The Dallas Belles were one of six teams in the

Major League Volleyball Major League Volleyball (MLV) was a women's professional volleyball league in the United States. It was established in 1987 and disbanded during its third season on March 20, 1989. The league was launched in 1987 with six teams consisting of ni ...

franchise. The league began in 1987 and ended short of completing a full season in 1989. Players consisted of former collegiate All Americans and Olympians. The level of play was highly competitive (above that of even the best Division I college teams) and fast paced and utilized either a 5-1 and 6-2 offense. The

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Belles placed 4th in 1987. This franchise was disbanded after one year. Games were played at the Los Field House. Rules at the time were a bit different. The ball could not touch the net on a serve, and games were to 15 (no rally scoring). In 1988 the franchise changed the rules so that game five would move to rally scoring. Dallas Belles' Roster:
Lisa Franco (DS)
Heather Hafner (OH)
Ruth Lawanson (S/OH)
Sheryl Joseph-Moore (OH)
Laurel Brassey Kessel (S/OH)
Patty Dowdell (MB)
Penny Lucas
Claudia Lee (DS)
Ellen Crandall Orner (MB)
Paula Rideau Kori Pulaski Head Coach, Ruth N. Nelson and former head coach at

George Williams College George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

(1970-1972);

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

(1973-1981);

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(1981-1985) and the

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(1989-1991) The Dallas Belles were the only team in the league to utilize a 6-2 offense, with Ruth Lawanson and Laurel Brassey-Kessel setting the offense. Both Lawanson and Kessel would later go on to repeat performances with the U.S. National Team to play in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics respectively. The Belles were known as the team that began each match with

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

created original cow bells and throwing t-shirts to fans which later began a tradition in collegiate

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Ellen Orner joined the team toward the end of the season in 1987, transferring from the Chicago Breeze team. According to the commentators "she didn't quite fit in with the Chicago Breeze." Coach Rick Butler just dropped her, according to ESPN reports.

References

{{Reflist Volleyball clubs in the United States Volleyball clubs established in 1987 Women's volleyball teams in the United States 1987 establishments in Texas Volleyball in Texas 1989 disestablishments in Texas Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1989 Women's sports in Texas