The 1978

NCAA men's volleyball tournament The NCAA men's volleyball tournament, officially titled the NCAA national collegiate men's volleyball championship, is an annual competition that determines the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in American college men ...

was the ninth annual tournament to determine the national champion of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

men's college

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 ...

. The tournament was played at St. John Arena in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

during May 1978. Pepperdine defeated

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in the final match, 3–2 (15–12, 11–15, 15–8, 5–15, 15–12), to win their first national title. Coached by Marv Dunphy, the Waves finished the season 21–4. Pepperdine's

Mike Blanchard Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

was named ''Most Outstanding Player'' of the tournament. An ''All-tournament team'' of seven players was also named.

Qualification

Until the creation of the

NCAA Men's Division III Volleyball Championship The NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament is the annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the main governing body for U.S. college sports United States, to determine the national champions of c ...

in 2012, there was only a single national championship for men's volleyball. As such, all

men's volleyball programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

) were eligible. A total of 4 teams were invited to contest this championship.

Tournament bracket

*Site: St. John Arena,

All tournament team

, Pepperdine (Most outstanding player) * Ron Wilde, Pepperdine *

Jay Anderson Jay Anderson (born October 24, 1955) is an American jazz double-bassist and studio musician. Career Anderson received a bachelor's degree from California State University, Long Beach in 1978, then worked with Woody Herman (1978-1979), Carmen McRa ...

, Pepperdine * Dave Olbright, UCLA *

Sinjin Smith Christopher St. John "Sinjin" Smith (born May 7, 1957) is an American former professional beach volleyball player. He was the first player to win 100 career tournaments, and won numerous Manhattan Open titles with Karch Kiraly and Randy Stoklo ...

, UCLA * Steve Salmons, UCLA *

Aldis Berzins Aldis Imants Bērziņš (born October 3, 1956) is a Latvian-American former volleyball player who was a member of the United States national team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He also won a gold medal at the ...

, Ohio State

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ncaa Men's Volleyball Championship

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1978 in American sports 1978 in volleyball 1978 in sports in Ohio May 1978 sports events in the United States Volleyball in Ohio

Qualification

Tournament bracket

All tournament team

See also

References