Ron Shayka, a 1981 Penn State graduate and three-year letterwinner for the Nittany Lions' men's volleyball team, was recently inducted into the EIVA Hall of Fame.
Shayka was an outside hitter for Penn State from 1978-81, a coach at a variety of levels, an administrator for nearly 40 years at George Mason and for eight years served as the EIVA's President. He will be honored during the EIVA Championship Tournament, April 17-20, although he will be unable to attend the event in person. The tournament will be hosted by the regular-season conference champion.
"Shakes is one of most popular and well-known of our Penn State Men's Volleyball Alums," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said. "Shakes was always a natural leader. His team voted him captain his senior year and his efforts helped lead Penn State to our first appearance in an NCAA tournament! His involvement with the ECVL/EIVA helped to further professionalize the league and enable its growth and competitive maturity. His vision for the EIVA Hall of Fame is a great example of his understanding of honoring those who came before us. Ron Shayka is truly deserving of this EIVA honor."
The native of Ambridge, Pa., was a Nittany Lion for four seasons, lettering in three and was team captain as a senior when Penn State won the 1981 EIVA Tournament Championship. He coached the girls' varsity program at Octorara (Pa.) High School to a league title in 1982, then began his life at George Mason. He was an assistant coach for the Patriot men's program, guided them to a 27-5 mark as interim head coach in 1986, and after three years at Georgetown where he stepped away from the court, he returned in 1990 as head coach of GMU for six seasons. The Patriots were 102-88 during that span, with five top-three finishes and three trips to the EIVA Championship match.
He stepped away from coaching again to work in various administrative roles at George Mason until he retired in 2021, when he was Senior Associate Athletic Director for Finance and Operations. While there he also had stints as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's Junior National Team and other roles with USA Volleyball including the rules committee. He served two terms on the NCAA Men's Volleyball Committee and was chair of the committee for four years. He was EIVA President from 2013-21, when he helped bring the NCAA Men's Volleyball National Collegiate Championships to George Mason in 2023. Shayka also led the EIVA Hall of Fame Committee, with which he helped select and notify the inductees.
Since his retirement and a move to Florida, he has remained involved in the sport with the Sarasota Volleyball Club, where he is the Boys' Technical Director and a coach with the boys' 13-17 team.
The EIVA has honored its most distinguished student-athletes, coaches, officials and administrators with Hall of Fame membership since 2012.
-- Release provided by EIVA with an added quote from current Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik