The 2018 World Men’s Volleyball Championship is being hosted by Italy and Bulgaria, between 10th and 30th  September and the 2018 World Women’s Volleyball Championship is in  Japan from 30th  September to 21th  October.  This week takes a look at some international volleyball players born during this week in bygone years

24th

German volleyball player Maike Arlt was born on this day in Meissen in 1963. Affiliated to SC Dynamo Berlin and then later for CJD Berlin and Berlin Brandenburger Sportclub, she played 251 international matches for her country, winning the European championships in 1983 and 1987. She took part in the 1988 Seoul Olympics where the team finished in 5th place. Although only 1.74m tall, relatively small for a volleyball player, she was well-known for as a phenomenon at the net,  where, despite the missing centimeters she was able to smash the ball from an unbelievable height. She was made Vice President of the National Volleyball Association in 2005

25th

Leonel Marshall Borges Jr.was born in Cuba on this day in 1979.  He is an outside hitter, and is well known for his outstanding vertical jump. He played for M. Roma Volley and Pallavolo Piacenza in Italy and latterly played for LPR Piacenza where he wore number 7.  He was the youngest member of the Cuban men’s indoor volleyball team at the 2000 Olympics, which came seventh. He is son of retired Cuban volleyball player Leonel Marshall Sr. who competed in the 1976 and in the 1980 Olympics. He escaped from Cuba, and now cannot play for his national team, but as part of that team he won gold at the 2001 World Grand Champions Cup in Japan and silver in the World League in 1999. His father Leonel Marshall Steward Sr won a bronze medal in the 1976 Games.

26th

Japanese player Tadayoshi Yokota was born on this day in 1947 in Mitoyo.  He was affiliated to the Chuo University and Matsushita Electric clubs. His successes included silver at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, bronze in the World Championships in 1970, gold at the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, another bronze at the World Championships in 1974 and a 4th place finish at the Montreal Games in 1976.

27th

Ruth Modupe Lawanson was born in Nigeria in 1963. She played for the Fresno State volleyball team and was named MVP of the team in 1982, 1983, and 1984. In 1984, her senior season, she led the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA tournament, was named NorPac co-Player of the Year, and was an All-American. She was also named the 1984-85 Fresno State Female Athlete of the Year. Ruth was the first female athlete in school history to have her jersey number retired, and she is a member of the Fresno State Athletic Hall of Fame. She played on the USA national team for four years. She won bronze medals with the team at the 1990 World Championships, 1991 World Cup, and 1992 Summer Olympics. She also played for the Major Volleyball League’s Dallas Belles and Minnesota Monarchs from 1987 to 1989. She was named the league MVP in 1988 and later played in Italy and France (1992 to 1995). Ruth was an assistant coach at Purdue University for four years, at Fresno State for six years, at the United States Air Force Academy for two years, and at the University of Nevada for one year. She was the head coach at Angelo State for three seasons in which she led the team to a 19-65 record. She was named the head coach of Nevada’s team in 2011. On November 26th 2014, she was relieved of her coaching duties at Nevada. She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Volleyball Coaches Association

28th

American Chris Marlowe was born today in 1951 and played both basketball and volleyball at San Diego State University, leading them to the 1973 NCAA Championship. He quickly joined the US national team, competing at the 1973 Universiade. Chris later was affiliated to San Diego Waves and played at the 1982 World Championships, but also starred on the beach, winning eight open tournaments, including the 1977 World Championship, and two Manhattan Beach Opens. He entered the entertainment world and had to balance that career with his volleyball career. He appeared on television in Love Boat, Bosom Buddies, and the soap opera, Love of Life.  He also became a regular sports announcer, which became his eventual career. He has been a long-time play-by-play announcer for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and also covered volleyball and beach volleyball for NBC, in addition to many other sports assignments. He has also worked for Fox Sports Net and has occasionally anchored sportscasts in Southern California. Marlowe notably did play-by-play for the XFL in the only year that football (American) league survived. He is a member of the San Diego State Aztec Hall of Fame and the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame.

 

29th

Ruth Holzhausen, West German volleyball player was born in 1959 in Schwerte. She competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where the team finished in 6th place. Ruth also played at the 1982 World Championships and the 1983 and 1984 Europeans, earning 151 caps in all. Together with her twin sister Ulla she initially played for VC Schwerte, then for USC Munster, SV Lohhof and SG/JDC Feuerbach. In 1978, 1979 and 1984 she was German Champion and in 1978, 1980 and 1984 played on the German Cup winning side. She was a primary school teacher and mother of Lena Cristin Malkus who later became an internationally successful long jumper, winning the Youth Olympics in 2010 and the Youth Europeans in 2011. She also won a silver medal at the 2012 Youth World Championships.

30th

Dante Guimarães Santos do Amaral simply known in the volleyball world as Dante was born on this day in 1980 in Brazil.  Measuring 2.01 metres (6 ft 7 in) and 86 kilograms (190 lb), he played outside hitter. He began his professional career in 1999 with the club Tres Corações. After another two years at Brazilian clubs Suzano São Paulo and Minas Belo Horizonte, in 2002 he transferred to Italy, playing with Pallavolo Modena, where he won the CEV Cup. In 2005 he joined Greek team Panathinaikos. He won the Greek championship in 2006 and the Greek cup and supercup in 2007. Dante was also a member of the Brazil men’s national volleyball team since 1999. Among the titles he has won with Brazil is the Olympic gold medal in 2004 and the World Championship in 2002 and 2006. In both the 2004 Olympic Games and 2006 World Championship he was nominated as the best spiker, while he was the best blocker in 2005 World League.