University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Sarah Sponcil Wins First AVP Pro Series Title
July 11, 2022 | Beach Volleyball
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HERMOSA BEACH, Calif.ย โ Two-timeย UCLAย Beach Volleyball All-American Sarah Sponcilย (Phoenix, Ariz./Veritas Preparatory Academy)ย and her partner Terese Cannon earned their first-career AVP titles as champions of the AVP Pro Series Hermosa Beach Open on Sunday, July 10.Theย top-seeded tandem went 5-0 on the weekend, dropping just two sets. The pair defeated the second-seeded duo of Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint, 21-12, 21-15, in the finals.
Sponcil and Cannon opened the weekend with a 21-12, 21-14 win over 16th-seeded Heather Friesen and Agnieszka Pregowska. The pair then outlasted eighth-seeded Jessica Gaffney and Molly Turner in the second round to advance with a 21-19, 21-23, 15-9 win. Then they knocked off a pair of fifth-seeded Bruins in Zana Muno and Lauren Fendrickย in straight sets, 21-12, 21-18,ย to advance to the semifinals. There they won another tightly-contested match, defeating third-seeded Sara Hughes and Kelley Kolinske, 24-22, 11-21, 17-15, to move into the finals.
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FIRST TIME AVP CHAMPIONS: Sarah Sponcil and Terese Cannon! ??????
โ AVP (@avpbeach) July 10, 2022
Watch the incredible play that won the 1 seed the Pro Series Hermosa Beach Open. #AVP2022 #NoHoldingBack pic.twitter.com/yTSMntyY6M
Sponcil won back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2018 and 2019 with the Bruins. She partnered with Lily Justine and the duo posted both of the dual clinching wins on NCAA Championship Sunday (May 6, 2018).
Last year Sponcilย becameย the 20th all-time beach volleyball Olympian that UCLA has produced (2020 Tokyo Olympic Games). The 20 total Olympians to come out of UCLA (male and female) are the most of any schoolย (Stanford is second with seven) andย Sponcil was the 11th Bruin woman to qualify for the Olympics, which also leads the nation (Stanford is second with seven).
UCLA's rich Olympic tradition began the first year beach volleyball was introducedย in the Olympics in Atlanta inย 1996. That year a record seven Bruins qualified for the Olympic Games, which included Linda (Robertson) Hanley,ย Carl Henkel,ย Karch Kiraly (gold medalist),ย Bjorn Massaide,ย Holly McPeak,ย Sinjin Smith, andย Kent Steffes (gold medalist). UCLA has had an Olympian in beach volleyball in six of the seven Olympic Games (no Bruin qualified for London in 2012). Both of UCLA's current coaches are also Olympians (Stein Metzgerย in Athens in 2004, andย Jenny Johnson Jordanย in Sydney in 2000).
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If you want to win it all, you've got to empty the tank.
โ AVP (@avpbeach) July 11, 2022
What are we calling this move by @SSponcil?#AVP2022 #NoHoldingBack pic.twitter.com/ASBnFxPHDf
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