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LOS ANGELES -- The UCLA Bruins are ranked No. 1 in the DiG Magazine preseason beach volleyball poll that was released today. The back-to-back defending NCAA Champions received 13 first-place votes. The Bruins return only five of 10 starters on the five courts from 2019's title team that went 35-3, but UCLA also returns two starters from the 2018 championship team that went 40-4.
UCLA won last year's NCAA Championship as the No. 2 seed by defeating No. 7 Hawai'i 3-2 in the opening round. After that wake-up call, UCLA cruised to its second-straight national title with 3-0 victories over No. 3 Florida State, No. 5 LSU and No. 1 USC (didn't drop a set to the Trojans).
The Bruins return a trio of seniors looking to become the first collegiate beach volleyball players to three-peat as NCAA Champions. Lily Justine was on court two last year and went 26-5 with her partner Sarah Sponcil, who graduated. Savvy Simo was on court four last year and went 30-7 with three different partners. She spent most of the year with junior Lea Monkhouse (22-5) on court four. Another one of Simo's partners was the third senior, Madi Yeomans, who proved she could play anywhere last year, going 6-0 on the season (2-0 on court two with Sponcil, 2-0 on court four with Simo in the NCAAs, and 2-0 on court five with sophomore Lindsey Sparks.
Sparks is another returning starter, playing mostly on court five with her graduated partner, Izzy Carey. The duo went 27-2 on court five a year ago with Sparks going 33-2 overall. Another sophomore that is a returning starter is Abby Van Winkle, who also lost her partner, Zana Muno, to graduation. The duo played mostly on court three, going 25-5 last year and sealed the Bruins' 3-0 NCAA Championship win over the Trojans. Van Winkle (29-5 overall), also went 4-0 with Sparks on court four last season. The final returning starter from last year is Monkhouse, who went 22-5 in her first year in Westwood, Calif. Monkhouse had to withdraw from competition in the NCAA Championships due to injury after the first-round win over Hawai'i, but will be back in 2020.
UCLA also returns two starters from the 2018 season that began in the starting rotation a year ago. Junior Mac May began 2019 with Simo and went 6-2 overall, 3-1 on courts three and four. She is 31-12 overall in her career as a Bruin. The final returning starter is junior Megan Muret, who began the 2019 campaign with Carey, going 9-0 on the year (7-0 on court five and 2-0 on court four). Muret is 43-8 overall as a Bruin.
The Bruins also had a busy off-season, hiring a new volunteer coach in Jeremy Casebeer, who was named the AVP's best server in 2017 and again in 2018. UCLA also most recently added its first-ever NCAA graduate transfer in Jacqueline Quade, a two-time indoor All-American at the University of Illinois. Two of the Bruins' incoming freshmen this season looking to make an immediate impact were named to the sixth annual AVCA High School Beach All-American First Team. They include Lexy Denaburg (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island HS), and Rileigh Powers (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo HS).
UCLA has plenty of other talented players competing for the coveted 10-player spots on the five courts. They include freshman Devon Newberry, sophomores Jaden Whitmarsh, Piper Monk-Heidrich, Hawley Harrer, and Maggie Walters, and juniors Hannah Phair and Cami Sanchez.
The Bruins open the 2020 season in their brand new home, Mapes Beach, on Thursday, Feb. 20 against No. 8 Loyola Marymount at 10:00 a.m. PT. UCLA has an exciting home schedule this season hosting some of the country's biggest and finest tournaments. It begins on March 7-8 when UCLA hosts the Pac-12 South at Mapes Beach where it will face No. 4 USC for the first time in 2020 while also playing host to No. 19 Arizona State as well as Oregon and Washington. The Bruins will also host the 4th Annual East Meets West Invitational at the iconic Manhattan Beach Pier on April 11-12 where UCLA will face No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida State, No. 11 FIU, and No. 17 TCU on the weekend. Finally, the Bruins are slated to host the Pac-12 Championship for the first time on April 23-25 at Mapes Beach.
DiG MAGAZINE COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL POLL (Preseason - Jan. 13, 2020)
| Rank | School | 2019 Record | 2019 Final Rank | |
| 1 | UCLA (13) | 35-3 | 1 | |
| 2 | LSU (3) | 31-8 | 3 | |
| 3 | Florida State (2) | 29-7 | 4 | |
| 4 | USC | 32-6 | 2 | |
| 5 | Hawai'i | 28-11 | 5 | |
| 6 | Pepperdine | 20-11 | 6 | |
| 7 | Cal Poly | 25-12 | 8 | |
| 8 | Loyola Marymount | 27-11 | 9 | |
| 9 | Stetson | 30-10 | 7 | |
| 10 | California | 22-9 | 10 | |
| 11 | FIU | 17-11 | 11 | |
| 12 | Long Beach State | 21-11 | 13 | |
| 13 | Arizona | 25-6 | 12 | |
| 14 | South Carolina | 20-11 | 16 | |
| 15 | Grand Canyon | 20-11 | 14 | |
| 16 | Georgia State | 24-12 | 15 | |
| 17 | TCU | 18-16 | 17 | |
| 18 | Stanford | 11-18 | NR | |
| 19 | Arizona State | 21-14 | 18 | |
| 20 | College of Charleston | 20-4 | 20 |
Also receiving votes: St. Mary's, Florida Atlantic, Tulane (First-place votes in parentheses).