The Dallas Belles were one of six teams in the

Major League Volleyball Major League Volleyball may refer to: * Major League Volleyball (1987) Major League Volleyball (MLV) was a women's professional sports, professional volleyball league in the United States. It was established in 1987 and disbanded during its th ...

franchise. The league began in 1987 and ended short of completing a full season in 1989. Players consisted of former collegiate All Americans and Olympians. The level of play was highly competitive (above that of even the best Division I college teams) and fast paced and utilized either a 5-1 and 6-2 offense. The

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Belles placed 4th in 1987. This franchise was disbanded after one year. Games were played at the Los Field House. Rules at the time were a bit different. The ball could not touch the net on a serve, and games were to 15 (no rally scoring). In 1988 the franchise changed the rules so that game five would move to rally scoring. Dallas Belles' Roster:
Lisa Franco (DS)
Heather Hafner (OH)
Ruth Lawanson (S/OH)
Sheryl Joseph-Moore (OH)
Laurel Brassey Kessel (S/OH)
Patty Dowdell (MB)
Penny Lucas
Claudia Lee (DS)
Ellen Crandall Orner (MB)
Paula Rideau Kori Pulaski Head Coach, Ruth N. Nelson and former head coach at

George Williams College George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgi ...

(1970-1972);

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

(1973-1981);

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(1981-1985) and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

(1989-1991) The Dallas Belles were the only team in the league to utilize a 6-2 offense, with Ruth Lawanson and Laurel Brassey-Kessel setting the offense. Both Lawanson and Kessel would later go on to repeat performances with the U.S. National Team to play in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics respectively. The Belles were known as the team that began each match with

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

created original cow bells and throwing t-shirts to fans which later began a tradition in collegiate

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Ellen Orner joined the team toward the end of the season in 1987, transferring from the Chicago Breeze team. According to the commentators "she didn't quite fit in with the Chicago Breeze." Coach Rick Butler just dropped her, according to ESPN reports.

References

{{Reflist Volleyball clubs in the United States Volleyball clubs established in 1987 Women's volleyball teams in the United States 1987 establishments in Texas Volleyball in Texas 1989 disestablishments in Texas Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1989 Women's sports in Dallas