2019 AVCA All-Americans
Nicole McNamara, Megan McNamara (31), Sarah Sponcil (4) and Lily Justine (2), named 2019 AVCA All-Americans.
Photo by: NCAA Photos

Bruins Land Program-Best Four First Team All-Americans

May 08, 2019 | Beach Volleyball


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LEXINGTON, Ky.,ย --ย 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 USCย landing their pairs from the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. UCLA's No. 1 duo of Megan McNamaraย 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 2019ย 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
ย Crissy Jones / Tia Miric** ย Cal Poly
ย Margherita Bianchin** / Federica Frasca** ย FIU
ย Claire Coppola** / Kristen Nuss** ย LSU
ย Brook Bauer / Heidi Dyer** ย Pepperdine
ย Lily Justine / Sarah Sponcil ย UCLA
ย Megan McNamara**** / Nicole McNamara**** ย UCLA
ย Abril Bustamante** / Tina Graudina** ย USC
ย Terese Cannon / Sammy Slater ย USC

*Denotes number of years selected to an AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America team.

ย 

2019 AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL HONORABLE MENTION

Name Institution
ย Sunniva Helland-Hansen ย Stetson
ย Lindsey Knudsen ย Saint Mary's
ย Emily Maglio ย Hawai'i
ย Mima Mirkovic ย California
ย Amy Ozee ย Hawai'i
ย Carly Perales ย Stetson


AVCA COLLEGIATEย BEACH ALL-AMERICA

Crissy Jones / Tia Miric โ€“ Cal Poly
Pairs Record: 22-8
Team Record: 25-12

Second AVCA All-America honor for Miric after winning in 2018โ€ฆJones was an indoor AVCA Second-Team All-American at the University of Washington in 2016โ€ฆNamed the AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on April 30โ€ฆPlayed 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 2019โ€ฆHad a stretch from March 13th through April 6th where they rattled off 16 wins in 17 matchesโ€ฆHelped lead the Mustangs to their first Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.

Margherita Bianchin / Federica Frasca โ€“ FIU
Pairs Record: 22-6
Team Record: 17-11

Second consecutive AVCA All-American honor as a pairโ€ฆFirst pair in program history to garner multiple AVCA All-America awardsโ€ฆAVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on April 9thโ€ฆNever lost consecutive matches all seasonโ€ฆThirteen of their victories came against pairs on teams nationally ranked in the final AVCA Coaches Pollโ€ฆDefeated fellow AVCA All-Americans Lily Justine and Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) in two sets on March 9th.

Claire Coppola / Kristen Nuss โ€“ LSU
Pairs Record: 33-4
Team Record: 31-8

Back-to-back AVCA All-American awardsโ€ฆRemain the only players in program history to win an AVCA honorโ€ฆTook home the AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on the first week of the season on February 26thโ€ฆPlayed every match from the No. 1 positionโ€ฆEnded the season winning 16 of their final 17 matchesโ€ฆDefeated 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 โ€“ Pepperdine
Pairs Record: 14-8
Team Record: 20-11

Dyer is now a two-time AVCA All-American (2016)โ€ฆBauer becomes the 13th different Wave to garner AVCA All-American honors (most in collegiate beach)โ€ฆTheir 20 all-time AVCA certificates are tied with Southern California for most in collegiate beachโ€ฆWent 8-3 in their final 11 matchesโ€ฆWent a perfect 4-0 in the WCC Tournament.

Lily Justine / Sarah Sponcil โ€“ 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)โ€ฆAVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on March 5thโ€ฆPlayed all but two matches at the No. 2 positionโ€ฆOne of two pairs to be named in this year's class with the majority of their matches from the second courtโ€ฆStarted the season winning 19 of their first 20 matchesโ€ฆTwenty-three of their 26 victories came via the sweep.

Megan McNamara / Nicole McNamara โ€“ 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)โ€ฆThe Bruins become one of five programs to have double-digit AVCA All-American certificatesโ€ฆWon 23 of their first 24 matches to open the seasonโ€ฆWon both of their NCAA Tournament matches in Gulf Shores, ALโ€ฆNamed the AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on April 2ndโ€ฆDefeated 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 โ€“ Southern California
Pairs Record: 33-2
Team Record: 32-6

Second consecutive season for the pair to garner AVCA All-American honorsโ€ฆSeven of the school's 11 All-Americans have won it multiple timesโ€ฆTied with Pepperdine for most all-time AVCA certificates (20)โ€ฆWon their final 15 matches of the season, including three in the NCAA Tournamentโ€ฆNamed AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week on March 12โ€ฆTwenty-eight of their wins came via the sweep.

Terese Cannon / Sammy Slater โ€“ 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)โ€ฆNine of their 20 All-American certificates have come since 2017โ€ฆWon two matches at the No. 2 position in the NCAA Tournament against LSU and Florida Stateโ€ฆRattled off 13 wins in 14 matches from February 27th through March 15thโ€ฆWent 8-2 in three-set matches.

Players Mentioned

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