Ricci Luyties - Volleyball Coach - University of Colorado Athletics

Arkansas

Sep 12 (Fri)

6 PM

Ricci Luyties

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
ricci.luyties@colorado.edu
Phone:
303-492-0586

Ricci Luyties is entering his third year as an assistant coach after Pi'i Aiu announced his hiring on March 26, 2001. Luyties coaches the left and right sides for the Buffs.

From 1999-01, Luyties was the head coach of the La Jolla (Calif.) High School boys and girls varsity and junior varsity programs. Simultaneously, he was also the head coach of the Coast Volleyball Club Girls 16's team. He has also coached preps for the Wind 'N Sea Volleyball Club (1998-99) and the San Diego Volleyball Boys 17's and Girls 15's and 16's Clubs (1995-98).

Luyties' playing experience is second-to-none. A winner of seven pro beach volleyball events, Luyties has played regularly on both the AVP and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tours since 1989. He has earned over $800,000 during his 12-year career and ranks 14th on the all-time winnings list. One of his career titles was with Karch Kiraly, one of the top players in pro beach history. Luyties teamed with Adam Johnson to win the 1991 U.S. Championships in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

A 1985 graduate of UCLA, he is one of the most decorated setters in NCAA history. Luyties was inducted into the Bruins' Hall of Fame in 1995 with a resume that included four NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball team titles from 1981-84, two undefeated seasons, a 126-7 career record and four all-conference selections.

He was a two-time All-American and two-time NCAA Most Valuable Player, earning those distinctions in 1983 and 1984. He was the first men's player in NCAA history to earn back- to- back Player-of-the-Year honors. His jersey (No. 11) was retired a year after his Hall of Fame induction. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics in 1985.

Luyties' playing experience doesn't end there as he competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, winning a gold medal for the United States alongside Kiraly, Steve Timmons and Troy Tanner. He was also a member of the U.S. National Team in 1983 that won a gold medal at the Pan American Games.

Luyties was named the 1980 Co-City of Los Angeles Player of the Year while attending Palisades High School. That same year he was MVP of the Inglewood Tournament. Team captain in 1979 and 1980, he was a member of the Palisades team that won the City Championship.