PERSONAL
Full name: Lea Jacilyn Monkhouse โ€ฆ born in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada โ€ฆ parents are Pauline McNally and Stephen Monkhouse โ€ฆ mother Pauline played indoor volleyball at the University of Ottawa โ€ฆ has one older sister, Katie โ€ฆ all four family members played hockey and other sports growing up in Canada โ€ฆ chose to attend UCLA because of the strong combination of academics and athletics and loved the coaches and players โ€ฆ lists the unpredictability of beach volleyball as the things she likes the most about the sport (i.e., weather conditions, wind, sun, tall players, defenders, etc., every game or match is different) โ€ฆ biggest athletic thrill to date occurred last season when she and her partner, Savvy Simo, were down 20-17 in both sets of the Pac-12 Championship to USC's Joy Dennis and Maja Kaiser and came back to win 23-21, 26-24 โ€ฆ favorites include any comedy or dramatic movie and she has a very eclectic taste in music โ€ฆ lists listening to music, hanging out with friends, going on spontaneous adventures, hiking, going to the beach, and playing tennis as her hobbies โ€ฆ athlete she admires the most is Canadian Olympic cyclist and speed skater, Clara Hughes,ย who is one of only five people to have podium finishes in the Winter and Summer Olympics and is the only person ever to have won multiple medals in both (six total) โ€ฆ majoring in communications.
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