For a moment Friday men’s volleyball coach Marv Dunphy was honored with a cake reading “Happy 500.” The simple celebration marked win No. 500— according to unofficial statistics a tally only four other men’s volleyball coaches have matched in the NCAA.
Coming in the midst of what would be a four-game victory over No. 5 Northridge winning a game for the 500th time marked a unique occasion for celebration. For a moment.
“Next thing I know the setter for Northridge had a little issue with being dehydrated and it was back to it Dunphy said.
It for Dunphy, is the real business of coaching: focusing on the players and the game in front of him, and doing everything he can to make them better.
There’s not too much of a difference between 499 and 500 he said. I don’t think any coach gets into coaching thinking it’s about wins. The neat part about coaching is going into the gym with the guys to work on what they need to work on then stepping onto the court.”
Dunphy a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame has coached the Waves to four NCAA championships in 27 seasons. He also was on the coaching staff of five Olympic teams including as head coach when the Americans took home the gold medal in 1988. He has led 18 individual Waves to earn first-team All American honors and six of his athletes received the Player of the Year Award another unbeaten total.
But players say he doesn’t just focus on the stars— Dunphy works on the total development of every athlete.
“A lot of coaches I’ve had they’re preoccupied with the numbers the wins the finals the rival said outside hitter Joel Lopata, a freshman who has yet to play a game for Pepperdine. But with Marv I think it’s very simple. We get stronger we get better we do what’s right. That right there is how you get 500 wins.”
Wins were scarce as the 2010 season began but Lopata said Dunphy’s no-nonsense direction got the team back on track.
“One thing that’s interesting is that the post-game speeches are always very short Lopata said. One of his classic lines is ‘either you’re good enough or you’re not.’ When we started off the season 1-4 things were pretty ugly. … He said ‘Tonight we weren’t good enough but we will be.’ Now it’s ‘tonight we’re No. 1 but that’s not a guarantee.'”
An eight-match winning streak has the Waves in first place after falling as low as No. 11. Only once before has a team been on top of the leader board after spending part of the season outside the top 10.
Dunphy says the team needs to focus on specific improvements if they want to keep their ranking and contend for the NCAA title.
“We were not the favorite going into this year and you know we’ve had some good wins but there’s a bunch of teams that the numbers suggest that they’re beating some standards that are a little higher than what we are so that’s what our focus [is] he said. Our offense has been pretty good … but we haven’t blocked or transitioned at the level we’re used to.”
Athletic Director John Watson said the focus on individuals has led to Dunphy’s consistent success.
“I think it’s remarkable when anybody accomplishes this type of success but probably the most important thing and I think the thing Marv thinks about most is the people he’s been able to coach Watson said. That [personal touch] is intrinsic in his success because candidly the quality players want to play for a quality coach.”
That allows Dunphy to field a team of 25 talented passionate players even though the NCAA allows only four and-a-half scholarships Watson said.
Redshirt freshman Beau Vandeweghe said Dunphy’s reputation and style convinced him to become a Wave.
“Pretty much the sole reason I came to Pepperdine was the great stuff I heard about [Dunphy] said Vandeweghe, an outside hitter who said the coach has lived up to expectations. He’s inspiring a great guy even off the court. “
Dunphy said he hasn’t spoken to the team about joining the 500 club. Instead the focus is on winning Friday’s road match against No. 4 BYU.
“People say ‘This is a big match— we’re playing BYU’ [then] ‘this is a big match— we’re playing at UCLA or Stanford'” Dunphy said. “When you’ve been around this long you realize they’re all big games. Our next match is always our biggest match.”
After 500 wins and 193 losses Dunphy turns all attention to leading the team to leading this season’s team (9-4) to one more victory.
The cake will have to wait.
