PORTLAND, Ore. — Two Portland State University volleyball teams will be inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in late October. The 1984 and 1985 Women’s Volleyball team had a dominant two-year run that resulted in two Division II championships.
Jeff Mozzochi was brought in as head coach in 1984, his wife Marty was the associate head coach. They inherited a talented roster that returned numerous players from a team that had lost in the 1983 National Championship game.
“I think probably within the second week of preseason we knew we were going to be pretty good,” said Jeff Mozzochi.
The Mozzochis said the team was focused and determined to avenge their title loss from the previous season. The Vikings would steamroll that competition in 1984, and would match up against Cal State Northridge in the Division II Championship game, which was hosted at Portland State.
“Everyone’s heart is fluttering, and you are kind of like, 'Okay, this is it, this is it.' But once they started playing, we played and we did what we were supposed to do, and we did what we were hoping to do, and that was what it was,” explained Marty Mozzochi.
PSU would end up sweeping Northridge in straight sets to win the title.
As the calendar turned over to 1985, the team’s goal was to repeat.
“We had a real mixture of veterans who were really good, we had three All-Americans who were returning, but we had rookies, we had freshmen,” said Jeff Mozzochi.
Getting the upper and lower classmen to come together as a team was easier said than done.
“Trying to integrate that together, some strong seniors, some strong leadership with a bunch of goofy freshmen at times was frustrating for the seniors, I would say,” added Marty Mozzochi.
Despite some growing pains, the 1985 team would find its footing and make its way to yet another championship matchup with Cal State Northridge. The Vikings would once again prevail in front of a home crowd at PSU. In those two seasons, the team would have a combined record of 69-9.
The Mozzochis call the induction into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame a "huge honor."
“It’s a reflection of a group of women that put in so much hard work to achieve a goal they set for themselves, and they were able to do it,” explained Jeff Mozzochi.
The Hall of Fame induction will be held on October 29 at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts. It will be hosted by KGW’s Orlando Sanchez and former ESPN anchor Neil Everett.