Karch Kiraly

Karch Kiraly has twice achieved the honor of winning a U.S. Olympic Gold Medal for the Men’s Volleyball Team. Karch is to volleyball what Babe Ruth was to baseball. He started playing volleyball at the age of six, and since then has won almost every volleyball award imaginable. By the time he was sixteen, he had earned the coveted Triple-A rating in beach volleyball. He led Santa Barbara High School to the CIF championship in 1978 and was voted Player of the Year that same season.

At UCLA, Karch took the Bruins to three NCAA titles and was voted the MVP of the NCAA Championships in 1981 and 1982. He was also named NCAA Top-S Student-Athlete in 1982.He graduated from UCLA with his M.S. degree in Bio-Chemistry. Karch played as a member of the U.S. National Volleyball team from 1981 until his retirement in 1989. While he was captain of the U.S. team, the team won all major international tournaments, including volleyball’s triple crown: Olympics, World Cup and World Championships. He led the U.S. to Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988. He was named MVP of the World Cup in 1985, was voted best volleyball player of the world in 1986 by the International Volleyball Federation, and was named MVP of the Olympics in 1988.

A Karch Kiraly Annual Scholarship has been established to honor two high school seniors for academic achievement and commitment to the development of volleyball in the U.S.

Last year Karch was named MVP of the Association of Volleyball Professionals and he is currently playing professional volleyball in Italy.

Download this page from the 1991 Hall of Fame Banquet Program