He was part of the United States men's national volleyball team at the 1990 FIVB World Championship in Brazil.

[2] He was selected as the "best defensive player" at the 1991 FIVB World Cup in Japan, where he won a bronze medal while representing the United States.

[3][4] Acosta played for George Mason University,[5] where he was later a coach.

[1][3] He was posthumously inducted into the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association's Hall of Fame in 2012.

[6] The Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Player of the Year award was renamed the Uvaldo Acosta Memorial award in his honor,[7] and George Mason hosted the inaugural Uvaldo Acosta Invitational in 2018.