. Sample also sent a friendly and positive letter See Appendix J-6.

Vogel has located and been in ongoing touch with 16 See Appendix J-8 of the 24 See Appendix J-9 Page s 1-2 & J-10 Pages 1-2 former team members from 1949 See Appendix J-11 Pages 1-3 and 1950. Five others have been confirmed to be deceased. Three have not been found.After the introduction by Robbie Duron, Vogel addressed those attending. See Appendix J-12 Pages 1-3.

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C