Story was originally published on ASU News.
Before Mary Littlewood could speak, clutching a microphone as she stood in Carson Ballroom at Old Main, she first had to wait for the applause to subside.
A standing ovation had interrupted her message to the crowd. Or maybe it bought her time.
"I'm not even sure what to say," the 89-year-old said with a chuckle before a crowd north of 100 attendees, all of whom stood to pay their respects to the first head coach in Sun Devil Volleyball history.
On an afternoon like this, in which past players, coaches and staffers gathered to celebrate the team's 50th anniversary, it was necessary to pay extra respect to Littlewood, the woman who laid the foundation for volleyball at Arizona State University in the fall of 1973.