The Steve Lewis Memorial Volleyfest, now in its fifth year, stands as one of Long Beach sports’ greatest hidden treasures. Held annually to honor Lewis, the area volleyball institution who coached on the club level as well as at Lakewood, the event also serves as a fundraiser for a scholarship in his name, awarded each year to a Moore League player who best exemplifies Lewis’ philosophy of hard-work on and off the court (last year it went to Wilson’s Amanda Pacheco).
Lewis loved volleyball, and so the friends he left behind honor him each year in the most appropriate way: by scheduling a series of great high school volleyball matches. This year featured Millikan vs. Warren, Poly vs. Laguna Beach, Wilson vs. Los Al, and Lakewood vs. Santa Margarita—an incredible slate of matches (for links to our writeups of each match, see below). “That’s what he loved,” says former Poly coach Jeff Eyanson. “Competition.”
Fittingly, the Moore League schools went 4-0 on the day, before a packed crowd that raised a good amount of money for this year’s scholarship. As the matches pounded on, fans cheered with the intensity of a playoff crowd, and those closest to Lewis took time, as they have every year, to talk about him, and keep his memory alive.
“That is the neatest thing,” says current Lakewood girls’ coach Mike Wadley, who along with Eyanson has co-run the annual event. “Seeing all the people here.” Considering that Lewis coached so many kids, and was such a respected family man, there were a lot of people brimming with stories.
Kevin Hitt was Lewis’ co-coach at Ichiban and Golden West, club programs they ran from 1996-2004. Hitt was also the head coach at Mayfair for most of those years, and his club developed a fun rivalry with Lewis’ Lancers. “The last year we played against each other, the last year Steve was coaching,” remembers Hitt, “We got lucky and beat them, to make our lifetime series against each other tied at 3-3. I think that’s how he would have wanted to leave it.” Hitt was one of many in the crowd still touched by Lewis, and saddened to have lost him. “It’s almost indescribable, still, that he’s not around,” he says. “That someone you got to know that well could not be around.”
Poly girls’ basketball coach Carl Buggs got to know Lewis during his days as a volleyball coach, and remembers him most as a father (Lewis’ kids Robyn, Chris, and Matt all excelled at Poly). “He was so willing to sacrifice for his children,” says Buggs, “To better their lives.”
But there were more private moments, as well. Shortly before the final match of the night, Lakewood’s battle with Santa Margarita, Wadley gathered his team in his office, to watch a tribute video to Lewis, edited by Hitt. Ten minutes long, the video is a slideshow of photos, interspersed with tribute messages from different high school teams, and Long Beach State volleyball coaches. With the lights turned off and the sounds of Wilson/Los Al coming through the wall, Wadley showed his team a glimpse of his friend—it’s something he does every year, something he feels grows more important each season, now that he’s coaching groups of girls who didn’t know Lewis, or play for him.
After it finished, an emotional Wadley told his team—”I miss him and I think about him every day, still. That’s why we have this day. We keep living and playing the way he’d want us to.”
And after four great matches on Saturday, there’s no doubt that those who are carrying Lewis’ memory forward are doing it the way he’d want to: quietly, passionately, and with the fitting background of four volleyball matches, featuring some of the best teams in Southern California. We’ll see you there next year.
Click here to read about Millikan’s win over Warren.
Click here to read about Poly’s win over Laguna Beach.
Click here to read about Wilson’s win over Los Al.
Click here to read about Lakewood’s win over Santa Margarita.