May-Treanor, Scott-Arruda enshrined into Hall of Fame

HOLYOKE, Massachusetts, October 28, 2016  – Legends Misty May-Treanor and Danielle Scott-Arruda of the United States, Nikola Grbic of Serbia, Man-Bok Park of South Korea and Emanuel Rego of Brazil were enshrined into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Saturday evening in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the sport’s birthplace.

The five individuals, elected via a vote of current Hall of Fame inductees, enter as the 31st induction class that now represents 130 total inductees from 22 different countries. Park is the first inductee from South Korea to be enshrined into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Grbic and his brother Vladimir, a 2011 inductee, become the first pair of brothers to be inducted into the Hall.

May-Treanor, a four-time beach Olympian, partnered with Kerri Walsh Jennings to become the first players to win three Olympic Games beach volleyball gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She won three straight FIVB World Championships titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007, in addition to the silver medal in 2011. May-Treanor won the FIVB Offensive Player of the Year three times and FIVB Defensive Player of Year twice. She won 112 titles in her domestic and international career that netted $2.1 million in earnings. May-Treanor was named FIVB Sportsperson of the Year in in 2007 and 2008.

“I am truly honored to be here tonight,” May-Treanor said. “It is flattering to be named amongst the best of our sport, especially humbling being inducted with such a fine group of athletes and coaches. I love the game of volleyball and enjoy watching the sport develop. It has brought new friendships, it has opened my eyes to the world and taught me so much about myself. I always wanted to play with passion and I wanted to let my love for the game to shine through this talent I had. I wanted to inspire and I wanted to change the way the game was played. And most of all, I wanted to make an impact. I never played for the awards or accolades, but who is going to turn down money when you win a tournament – so that was a plus. I made a very nice career out of it. But my goal was to always make the person next to me better.”

Scott-Arruda is the only five-time U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball team player, earning back-to-back silver medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. She played in her first Olympic Games at age 23 at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Scott-Arruda earned Best Blocker at the 2002 FIVB World Championship as Team USA won the silver medal. She paced the Americans to six FIVB World Grand Prix medals, including four gold medals and two bronzes. Scott-Arruda was named most valuable player, Best Scorer and Best Blocker at the 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix. Scott brought home silver from the 2011 FIVB World Cup, as well as bronze medals in the 2003 and 2007 editions.

“This is such an incredibly, humbling experience,” Scott-Arruda said. “To play a sport that you dedicate a lot of your life and a lot sacrifice, but it is because you want to do it. It is like you have so much passion for what you do, it doesn’t seem like such an incredible feat. It is what you do. You invest so much into it. This is not by my merits alone. Something like this cannot happen by yourself. So I am really grateful that I have been chosen to be a part of this great family of international people represented in this Hall of Fame.”

Doug Beal, co-chair of the Hall of Fame selection committee and CEO of USA Volleyball, was presented the Mintonette Medallion of Merit for his years of service to the sport of volleyball and the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.