Megan McNamara (31) and Nicole McNamara (13) are now three-time All-Americans at UCLA.
Photo by: NCAA Photos
McNamaras Named to AVCA All-America Team
May 17, 2018 | Beach Volleyball
Lily Justine and Sarah Sponcil named AVCA Honorable Mention All-America.
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LEXINGTON, Ky. โ The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its seventh annual AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America Teams today and four Bruins were honored.
Eight different schools are represented in this year's class with each netting their No. 1 pairs. A total of three players are earning multiple All-American honors, with UCLA's top pair of Megan and Nicole McNamara landing their third AVCA All-American award. University of Hawai'i's Emily Maglio is the other repeat All-American, earning her second honor.
The McNamaras (Vancouver, BC, Canada) set a UCLA record for wins in a season going 35-7 on the year, all on court one. The 5-foot-9-inch twin sisters are the shortest team on court one in the nation and went 7-1 during postseason play including a 4-0 mark at the NCAA Championship in May, helping lead UCLA to its first-ever national title in beach volleyball. UCLA had arguably the toughest schedule in the nation, as evidenced by the McNamara's record of 30-7 against ranked teams (two more matches against ranked teams were truncated at the NCAA Championship). The twins were never swept on the season with all seven losses coming in three sets. Additionally, the duo was 31-0 in matches decided in two sets. Nicole McNamara was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year while she and Megan were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Year. The tandem was also tabbed to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team and to the NCAA All-Tournament Team on court one. They also recorded a personal-best winning streak of 16 consecutive duals during the season. Both players were named First Team All-Pac-12. The pair also clinched 11 victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins.
The Bruins' court two pair of sophomore Lily Justine (Chico, Calif.) and junior Sarah Sponcilย (Phoenix, Ariz.) received honorable mention All-American accolades. They went 33-8 on the year, all on court two. They also had a stellar postseason record of 6-1, going 3-0 in the Pac-12 Championship and 3-1 in the NCAA Championship. They posted both of the dual clinching wins on Championship Sunday, May 6, picking up victories over No. 3 Hawai'i and No. 4 Florida State. The Bruins faced 39 ranked opponents in the 44 duals with this duo going 28-8 against ranked teams, including going 16-1 against ranked squads to end the year. They were named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. They also recorded a personal-best winning streak of 15 consecutive duals during the season. Both players were named First Team All-Pac-12. The pair also clinched 12 victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins.
The 2018 selections were made by the AVCA Beach Volleyball All-America Committee: chairperson Beth Van Fleet (Georgia State), Kristen Rohr (Grand Canyon), Wayne Holly (Tulane), Capri Grotowski (FAU), Jeff Hall (Hawai'i), Anna Collier (Southern California).
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ย AVCA Beach All-America
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AVCA Beach Honorable Mention All-America
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*Denotes number of years selected to an AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America Team
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LEXINGTON, Ky. โ The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its seventh annual AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America Teams today and four Bruins were honored.
Eight different schools are represented in this year's class with each netting their No. 1 pairs. A total of three players are earning multiple All-American honors, with UCLA's top pair of Megan and Nicole McNamara landing their third AVCA All-American award. University of Hawai'i's Emily Maglio is the other repeat All-American, earning her second honor.
The McNamaras (Vancouver, BC, Canada) set a UCLA record for wins in a season going 35-7 on the year, all on court one. The 5-foot-9-inch twin sisters are the shortest team on court one in the nation and went 7-1 during postseason play including a 4-0 mark at the NCAA Championship in May, helping lead UCLA to its first-ever national title in beach volleyball. UCLA had arguably the toughest schedule in the nation, as evidenced by the McNamara's record of 30-7 against ranked teams (two more matches against ranked teams were truncated at the NCAA Championship). The twins were never swept on the season with all seven losses coming in three sets. Additionally, the duo was 31-0 in matches decided in two sets. Nicole McNamara was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year while she and Megan were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Year. The tandem was also tabbed to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team and to the NCAA All-Tournament Team on court one. They also recorded a personal-best winning streak of 16 consecutive duals during the season. Both players were named First Team All-Pac-12. The pair also clinched 11 victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins.
The Bruins' court two pair of sophomore Lily Justine (Chico, Calif.) and junior Sarah Sponcilย (Phoenix, Ariz.) received honorable mention All-American accolades. They went 33-8 on the year, all on court two. They also had a stellar postseason record of 6-1, going 3-0 in the Pac-12 Championship and 3-1 in the NCAA Championship. They posted both of the dual clinching wins on Championship Sunday, May 6, picking up victories over No. 3 Hawai'i and No. 4 Florida State. The Bruins faced 39 ranked opponents in the 44 duals with this duo going 28-8 against ranked teams, including going 16-1 against ranked squads to end the year. They were named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. They also recorded a personal-best winning streak of 15 consecutive duals during the season. Both players were named First Team All-Pac-12. The pair also clinched 12 victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins.
The 2018 selections were made by the AVCA Beach Volleyball All-America Committee: chairperson Beth Van Fleet (Georgia State), Kristen Rohr (Grand Canyon), Wayne Holly (Tulane), Capri Grotowski (FAU), Jeff Hall (Hawai'i), Anna Collier (Southern California).
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ย AVCA Beach All-America
ย
| Name | Institution | Year |
| Torrey Van Winden | Cal Poly | So. |
| Tia Miric | Cal Poly | Fr. |
| Federica Frasca | FIU | So. |
| Margherita Bianchin | FIU | Jr. |
| Victoria Paranagua | Florida State | Sr. |
| Vanessa Freire | Florida State | Sr. |
| Claire Coppola | LSU | So. |
| Kristen Nuss | LSU | So. |
| Madeline Mertz | Tulane | Sr. |
| Kaylie McHugh | Tulane | So. |
| Megan McNamara*** | UCLA | Jr. |
| Nicole McNamara*** | UCLA | Jr. |
| Emily Maglio** | Hawai'i | Jr. |
| Ka'iwi Schucht | Hawai'i | Sr. |
| Abril Bustamante | USC | Jr. |
| Tina Graudina | USC | Fr. |
AVCA Beach Honorable Mention All-America
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| Name | Institution | Year |
| Lily Justine | UCLA | So. |
| Sarah Sponcil | UCLA | Jr. |
| Deahna Kraft | Pepperdine University | So. |
| Corinne Quiggle | Pepperdine University | Sr. |
| Nele Barber | Long Beach State University | Sr. |
| Molly Turner | Grand Canyon University | Sr. |
*Denotes number of years selected to an AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America Team
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Players Mentioned
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