Matt Fuerbringer, Millennium Hall of Fame

Matt Fuerbringer has a bachelor’s degree in American studies from

Stanford, but his postgraduate work in professional volleyball has

allowed him to explore the rest of the world.

Fuerbringer, a 6-foot-7 outside hitter and former four-time

All-American at Stanford, is playing his second season for Bayern Werk of

the Austrian Indoor Pro League.

After being cut from the U.S. National team earlier this year,

Fuerbringer, healthy now following right shoulder surgery two years ago,

decided to join the pro beach tour and, on July 11, finished 13th at the

Muskegon, Mich., Open and earned his first American paycheck in the sport

he grew up loving.

A former Estancia High basketball sensation and three-year starter

under Coach Tim O’Brien, Fuerbringer opted for volleyball when Stanford

waved a full scholarship in front of him. Fuerbringer played for the

Orange County Volleyball Club, but performed in relative obscurity at

Estancia.

“I was a lot more focused on (basketball) then,” Fuerbringer said from

his seasonal home in Vienna, Austria, where he played last year and led

Bayern Werk to the Austrian Indoor Pro League championship.

Fuerbringer, who led Stanford to the NCAA men’s national volleyball

championship in 1997, was an All-CIF Southern Section Division III

selection in basketball his junior year at Estancia, which captured CIF

and State Division III titles under O’Brien. “I learned a lot from Tim

O’Brien,” Fuerbringer said. “He’s still the best coach I ever had in any

sport.”

In addition to winning a state high school basketball championship in

1991, Fuerbringer’s career highlights include providing the

match-clinching block against UCLA in the 1997 NCAA championship match at

Columbus, Ohio, as Fuerbringer garnered all-tournament laurels.

A collegiate All-American by numerous publications, Fuerbringer set

several Stanford volleyball records and joined the U.S. National team in

February 1998 and played for seven months, before signing a one-year

contract with the Vienna-based Bayern Werk.

But, after an outstanding season in Austria, Fuerbringer returned to

the U.S. National team, but was cut after only three weeks.

“I was a little shocked, but not too much,” said Fuerbringer, who, at

age 25, had no Olympic experience, but was probably considered too old

for the program’s new direction under U.S. Coach Doug Biehl. “I wasn’t

going to be a starter, and, in my spot, they wanted somebody with more

Olympic experience or they were going to go with one of the younger guys

who could gain some experience.

“It was a shock to be cut so fast, but it enabled me to move on and

get a good contract (in Austria).”

One month after leading Stanford to the NCAA championship, Fuerbringer

underwent surgery on his right (hitting) shoulder, then traveled

throughout Europe with some friends on backpacks while allowing his

shoulder to heal. “I came home (to Costa Mesa) and did more rehab,” said

Fuerbringer, who, after feeling 100% again, went from February 1998 to

June 1999 without going more than a week of playing competitive

volleyball, a grueling schedule by any account.

“My shoulder held up good,” said Fuerbringer, who played in his first

Association of Volleyball Professionals’ Tour event in Muskegon, Mich.,

and claimed a 13th-place paycheck with partner Alika Williams.

“For so long you spend so much time in sports, then you get paid for

it -- it’s such a neat feeling when you’ve been working for something

your whole life (and reap the rewards).

“I’m having a good time in Europe playing indoors, but I’d eventually

like to establish myself on the (American) pro beach tour, which is

making a comeback (following some lean financial years). I’d slowly like

to start playing more beach volleyball and phase out the indoor game. I

think being overseas will get tiring. But we’ll see how it goes this

season (which lasts eight months).

“But I’m able to do a lot of things and use my sport to make a little

money. (Volleyball) also allows me to travel and do some things I

wouldn’t be able to do if I was working a 9-to-5 job.”

Fuerbringer, the latest member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

celebrating the millennium, said many volleyball players from Eastern

Europe and Russia are willing to play in the Italian and Austrian indoor

leagues for much less money, or even for free.

“They’re really good players and they’ll play for almost nothing,”

Fuerbringer said. “If those players are willing to play for half price,

then it’s bringing down the (contract) price (for top American players).

Right now, I don’t see the money going up where it once was. But there

really are no expenses here. The team pays for your room and insurance.

There’s definitely nothing luxurious about it, but you’re living in

Europe and having fun -- and making a little money that you can pretty

much save.”

After gaining many academic awards and athletic honors in high school,

including two-time Pacific Coast League Player of the Year kudos in

basketball, Fuerbringer reshirted at Stanford his freshman year in 1993.

Then, in 1994, Fuerbringer was named National Freshman of the Year by

Volleyball Monthly and earned first-team All-American by the American

Volleyball Coaches’ Association. Fuerbringer’s 763 kills that year set a

school record, breaking Dave Goss’s standard of 700 established two years

earlier. Fuerbringer’s kills-per-game average (7.25) led the Mountain

Pacific Sports Federation, and his season average of 7.13 ranked second in the country behind John Hyden of San Diego State.

After his sophomore year in 1995, Fuerbringer played on the U.S.

National team and in the World University Games in Japan, a springboard

to his stellar junior and senior campaigns, which was crowned by an NCAA

title.