Santa Monica, CA
The Men's Volleyball program in SMC is one of the most prestigious in the state as it is easy to see through the players it exported as well as coaches who were promoted to D1 schools. When Liran Zamir was named Head Coach of the Men's Volleyball program, he started with researching the program's history and discovered more than was known. "I worked on a history recap document and found out incredible things about the program, most of them were unknown to many people," said Zamir.
The men's volleyball gym plaque is full of championships, but it appears that many of them are missing. There are 14 conference championships on the plaque instead of 16, only 2 state championships instead of 7(!), and 5 national championships instead of 7 (the last two were USAVB national championships). But how a community college wins national championships? "Until 1970, the year which the NCAA started their member's national championship, four-year universities and two-year colleges competed against each other" Zamir said and continued, "SMCC (back then Santa Monica City College), have won the national championship five times in the '60s beating all the greats, including UCLA".
The '70s and '80s were great years for the program, winning five state championships under coaches Dick Scott, Mike Normand, and the late Greg Giovanazzi. "There are so many great names who either coached or played in our program. Great coaches who are part of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, and US Olympians players such as Pat Powers and Randy Stoklos", Zamir mentioned.
The men's program is indeed one of the most successful in the nation – at any level. And coach Zamir is now looking forward: "after discovering all of those great facts from old newspapers, Ph.D. proposals, and personal statements of players and coaches, I feel even more proud leading this program, but with that being said, all of the great achievements were before the current millennium and we must face the future, and resume being the best program in the state". The program's last conference and state championships were in 2015 under the leadership of coach John Mayer (now at LMU).
The program is planning on initiating an annual alumni game, have an annual high school tournament, mention a few names on the athletics hall of fame, and overall recruit the best players in the area to achieve athletic and academic success. More information can be found on the Corsair volleyball page and Instagram page SMC_MVB. Coach Zamir was very excited about sharing the important information and even said with a smile that he might consider facing UCLA again in a regular-season match. "A team that does not respect its past - its present is meager, and its future is shrouded by darkness", said Zamir, and we can only wait and see what the program's future will bring. One thing is certain, the program's future is in good hands.
Link to the document: https://www.smccorsairs.com/sports/mvball/History_of_SMC_Men-s_Volleyball
