Thomas John "Tom" Hoff (born June 9, 1973) is a retired

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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 ...

player. He was a middle blocker and has been with the U.S. national team from 1996 until 2009. He is a three-time Olympian in volleyball, having played in

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2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, and

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. Playing with Iraklis Thessaloniki V.C., Hoff won the silver medal at the

2004–05 CEV Champions League The 2004–05 CEV Champions League was the 46th edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. League round Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D Playoffs Playoff 12 ...

and at the

2005–06 CEV Champions League The 2005–06 CEV Champions League was the 47th edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. League round Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D Playoffs Playoff 12 ...

, and in 2006 was awarded "Best Spiker".

Personal life

Hoff was born in

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to Margaret and Richard Hoff. He has an older brother, Rich, and an older sister, Jennifer. He is married to Sandy Mora and has five daughters. Hoff attended

Maine South High School Maine South High School (officially known as Maine Township High School South) is a public four-year high school located in Park Ridge, Illinois, United States, a northwest suburb of Chicago. It is part of Maine Township High School District 207 ...

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located north of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airpo ...

, where he graduated in 1991. In addition to indoor volleyball, Hoff also played on the Bud Light Pro

Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

tour.

Education

Hoff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Ohio State

Hoff spent his first two years at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where he was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes. As a sophomore in 1993, he was a First-Team All-

Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) is a college athletic conference whose member schools compete in men's volleyball. The conference footprint is centered in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Missouri in the ...

(MIVA). He guided the Buckeyes to the MIVA conference title and a 28-10 overall record. His 490 kills rank third all-time in Buckeye history. Hoff was also an

AVCA The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit corporation, non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is cur ...

Second Team All American.

Long Beach State

After transferring to

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

in 1994, Hoff sat out due to transfer rules and was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. In 1995, Hoff was an AVCA First-Team All-American for the 49ers (now known as The Beach) as he notched 751 kills, 176 blocks, and a .357 hitting percentage. He set a national record for most matches with 20 or more kills (25) and 10 or more blocks (nine). In 1996, Hoff repeated as a First-Team All-American, and helped the team finish 21-6, and 15-4 (second) in the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the Western United States, although it has added members as far east as Massachusetts. The conference participates at the NCAA Divisio ...

, and had season totals of 479 kills, 134 blocks, and a .389 attack percentage. In the Long Beach State men's volleyball record books, Hoff ranked no. 5 in career kills (1,230), no. 2 in kills per game (6.54), no. 4 in hitting percentage (.369), and no. 2 in blocks per game (1.65).

Clubs

* Iraklis Thessaloniki V.C. (2001–2003, 2004–2006) * VC Lokomotiv-Belogorie (2006–2007) *

Fakel Novy Urengoy Fakel Novy Urengoy () is a Russian professional men's volleyball team, based in Novy Urengoy, playing in Super League since 2004. International competitions * Club World Championship *:Third place (×1) 2018 * CEV Cup *:Winners (×1) 2007 ...

(2007–2008) *

Olympiacos S.C. Olympiacos Men's Volleyball (, ), commonly referred to as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name as Olympiacos SFP, is the men's professional volleyball department of the major Greek multi-sport club, Olympiacos SFP, based in P ...

(2008–2009)

Awards

Individuals

* 2024 Long Beach State

retired number Retiring the number of an athlete is an honor a team bestows upon a player, usually after the player has left the team, retires from the sport, or dies, by taking the number formerly worn on their uniform out of circulation. Once a number is retir ...

9 jersey * '' 2005–06 CEV Champions League "Best Spiker"'' *'' 2002 Greek Cup "Most Valuable Player''

National team

Senior team

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, Gold medal *

2008 FIVB World League The 2008 FIVB Volleyball World League was the 19th edition of the annual men's international volleyball tournament, played by 16 countries from 13 June to 27 July 2008. The Final Round was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pools composition Inter ...

, Gold medal *

2007 America's Cup The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and '' Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift ...

, Gold medal * 2005 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup, Silver medal * 2005 America's Cup, Gold medal

Clubs

* 2009

Greek Championship The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

Champion, with

* 2009

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

Champion, with

Runner-up, with

Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnastikos Syllogos Thessalonikis "Iraklis" (), commonly referred to as Iraklis Thessaloniki, is a multi–sporting club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. G.S. Iraklis Thessalonikis was founded on 29 November 1908 and i ...

Runner-up, with

* 2006

Champion, with

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoff, Tom 1973 births Living people American men's volleyball players Olympiacos SFP (men's volleyball) players Iraklis V.C. players Volleyball players from Chicago Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball players Ohio State Buckeyes men's volleyball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Aris Thessaloniki Volleyball Club players Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Middle blockers 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen