Laguna Beach’s First Family of Volleyball : Rudy Dvorak, Like His Brothers and Sisters, Gets an Early Lesson on Sand at Crescent Bay

Rudy Dvorak, U.S. volleyball national team member, had volleyball on his mind since birth--perhaps sooner.

Snug within his mother’s womb, Rudy was surrounded by the ooofs and aaaffs of players who set, spiked and dived on the courts of Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach. There, he was born into an oceanfront home, with the waves, cliffs and volleyball courts for his playground.

The Dvorak children--Marie, Dusty, Diedra, Rudy and Drake--were reared by their mother, Shirley. She watched and encouraged her children as they formed a Laguna Beach volleyball legacy. Dave and Shirley Dvorak were divorced when Rudy was 5.

The Dvorak volleyball legacy started with Marie, now 30. At 7, she hit and rallied with her Crescent Bay neighbors, soon developing into a member of the U.S. junior national program.

Dusty, 29, has been--in the volleyball world--the most successful. He was a star at Laguna Beach High where he was the Southern Section player of the year in 1976. He then was a four-year varsity starter at USC, where he earned All-American honors. In 1984, he was the starting setter for the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team. Dusty recently retired from the U.S. national team to become a professional volleyball player in Italy where he is better known--and better paid--than many Italian sports figures.

Diedra, 24, was most valuable player at Laguna Beach High School, played at Stanford and recently returned from a year of competition in Italy.

Drake, 20, is redshirting his freshman year at San Diego State.

The Dvoraks’ neighbors say they were typical beach kids. Rudy and Diedra had hair so white, strangers asked their mother what she used to color it. The boys surfed and dashed their skimboards down the shore. The girls swam and made sand castles.

Together they sold pop and rented rafts to the tourists. And sling-shot water balloons from the windows of their pale yellow house. About the only activity away from the beach that they took part was acting. Shirley Dvorak often performed in community theater; Rudy tried to emulate her in the Children’s Playhouse of Laguna Beach.

The Dvorak home stood on stilts above the sand, offering 180-degree views of surf, often dotted with bobbing heads and cruising dolphin. The outside deck could sleep five children--and many of their friends--who would lie and listen to the sea lions barking in the warm, summer nights. They would wake to the crash of surf--and the calls to come out and play. The game was volleyball.

It began with the hitting the ball back and forth on the sand. Then, the quick games when the surf was low. By each of the Dvoraks’ teen years, volleyball took precedence over surfing, swimming and other beach activities.

In 1974, Rolf Engen, a family friend and a veteran setter on the U.S. national team, began the Laguna Beach Volleyball Club, where the Dvorak boys refined their skills for the indoor game.

“Whenever Dusty came for a clinic or a team meeting, Rudy would be right there tagging along,” Engen said. “He was only 9 at the time, but we could tell Rudy had the skills and dedication to be a good setter. But he was really ticketed for the job when he went to high school.”

At Laguna Beach, Rudy didn’t start on the varsity as a freshman. Though he didn’t attain the success Dusty had seven years earlier, Rudy earned a full scholarship to USC--like Dusty.

Rudy became an All-American at USC as a senior, and led the team to a second-place finish in the NCAA in 1986.

To Rudy, making the national team was just another step in the Dvorak life. He was chosen out of 60 players. On the team, he was immediately signaled for his hard work--often after regular practice was over. He will be on the court tonight in UC Irvine’s Bren Center when the U.S. plays China in an exhibition match starting at 7:30 p.m.

Last September, Shirely Dvorak passed away, and volleyball was no longer the center of Rudy’s life.

“I think that’s why he trains so hard, really,” Diedra said. “He and my mother had such a close relationship. She was crazy and so full of life, and so was Rudy. They had this connection between them that we (the other children) couldn’t really understand. I think he goes the extra step to do what would make her proud.”

Said Rudy: “My mom had more support and love for her children than anyone could. She was always there for me, always there. And now, whenever I accomplish anything big, or even little things I think of her. She was a nice part of my life.”