Uvaldo Acosta (May 16, 1965 – February 12, 1998) was an American

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 ...

player. He was part of the

United States men's national volleyball team The United States men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. The team is governed by USA Volleyball, and it has won six Olympic medals, with three of them gold. History As the birt ...

at the 1990 FIVB World Championship in Brazil. He was selected as the "best defensive player" at the 1991 FIVB World Cup in Japan, where he won a bronze medal while representing the United States. Acosta played for

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

, where he was later a coach.

Death and legacy

Acosta drowned in Hawaii on February 12, 1998. He was 32 years old at the time of his death. He was posthumously inducted into the

Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association The Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) is a college athletic conference whose member schools compete in men's volleyball. Its member institutions are located in the Northeast United States. The EIVA Tournament champion receives ...

's Hall of Fame in 2012. The

(EIVA) Player of the Year award was renamed the Uvaldo Acosta Memorial award in his honor, and George Mason hosted the inaugural Uvaldo Acosta Invitational in 2018.

References

External links

Volleybox.net profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta, Uvaldo 1965 births 1998 deaths American men's volleyball players George Mason Patriots men's volleyball players George Mason Patriots men's volleyball coaches Sportspeople from El Paso, Texas Deaths by drowning in Hawaii 20th-century American sportsmen