Katie Kennedy Award Pairs Team of the Week Week Of 4/25/2022 Sport Beach Volleyball School Long Beach State Year Junior Position Hometown Hood River, Ore. High School Hood River Valley HS Fourth-year junior Katie Kennedy and fourth-year sophomore Sydney Stevens went undefeated at the No. 2 position as No. 12 Long Beach State won all four of its matches to close out the regular season with a 19-12 record. The duo’s weekend was highlighted by a three-set victory (17-21, 21-19, 15-6) over Marine Kinna and Avery Poppinga of No. 4 Loyola Marymount on Friday afternoon in Santa Monica, giving the Beach a 2-0 lead en route to a 3-2 upset of the higher-ranked host Lions to snap a four-match losing streak against them. Earlier Friday at the same venue, Kennedy and Stevens cruised past Eliza Cannon and Emily Elliott, 21-14, 21-15, during a 4-1 defeat of Division II Cal State LA. On Saturday at home, the Beach cruised to wins over Big West foes CSUN (5-0) and CSU Bakersfield (4-1). Kennedy and Stevens teamed up to down Matadors Seyvion Waggoner and True McCullough, 21-19, 21-16. Stevens then took the afternoon off while Kennedy was joined by Kenzie Holtz to defeat Roadrunners Sophia Hladyniuk and Hana Makonova on the No. 2 court, 21-17, 21-17. Kennedy and Stevens are 12-6 together this season, as Long Beach State heads into the 2022 Big West Championship in San Luis Obispo this Friday and Saturday, April 29-30. Kennedy is a first-time weekly award winner, while Stevens was chosen once before as a freshman with then-partner Allie Loitz on March 4, 2019. They are the second Beach pair to be selected in 2022, after teammates Skyler Germann and Alice Pratesi just last week.