Volleyball and Butler

I lived at 217A Halsey in Butler, and in 1967 we started a backyard summer volleyball game. A year later the University built us a fine dirt court nearby. Many international grad students played. Eventually we moved into Dillon Gym and played two days a week. In 1971 we won the N.J. State Championship at McGuire Air Force Base. By 1973 we hosted our own U.S. Volleyball Association tournament.

One Saturday morning in Dillon Gym, a Trenton resident who happened to be playing pickup basketball nearby asked if he could join us. It turned out he was Glenn Nelson, who eventually became, due to his association with the Butler-originated team, head coach of both the men’s and women’s Princeton University varsity volleyball teams. Over 29 years he amassed more than 1,100 wins, making him the winningest coach in Princeton history. Glenn is also the only coach anywhere to take both a men’s and women’s team to the NCAA Volleyball Championships in the same year. (I’d love to hear from any of the players over the years: jim.carnes61@gmail.com.)