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 October 25, 2004-HOLYOKE, Mass. –
Membership in the international Volleyball Hall
of Fame increased by four when Cuban Mireya
Luis, Karolyn Kirby of the United States, Seiji
Oko of Japan and Josef Musil of the Czech
Republic were inducted as the Class of 2004 in
the birthplace of the sport, Holyoke, Mass.
Luis has to be considered one of the greatest
volleyball players of all time. Her physical
power and spectacular jumping ability helped her
lead her National Team of Cuba to Olympic Gold
in Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney
(2000). Her list of medals and awards is
staggering, including three MVP awards in World
Cup action.
Kirby played 10 seasons (1989-1998) in the
Women's Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA)/Association
of Volleyball Professionals (AVP). She was
deemed the “Best Player in the World” by the
Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB)
for three straight years (1992-1994) and was
named Most Valuable Player of the WPVA four
times. Kirby also earned WPVA “Best Setter”
honors in six of her 10 years on the tour.
Oko was the ace spiker, known as the “Power
Hitting Cannon of the World,” for the Gold
Medal-winning Japan Men’s Team at the 1972
Olympic Games in Munich. Earlier, that team took
the Silver at the Mexico City Olympic Games in
1968 and placed second to East Germany in the
1969 World Cup. He later coached the Japan team
to a sixth-place finish at the 1992 Barcelona
Olympic Games.
Musil was a key component of the great
Czechoslovakian team of the 1950s and ‘60s that
took Silver in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and
Bronze at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in
1968. He currently lives in the Czech Republic,
were recently he was bestowed the “Czech Fair
Play” award in recognition for his life-long
sporting achievements.
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