1974 NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament

The 1974 NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament was the fifth annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college volleyball. The tournament was played at Robertson Gymnasium in Santa Barbara, California.[1] The previous tournament format of round robin play for seeding followed by a single-elimination tournament was dropped in favor of going directly to a single-elimination bracket. The tournament field remained fixed at 4 teams.

1974 NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament
DatesMay 1974
Teams4
ChampionsUCLA (4th title)
Runners-upUC Santa Barbara
Third placeBall State
Fourth placeSpringfield
Matches played4
Attendance4,842 (1,211 per match)
Best playerBob Leonard (UCLA)
← 1973
1975 →

Qualification

Until the creation of the NCAA Men's Division III Volleyball Championship in 2012, there was only a single national championship for men's volleyball. As such, all NCAA men's volleyball programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 4 teams were invited to contest this championship.

Tournament play

The 1974 NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament was held on the UC Santa Barbara campus, and UC Santa Barbara was the heavy favorite to win it. UCLA made it to the NCAA tournament by upsetting Southern Cal in their district playoffs.[2] The previous final four tournament format of round robin play for seeding followed by a single-elimination playoff was dropped in 1974 in favor of going directly to a single-elimination playoff. The tournament field remained limited to four teams. In the semi-finals UCLA defeated Ball State in straight sets while UCSB defeated Springfield in straight sets, setting up a championship final between perennial power UCLA against top ranked UCSB.

The championship match was a back and forth affair, with UCSB beating the Bruins in Games 1 and 3, while UCLA took games 2 and 4. Many of the Bruin kills were coming from a high tempo inside attack, with UCLA's Bob Leonard taking quick sets off of setter Jim Menges.[2] In the game five clincher the Gauchos were up 6-1 before the Bruins rallied back with six straight points to lead 7-6. The two teams kept exchanging kills, with UCLA maintaining a slim lead to take the championship by the margin: 10-15, 15-8, 10-15, 15-11, 15-12. Leonard, Menges and Mike Normand were named to the All-Tournament team.[3] UCLA ended the season 30-5. It was the fourth championship in five years for the Bruins. Menges earned All-American honors in his senior year at UCLA.[4]

With the win UCLA had gained its fourth national title.

UCLA's Bob Leonard was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Team Appearance Previous
Ball State 5th 1973
Springfield 2nd 1971
UCLA 4th 1972
UC Santa Barbara 4th 1972

Tournament bracket
Semifinals Championship
              
UCLA (3) 15 15 15
Ball State (0) 10 9 9
UCLA (3) 10 15 10 15 15
UC Santa Barbara (2) 15 8 15 11 12
UC Santa Barbara (3) 15 15 15
Springfield 7 3 10 Third place
Ball State (2) 15 14 15
Springfield (1) 4 16 9

All tournament team
  • Bob Leonard, UCLA (Most outstanding player)
  • Jim Menges, UCLA
  • Mike Normand, UCLA
  • Gerald Gregory, UC Santa Barbara
  • David DeGroot, UC Santa Barbara
  • Jon Roberts, UC Santa Barbara
  • Jim Stone, Ball State
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See also
  • NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship

References
  1. "Men's Volleyball National Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  2. Kirshenbaum, Jerry (20 May 1974). "Leapin' Lizards, It's UCLA Again". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  3. "Men's Volleyball Media Guide" (PDF). UCLA Athletic Department. 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  4. Garcia, Irene (15 August 1991). "They're Back by Popular Demand: Many of the players who laid the foundation for today's successful pro beach tour will compete in the Legends tournament at Manhattan Beach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
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