Fresno State Athletics
Lawanson Won Bronze in the 1992 Barcelona Games
8/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 12, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - As the 2008 Olympic volleyball tournament is underway in Beijing, www.gobulldogs.com continues its coverage of current and past Olympians, highlighting the first-ever female medal winner for a Bulldog, Ruth Lawanson.
The most notable women's volleyball player in Fresno State history is Lawanson. She became the first Bulldog ever to earn NCAA Division I All-America honors as a senior in 1984 and was a three-time team MVP for the Bulldogs (1982-84) and still holds their career records for kills (962) and season records for kills (488) and services aces (55).
Her senior year, Lawanson guided Fresno State a 26-13 record and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Tournament, the best finish for a Bulldog volleyball team in school history. For her efforts she was named NorPac co-Player of the Year, first team All-NorPac and earned All-Northwest Region honors. At the conclusion of her Fresno State career, Lawanson became the first female athlete in the history of the school to have her jersey retired. Lawanson was also honored in 1984 with the Rosa Parks award and as the 1984-85 Female Athlete of the Year.
She became the first Fresno State women to earn a medal in the Olympic Games as she won a Bronze medal with Team USA in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Lawanson spent four years with the U.S. National Team and played three seasons in Major League Volleyball with the Dallas and Minnesota teams from 1987-89.
Then Lawanson jumped into coaching, as she had stints with Fresno State and Purdue as an assistant coach before taking over the head coaching job at Angelo State University in Texas. In July of this year, she was named the new assistant coach at Air Force.
Women's volleyball in the 2008 Olympics began on Aug. 9 and runs through the 24th. Team USA is currently 1-1 in pool play, opening the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Japan before falling 3-0 to Cuba. Next up for Team USA is Venezuela on Aug. 13.
There are 12 women's teams competing in two pools of six each. The top four teams from each pool at the end of the preliminary rounds will advance onto the medal round.
Volleyball started as an Olympic sport in 1964 with Japan winning the first-ever gold. The United States women's team won its first medal in the sport, a silver, in the 1984 games.
The United States has not won a medal in women's volleyball since Lawanson was on the team and China, the host team, won the gold in 2004.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - New Head Coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell and the Bulldog Volleyball team open the 2008 season on Friday, August 29th at 7 p.m. as they host Cal State Bakersfield in the Fresno State Tournament at the Save Mart Center. Be sure to purchase your Family and Friends Flex Pack which includes 48 general admission tickets (4 for each home game) to be used as you please for $89 by logging on to www.gobulldogs.com and visiting the tickets page, calling the Bulldog Ticket Office at (559) 278-DOGS, or stopping by the Bulldog Ticket Office.
