Ricci Luyties played college volleyball at UCLA, leading them to four consecutive NCAA titles from 1981-84. He was named College Player of the Year in both 1983 and 1984, the first man to win back-to-back titles. Luyties then played on the US National Team from 1985-88, as a setter, winning a gold at the 1988 Olympics and a silver medal at the 1986 Goodwill Games. Luyties also won a gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games.
Luyties also began playing beach volleyball in 1983, playing through about 1994, winning seven titles on the beach volleyball circuit. He then went into coaching, first at La Jolla High School and also with several club teams, including the Coast Volleyball Club Girls 16’s team, the Wind ‘N Sea Volleyball Club, the San Diego Volleyball Club Boys 17’s and Girls 15’s and 16’s teams. He later turned to college coaching, first as an assistant at the University of Colorado, and then as a head coach at Southern Mississippi University and then UC San Diego.
United States