Bruins Land Program-Best Four First Team All-Americans
May 08, 2019 | Beach Volleyball
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LEXINGTON, Ky., -- The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its eighth annual AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America Teams on Wednesday and the UCLA Bruins landed a program-best four First Team All-Americans.
Six different schools were represented in this year's class with both UCLA and USC landing their pairs from the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. UCLA's No. 1 duo of Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara become the first pair in the history of UCLA and the AVCA to be four-time All-Americans. Senior Sarah Sponcil and junior Lily Justine were also named to the First Team.
The 2019 selections were made by the AVCA Beach Volleyball All-America Committee: chairperson Beth Van Fleet (Georgia State), Kristen Rohr (Grand Canyon), Wayne Holly (Tulane), Hector Gutierrez (TCU), Andrew Fuller (Stanford), Anna Collier (Southern California).
2019 AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL ALL-AMERICANS
| Name | Institution |
|---|---|
| Crissy Jones / Tia Miric** | Cal Poly |
| Margherita Bianchin** / Federica Frasca** | FIU |
| Claire Coppola** / Kristen Nuss** | LSU |
| Brook Bauer / Heidi Dyer** | Pepperdine |
| Lily Justine / Sarah Sponcil | UCLA |
| Megan McNamara**** / Nicole McNamara**** | UCLA |
| Abril Bustamante** / Tina Graudina** | USC |
| Terese Cannon / Sammy Slater | USC |
*Denotes number of years selected to an AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America team.
2019 AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL HONORABLE MENTION
| Name | Institution |
|---|---|
| Sunniva Helland-Hansen | Stetson |
| Lindsey Knudsen | Saint Mary's |
| Emily Maglio | Hawai'i |
| Mima Mirkovic | California |
| Amy Ozee | Hawai'i |
| Carly Perales | Stetson |
AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH ALL-AMERICA
Crissy Jones / Tia Miric – Cal Poly
Pairs Record: 22-8
Team Record: 25-12
Second AVCA All-America honor for Miric after winning in 2018…Jones was an indoor AVCA Second-Team All-American at the University of Washington in 2016…Named the AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on April 30…Played three of their first four matches of the season at the No. 2 position before playing at the No. 1 spot for the duration of 2019…Had a stretch from March 13th through April 6th where they rattled off 16 wins in 17 matches…Helped lead the Mustangs to their first Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Margherita Bianchin / Federica Frasca – FIU
Pairs Record: 22-6
Team Record: 17-11
Second consecutive AVCA All-American honor as a pair…First pair in program history to garner multiple AVCA All-America awards…AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on April 9th…Never lost consecutive matches all season…Thirteen of their victories came against pairs on teams nationally ranked in the final AVCA Coaches Poll…Defeated fellow AVCA All-Americans Lily Justine and Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) in two sets on March 9th.
Claire Coppola / Kristen Nuss – LSU
Pairs Record: 33-4
Team Record: 31-8
Back-to-back AVCA All-American awards…Remain the only players in program history to win an AVCA honor…Took home the AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on the first week of the season on February 26th…Played every match from the No. 1 position…Ended the season winning 16 of their final 17 matches…Defeated AVCA All-Americans Margherita Bianchin and Federica Frasca (FIU) in straight sets on March 29th and Pepperdine's Heidi Dyer and Brook Bauer in the NCAA Tournament.
Brook Bauer / Heidi Dyer – Pepperdine
Pairs Record: 14-8
Team Record: 20-11
Dyer is now a two-time AVCA All-American (2016)…Bauer becomes the 13th different Wave to garner AVCA All-American honors (most in collegiate beach)…Their 20 all-time AVCA certificates are tied with Southern California for most in collegiate beach…Went 8-3 in their final 11 matches…Went a perfect 4-0 in the WCC Tournament.
Lily Justine / Sarah Sponcil – UCLA
Pairs Record: 26-5
Team Record: 35-3
Become the fourth and fifth different AVCA All-Americans in program history (fifth all-time in Collegiate Beach)…AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on March 5th…Played all but two matches at the No. 2 position…One of two pairs to be named in this year's class with the majority of their matches from the second court…Started the season winning 19 of their first 20 matches…Twenty-three of their 26 victories came via the sweep.
Megan McNamara / Nicole McNamara – UCLA
Pairs Record: 30-4
Team Record: 35-3
The first pair to be a four-time AVCA All-American (USC's Sarah Hughes was individually a four-time All-American from 2014-17)…The Bruins become one of five programs to have double-digit AVCA All-American certificates…Won 23 of their first 24 matches to open the season…Won both of their NCAA Tournament matches in Gulf Shores, AL…Named the AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on April 2nd…Defeated every pair on their schedule that wasn't Southern California's April Bustamante and Tina Graudina (went 1-4 against them but leading one set to zero in the NCAA Championship).
Abril Bustamante / Tina Graudina – Southern California
Pairs Record: 33-2
Team Record: 32-6
Second consecutive season for the pair to garner AVCA All-American honors…Seven of the school's 11 All-Americans have won it multiple times…Tied with Pepperdine for most all-time AVCA certificates (20)…Won their final 15 matches of the season, including three in the NCAA Tournament…Named AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on March 12…Twenty-eight of their wins came via the sweep.
Terese Cannon / Sammy Slater – Southern California
Pairs Record: 24-9
Team Record: 32-6
Become the 10th and 11th different All-Americans in program history (second-most all-time)…Nine of their 20 All-American certificates have come since 2017…Won two matches at the No. 2 position in the NCAA Tournament against LSU and Florida State…Rattled off 13 wins in 14 matches from February 27th through March 15th…Went 8-2 in three-set matches.
