ANTHONY CURCI

Steve Virgen

There was a moment when Anthony Curci wanted to transfer from UCLA

because he did not feel he fit into the plans of the Bruins’ men’s

volleyball team.

But that was just a moment. For the most part, Curci, a volleyball

standout from Newport Beach, became motivated and wanted to fulfill

his potential. He wanted to do all he could to prove to Coach Al

Scates that he could be depended upon.

“I spent the first few years frustrated,” Curci said of his time

at UCLA. “There was a lot of talent in front of me and I even thought

of transferring at one point. But a guy named Mark Slevcove convinced

me I needed to stick it out.”

Curci started playing at UCLA in 1985. He was a redshirt his

sophomore year and played sparingly when he came back. That’s when

Slevcove, a former Bruins’ player and standout from Orange County,

gave Curci a pep talk.

Curci earned a starting position in 1988, then in 1989, he was

captain of the UCLA team that won the NCAA championship. He entered

UCLA as a setter, but in 1989, he played opposite and helped lead the

Bruins defeat Stanford, which featured former Olympian Scott Fortune,

in the title match.

The Bruins also won the national championship in 1987, when Curci was a redshirt sophomore.

“You get committed,” Curci said, explaining his improvement at

UCLA. “You get to a point where you are just committed. You spend

five or six hours a day, just working at it. When you win, it makes

it all worth it. It was a great ending.”

In the beginning, Curci played volleyball in Newport Beach and

learned from Coach Charlie Brande. Curci grew up in Newport Beach and

his brother, Mike, and sister, Sienna, played at Newport Harbor High.

“Charlie was a very principled coach,” Curci said of the coach who

is now the head man for the UC Irvine women’s volleyball team. “Many

of the things he taught me stuck with me. He really provided me with

good principles.”

For his high school education, Curci went to Cate, a boarding

school in Carpenteria, which had about 220 students at the time. He

competed in lacrosse, soccer and volleyball. The volleyball team did

not win many matches, just one in Curci’s senior year. But Curci

still stood out, so much so that he earned a scholarship to play for

UCLA and Scates.

“It was a situation where he expects to win, so whoever shows up

that night gets to play,” Curci said. “It’s a pretty cutthroat

system. You make a few errors and you’re done. He’s going to win

because he has a lot of talent. If one of his players goes into the

tank, he has enough talent to go on.”

After UCLA, Curci played beach volleyball on the AVP Tour for four

years. He said he realized it is difficult to retire financially as a

pro volleyball player and he eventually stopped playing.

While at UCLA, Curci earned undergraduate degrees in psychology

and business. He gained his master’s degree in psychology and an MBA

in finance at Pepperdine.

Now, he is a consultant at a private equity investing firm. He

continues to play volleyball for recreation.

“The competitiveness is still there,” he said. “Especially when I

play USC guys around town.”

Curci, the latest honoree of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

lives in Newport Beach with his wife, Erin, and their daughter, Eva,

who will be 4 next month. They are expecting a new addition to the

family, as Erin is pregnant and due in September.