SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego State and Olympic volleyball standout Laurel Brassey Iversen was selected to the Breitbard Hall of Fame Class of 2021, as announced Wednesday, Dec. 16 by the San Diego Sports Association.
With her acclaim, Brassey Iversen joins former NFL tight end Antonio Gates and World Cup and Olympic soccer star Rachel Buehler Van Hollebeke, who will receive San Diego's most prestigious sports honor at the 75th annual Salute to the Champions in 2021, with the date to be announced.
A graduate of Crawford High School in San Diego, Brassey Iversen made national headlines at age 19 when she became the first female to play on a college men's team, starting at setter in 1974 for San Diego State a year after it won the NCAA Championship.
After helping the Aztec men to a fourth-place regional finish, Brassey Iversen played professionally in the International Volleyball Association (IVA) during the 1970s while launching an international amateur career that saw her play in over 350 matches.
In 1981, Brassey Iversen returned to SDSU to finish her academic degree and was able to compete one season for the Aztec women's team, thanks to changing eligibility rules at the time. In addition to garnering All-America accolades, she was named the Western Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year and captured regional MVP honors, as the Aztecs finished third in the first-ever NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.
Continuing her international career after college, Brassey Iversen received All-America recognition eight times and was twice selected USVBA Player of the Year. She played in three Pan American Games and competed for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team in Seoul, South Korea. Additionally, Brassey Iversen was a member of the U.S. team that would've played at the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Along with her playing success, Brassey Iversen excelled in the coaching ranks, guiding the women's program at the University of New Mexico to a 280-193 overall record in 17 seasons (1983-86, 1988-2000), highlighted by six NCAA Tournament appearances.
In 1988, Brassey Iversen was a charter member of the Aztec Athletic Hall of Fame and was also part of the inaugural class enshrined in the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2017.
In addition, Brassey Iversen was the recipient of USVBA's All-Time Great Player Award in 1991 and was recognized as a member of the USVBA 75th Anniversary Team for the era of 1948-77.