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Oregon
No. 1 UCLA Set to Defend Pac-12 Title
April 24, 2019 | Beach Volleyball
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FIRST SERVE
Top-ranked UCLA (28-1) looks to defend its 2018 Pac-12 Championship this week when it heads to crosstown rival USC for the 2019 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championship. The top-seeded Bruins will take on the winner of No. 8 Utah (5-7)/No. 9 Oregon (4-9-1) on Thursday, April 25 at 12:00 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks. A win would advance the Bruins into the winner's bracket semifinal on Friday at 12:00 p.m. PT vs. the winner of No. 4 Arizona (24-4) and No. 5 Stanford (10-16).
SERIES HISTORY
#2 USC: The Trojans lead the all-time series, 10-8. After losing the first seven duals to the Trojans from 2013 to 2017, UCLA finally cracked the code at the 2017 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championship in Tucson, Ariz., defeating the Trojans 3-2 in the semifinals. But USC came back to beat the Bruins in the finals to win its second straight Pac-12 title. However, UCLA has gone 8-3 against USC in the last 11 meetings dating back to 2017. Last year, UCLA went 5-1 against USC, picking up its first-ever win over the Trojans at Merle Norman Stadium (Feb. 28), 3-2. Three days later (Mar. 3), the Trojans won 3-2 at Zuma Beach. But from then on, it was all UCLA as the Bruins posted a 3-2 win at UCLA (Apr. 4), a 3-2 win in the Pac-12 Semifinals (Apr. 28), a 3-1 win in the Pac-12 Championship game (Apr. 28) and a 3-1 win in the contender's bracket at the NCAA Championship (May 5). The Bruins also posted a 3-2 win earlier this year at USC (Feb. 27) and a 4-1 home win on April 3. But USC handed UCLA its only loss of the season, 2-3, at Stanford on April 7. #3 CALIFORNIA: UCLA leads the all-time series, 6-0. The Bruins have already posted two wins over Cal in 2019, a 5-0 win at the Pac-12 South Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., on March 3 and a 4-1 victory at the Pac-12 North Invitational in Stanford, Calif., on April 6. #4 ARIZONA: UCLA leads the all-time series, 5-2. The Bruins won the last meeting with the Wildcats, 5-0, at the Pac-12 South Invitational in Santa Monica, Calif., on March 24, 2018. #5 STANFORD: UCLA leads the all-time series, 8-0. The Bruins have already posted two wins over Stanford in 2019, a 5-0 win in the season opener at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii on Feb. 23 and a 4-1 win at Stanford at the Pac-12 North Invitational on April 7. #6 ARIZONA STATE: UCLA leads the all-time series, 4-1. The Bruins have already posted a win over ASU in 2019, a 5-0 win at the Pac-12 South Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., on March 2. #7 WASHINGTON: UCLA leads the all-time series, 6-0. The Bruins have already posted two wins over the Huskies in 2019, a 5-0 win at the Pac-12 South Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., on March 2 and a 5-0 victory at the Pac-12 North Invitational in Stanford, Calif., on April 6. #8 UTAH: UCLA leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Bruins won the only meeting with the Utes, 5-0, in the first round of the 2018 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championship in Stanford, Calif., on April 26, 2018. #9 OREGON: UCLA leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Bruins won the only meeting with the Ducks earlier this year, 5-0, at Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica, Calif., on March 26, 2019.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK
The Bruins concluded the 2019 regular season with a double-header at home on Senior Day (April 20, 2019). Top-ranked UCLA opened with a 5-0 win over No. 15 Grand Canyon, followed by a 5-0 win over No. 10 Long Beach State. UCLA didn't drop a set in either dual.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
UCLA has faced another tough schedule in 2019 as 24 of its 29 opponents during the regular season were ranked in the AVCA Top 20 Poll at ย the time of the contest. During the regular season, the Bruins played 15 duals against teams ranked in the top 10 with 10 of the opponents ranked in the top five. Of the five duals against unranked teams, four were receiving votes at the time of the dual and one, Saint Mary's, cracked the Top 20 after the Bruins defeated them in the first week of competition. Only one opponent, Oregon on March 26, was not receiving votes in the AVCA Top 20 Poll at the time of the dual.
FAMILIAR FACES
The 2019 UCLA starting lineup should be very familiar as the Bruins returned 9-of-10 starters from a year ago on the five courts. But two freshmen and a four-year transfer have broken into the lineup as we head into postseason play. Courts 1 (seniors Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara), and 2 (junior Lily Justine and senior Sarah Sponcil) are the same as last year. Court 3 still has senior Zana Muno, but now includes freshman Abby Van Winkle. Court 4 now includes one half of last year's duo on court 3, junior Savvy Simo, and she is paired with Hawai'i transfer Lea Monkhouse. Court 5 features senior Izzy Carey and freshman Lindsey Sparks. UCLA said goodbye to only one senior that played, Elise Zappia.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA enters the week ranked at No. 1 in the AVCA and DiG Magazine Top 20 Polls for the 10th straight week in 2019. The Bruins have been ranked for 40 straight weeks in the AVCA Poll, dating back to the preseason poll of 2016. UCLA earned its first-ever No. 1 ranking in program history (Mar. 26, 2018) after knocking off then No. 1 Pepperdine. UCLA is one of only four programs in the history of the AVCA Poll to be ranked No. 1 (USC-25 weeks, Pepperdine-17 weeks, UCLA-14 weeks, Hawai'i-one week). Additionally, UCLA has been ranked in the top five for 40 consecutive weeks and has been nationally ranked in 56 of 57 all-time polls by the AVCA.
HALL OF FAME MENTORS
U.S. Olympian and UCLA Hall of Famer Stein Metzger is in his seventh season at the helm of the UCLA Beach Volleyball program. He sports an overall record of 138-39 (.780) and has gone 98-11 (.899) in the last three seasons (2017-19). His 100th career victory came in a 4-1 win at No. 13 Stanford on April 8, 2018. Metzger was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018 and was also named the USMC/AVCA National Coach of the Year in both of those seasons. Metzger now has four NCAA Championships to his credit (three as a player in 1993, 1995 and 1996 and one as a coach in 2018).
Entering her sixth year with the Bruins, Assistant Coach Jenny Johnson Jordan is also a U.S. Olympian and a recent UCLA Hall of Fame inductee (Oct. 5, 2018). Like Metzger, Jordan has also won NCAA titles as both a player (1991) and a coach (2018). Jordan was also recently inducted into the CBVA Hall of Fame (Nov. 3, 2018).
BRUINS COMPLETE COACHING STAFF WITH POLLOCK
Former TCU standout and current professional beach volleyball player, Irene Pollock, joins the Bruins' beach volleyball staff in 2019 as the Volunteer Assistant Coach. Pollock replaces Jeff Alzina, who was named the Associate Head Coach for indoor volleyball and beach volleyball at Santa Clara on Feb. 8, 2019.
IZZY CAREY NAMED PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR (APR. 24)
UCLA's Izzy Carey became the first-ever Bruin to be named the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as announced by the Conference office (Apr. 24). The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Conference sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline. A senior from Westlake Village, Calif., Carey earned her degree in three and a half years in business economics with a double minor in music history and accounting, graduating in December 2018 with a 3.74 grade point average. She was a first team Pac-12 All-Academic performer in 2017 and 2018, and was named to the UCLA Athletic Director's Honor Roll all 12 quarters. On the sand, Carey is the UCLA beach volleyball record holder in career victories with 114 and is 27-2 in 2019 on court five. In 2018, she helped UCLA win its first NCAA Championship in the sport and was named a first team All-American and as part of the Court Five Pair of the Year by VolleyMob.
SWEEPING SUCCESS
The Bruins have swept 17 opponents in the 28 victories during the 2019 season. Of the 17 sweeps, 12 have been against teams ranked in the top 20 (#11 Stanford, #11 California, #19 TCU, #13 Loyola Marymount, #15 Grand Canyon) and seven have been against teams in the top 10 (#6 Cal Poly, #5 Hawai'i, at #3 Pepperdine, #5 Pepperdine, #10 Stetson, at #8 FIU and #10 Long Beach State). An additional four teams were receiving votes at the time (Saint Mary's, now ranked #18, Arizona State and Washington, twice).
COMBINED SUCCESS
The UCLA Bruins are a combined 130-15 (.897) across all five flights, going a team-best 27-2 (.931) at flights one and five. UCLA is 26-3 (.897) at flights two and four. Court three is 24-5 (.828) on the year. Senior Zana Muno and freshman Abby Van Winkle are 22-3 (.880) on court three but have lost their last three matches (#12 California, #2 USC, at #19 Stanford) after winning their first 22.
A TOUGH OUT
While UCLA is 97-8 (.924) across all five flights in 2019, they have been beaten in straight sets four times, one each at flights 1-4. But the Bruins have won in straight sets in 78 of their 97 flight victories (78-4 in two-set matches, .951). The Bruins have had considerable success in three-set matches, going a combined 19-4 (.826) in the third set (3-0 at flights one and two, 7-1 at flight three, 5-1 at flight five, and 1-2 at flight four).
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
The Bruins return all four players from a year ago that played every dual on courts one and two, and three of them are seniors. On court one, three-time First Team AVCA All-American seniors Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara (Vancouver, BC, Canada) were named First Team All-Americans and the court one Pair of the Year by VolleyMob in 2018. The duo 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 2018, helping lead UCLA to its first-ever national title in beach volleyball. 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. Both players were named First Team All-Pac-12 last year.
On court two, the pair of junior Lily Justine (Chico, Calif.) and senior Sarah Sponcil (Phoenix, Ariz.) were also named First Team All-Americans and the court two Pair of the Year by VolleyMob a year ago. The duo went 33-8 on the year, all on court two. The pair 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. They were named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team and First Team All-Pac-12 and honorable mention AVCA All-Americans.
DUAL PARTICIPATION
The Bruins have four crossover student-athletes on this year's roster -- one from each class from the indoor team -- that are lending their experience and expertise to the beach volleyball program in 2019. They include freshman Hawley Harrer, sophomore Mac May, junior Savvy Simo and senior Zana Muno. Harrer has not played and May is 6-2 on the year and 31-12 in her career. Simo and Muno paired together for most of the season last on court three, going 25-5 overall (22-4 on court three). But Simo is now on court four with sophomore Lea Monkhouse and is 24-5 on the year and 72-21 in her career. Muno is now on court three with freshman Abby Van Winkle and is 22-3 in 2019 and 70-13 in her career.
DEPTH PERCEPTION
Senior Izzy Carey (Westlake Village, Calif.) and sophomore Megan Muret (Encinitas, Calif.) were also named First Team All-Americans and the court five Pair of the Year by VolleyMob. 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 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.
The Bruins also return the services of junior Madi Yeomans, who came on for the injured Zana Muno at the Pac-12 Championship, pairing with Savvy Simo to clinch the Bruins' first-ever Pac-12 Championship with a straight-set win over USC's Joy Dennis and Cammie Dorn, 21-19, 21-16 on court three. The duo was named to the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championship All-Tournament Team.
PAC-12ย BEACH VOLLEYBALL
In 2016, beach volleyball was added as the 23rd Pac-12-sponsored sport beginning in the 2015-16 academic year. Now with nineย member institutions (Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington)ย currently fielding beach volleyball teams, the Conference of Champions was the first major conference to sponsor beach volleyball as an official sport.ย As part of the addition, the Pac-12 will also sponsor a Beach Volleyball Championship for the fourth straight season. This year, USC will serveย as the hosts from April 25-27.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
For the fourth straight season The NCAAยฎ National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship will be held May 3-5 at the Gulf Shores Public Beach and will be hosted by the city of Gulf Shores, Alabama and Orange Beach Sports Commission.ย The host institution for the beach volleyball championship will be the University of Alabama at Birmingham.ย Beach volleyball is the fastest-growing NCAA sport with 69 sponsoring schools at the Division I level, which is up fromย 65 in 2017 and 47 from 2016.ย The addition of the beach volleyball championship in 2016ย became the 45th NCAA championship administered for women and the 90th NCAA championship overall. The championship will have an eight-team bracket that will be played in a double-elimination format with teams consisting of five pairs of female student-athletes. After being placed on the list of emerging sports for women in 2009, beach volleyball is the fifth sport to succeed from the emerging sports program.
Tickets to the 2019ย NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship are on sale now exclusivelyย here.
