All Five UCLA Pairs Earn All-American Accolades
May 22, 2018 | Beach Volleyball
Courts one, two and five were named VolleyMob All-Americans/Pairs of the Year.
AUSTIN, Texas โ All five pairs from the UCLA beach volleyball team were named VolleyMob All-Americans, as announced by the online website this week. This is the first year the platform has honored All-Americans and VolleyMobย put a priority on recognizing the top performers on all five courts, honoring pairs with first, second and third team awards.
Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamaraย were named First Team All-Americans and the court one Pair of the Year. The junior pair from 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, but 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 pair of sophomore Lily Justine (Chico, Calif.) and junior Sarah Sponcil (Phoenix, Ariz.) were also named First Team All-Americans and the court two Pair of the Year. The duo 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 NCAA 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 and 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 to lead the team in that category.
Junior Izzy Carey (Westlake Village, Calif.) and freshman Megan Muret (Encinitas, Calif.) were also named First Team All-Americans and the court five Pair of the Year. The duo had the second-best overall record on the team at 34-8 (30-4 on court five and 4-4 on court four). The tandem also went 29-8 on the year against ranked teams. They were named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team on court five, going 5-3 in postseason play, including 3-1 at the NCAA Championship. They, along with courts one and two, were the only Bruin pair to play together all season. They set a UCLA record for most consecutive dual match victories at 28 (March 8 through April 28), which included wins over 23 ranked teams (10 in the top 10 and five in the top five). The pair also clinched four victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins, which had a school-record 31 dual match winning streak that began when Carey/Muret began their 28 dual-match winning streak.
Nicknamed "Team Wounded Bear" by head coach Stein Metzger, the pairย of sophomore Savvy Simo (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and junior Zana Muno (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) were named Third Team All-Americans by VolleyMob. They went 25-5 on the year overall (22-4 on court three, 1-1 on court four and 2-0 on court five). Muno missed 14 duals due to injury, but came back for the NCAA Championship and went 4-2 with Simo on court three. This duo went 23-5 against ranked teams. Simo only missed one dual on the year, but played with nagging injuries for most of the season. She paired with Madi Yeomans for the Pac-12 Championship and together, the duo was named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team, going 4-0, and providing the Championship clinching point over USC. Simo was also named Second Team All-Pac-12 while Muno didn't play in enough duals to qualify. The pair also clinched seven victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins and had the best record on the team in three-set matches, going 6-2. Simo paired with two other partners while waiting for Muno to return from injury and had an overall record of 33-10 on the year. They also recorded a personal-best winning streak of 17 consecutive duals during the season.
This pair of freshman Mac May (Dubuque, Iowa) and the Bruins' only senior that played, Elise Zappia (Huntington Beach, Calif.), were also named Third Team All-Americans. The tandemย went 22-6 on the year (21-6 on court four and 1-0 on court three). They were 6-3 in postseason play, going 4-0 at the Pac-12 Championship. They also recorded a personal-best winning streak of 16 consecutive duals during the season, going 18-6 on the year against ranked teams. May was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. The pair also clinched three victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins.
2018 VOLLEYMOBย ALL-AMERICANS
Court 1: Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara, UCLA
Court 2: Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil, UCLA
Court 3: Carly Kan/Laurel Weaver, Hawai'i
Court 4: Skylarย Caputo/Alexis Filippone, Pepperdine
Court 5: Izzy Carey/Megan Muret, UCLA
Second Team
Court 1: Abril Bustamante/Tina Graudina, USC
Court 2: Madalynย Roh/Brook Bauer, Pepperdine
Court 3: Heidi Dyer/Gigiย Hernandez, Pepperdine
Court 4: Ari Homayun/Amy Ozee, Hawai'i
Court 5: Grace Campbell/Maddie Micheletti, California
Third Team
Court 1: Ka'iwi Schucht/Emily Maglio, Hawai'i
Court 2: Hailey Luke/Katie Horton, Florida State
Court 3: Zana Muno/Savvy Simo, UCLA
Court 4: Mac May/Elise Zappia, UCLA
Court 5: Paige Dreeuws/Hannah Zalopany, Hawai'i
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