UCLA Volleyball Team Reprimanded

UCLA was reprimanded by the Pacific 10 Conference because it used an ineligible volleyball player during intercollegiate men’s matches last fall, Commissioner Thomas Hansen announced Thursday.

Kent Steffes, a transfer from Stanford, played in several two-man professional beach volleyball tournaments last summer, for which his playing partners received prize money, a violation of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules.

One of his partners who received money was Wally Martin, a UCLA assistant coach who, according to a statement released by the Pac-10, was reprimanded and placed on probation by UCLA administrators. The statement said Martin was told that any future serious violation of NCAA rules would result in his termination.

According to results published in Volleyball Monthly, Steffes and Martin played together in several tournaments, including one in Orange County and another in Manhattan Beach.

Steffes, who is listed in the UCLA media guide as the 1988 beach volleyball rookie of the year, was declared ineligible before the regular men’s volleyball season last spring, so UCLA’s NCAA championship was not affected.