IRVINE, Calif. (May 3, 2022) – All-Americans Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glagau headline the 2022 Big West Beach Volleyball All-Conference teams, as voted on by the league's seven head coaches and announced today.
The duo from Hawai’i picked up Pairs Team of the Year acclaim after rolling off a dual record of 30-9 on the year, that included victories over a plethora of tandems from ranked teams where they went 14-7 from the No. 1 position. The pairing is a four-time Big West Pairs Team of the Week in 2022 and earned national distinction on March 28. The senior/sophomore duo is playing together for their first season, and both earned All-Big West first team honors in 2021 with different partners.
Impressive in both collegiate volleyball disciplines, Van Sickle becomes the first women to earn Big West Player/Pair of the Year honors both indoors and on the sand.
The twosome enter the National Collegiate Championship bracket winning eight of their last 10 matchups, including a 3-1 record in the 2022 Big West Championship where they split a pair of meetings against fellow All-Americans and All-Big West selections Tia Miric and Ella Connor.
Miric and Connor, leaders of the Big West champion Cal Poly Mustangs, are 26-12 on the year as a coupling. Miric, a redshirt senior from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada is now a four-time All-Big West first team selection, the third in the young history of The Big West. Hailing from Kihei, Maui, Hawai’i, Connor was also named Big West Freshman of the Year for her efforts. Her recognition breaks a string of five consecutive Hawai’i freshman honorees who have won the award since the conference began sponsoring beach volleyball.
Coach of the Year distinction is shared between Cal Poly’s Todd Rogers and Evan Silberstein of Hawai’i. The two men led their squads to the national postseason after the competitors battled twice in The Big West Championship, with both results favoring Cal Poly. This is the third consecutive Coach of the Year award for Rogers after his team took home the Big West hardware for the third straight year, while Silberstein earns the nod in his first season leading the Rainbow Wahine. Cal Poly and Hawai’i both open up play in the National Collegiate Championship tomorrow from Gulf Shores, Ala.
Both the Rainbow Wahine and Mustangs enjoy two pairs on the All-Big West first team. Hawai’i tandem of Sofia Russo and Anna Maidment sport a 23-15 record in 2022, playing from the second position to the fifth in the lineup. Honorable mention selections as a pairing in 2021, this is the first first-team nod for both women.
Cal Poly’s coupling of Piper Ferch and Jayelin Lombard also earned first team distinction playing together for their first season. A redshirt junior from Indio, Calif., this is Lombard’s third total selection to an All-Big West squad, also earning first-team honors in 2021. Ferch and Lombard primarily played from the 2s for the champion Mustangs, recording a combined record of 22-17 on the year.
Also earning first-team acclaim is Long Beach State’s Skyler Germann and Alice Pratesi. Germann, a sophomore from Minnetonka, Minn., is earning her second nod on the first team. The pair played from Court 1 this season, helping the Beach to the No. 2 seed in The Big West Championship and closing the year with a mark of 17-16.
Rounding out the first team is the repeat tandem of Cameron Solberg & Milica Vukobrat, both juniors at CSU Bakersfield. The two were also first team selections playing together in 2021. This year, Solber and Vukobrat capped their campaign at 17-11 from the No. 1 position for the Roadrunners.
The second team sees three pairs from Long Beach State – senior duo of Nicci Reinking and Claire Newlander, juniors Jillian Rodriguez and Emily Mattoon, and Sydney Stevens and Katie Kennedy. Playing with different partners, Kennedy and Reinking were both part of the first team a season ago, and Reinking also picked up first team honors in 2019.
Cal Poly’s set of No. 3’s Addie Hermstad and Peyton Dueck earned second team honors, playing to a 21-5 record together. This is the first All-Big West selection for both graduate student Hermstad and the freshman Dueck.
Colleen McGuire and Chelsea Maeglin of UC Davis close out the second team honorees. For McGuire, the nod is the second of her career after earning a place on the first team in 2021. Playing primarily from Court 1, the pair helped UC Davis reach the second day of the Big West Championship and won their final match against Long Beach State to close the year at 12-17.
Nine tandems earned honorable mention status, including two pairs from CSUN, Hawai’i, Sacramento State and UC Davis. All seven squads received honors on the 2022 All-Big West listings.
All-Big West First Team
| 2022 Beach Volleyball All-Conference Team
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| Pairs Team of the Year: |
Brooke Van Sickle & Kaylee Glagau, Hawai'i |
| Freshman of the Year: |
Ella Connor, Cal Poly |
| Co-Coach of the Year: |
Todd Rogers, Cal Poly & Evan Silberstein, Hawai'i |
| All-Big West First Team |
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Kihei, Maui, Hawai’i/Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
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Piper Ferch & Jayelin Lombard
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Redmond, Wash./Indio, Calif.
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Cameron Solberg & Milica Vukobrat
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Bolingbrook, Ill./Novi Sad, Serbia
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Brooke Van Sickle & Kaylee Glagau
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Battle Ground Wash./Mississauga, Canada
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Sofia Russo & Anna Maidment
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Cherry Hill, N.J./Winnipeg, Canada
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Skyler Germann & Alice Pratesi
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Minnetonka, Minn./Rome, Italy
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| All-Big West Second Team |
| Pair |
Year |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Addie Hermstad & Peyton Dueck |
Gr./Fr. |
Cal Poly |
Seal Beach, Calif./Aptos, Calif. |
| Nicci Reinking & Claire Newlander |
Sr./Sr. |
Long Beach State |
Fountain Valley, Calif./Arroyo Grande, Calif. |
| Jillian Rodriguez & Emily Mattoon |
Jr./Jr. |
Long Beach State |
Santa Cruz, Calif./San Leandro, Calif. |
| Sydney Stevens & Katie Kennedy |
R-So./Jr. |
Long Beach State |
Oceanside, Calif./Hood River, Ore. |
| Colleen McGuire & Chelsea Maeglin |
So./R-Sr. |
UC Davis |
Naperville, Ill./New York |
| Honorable Mention |
| Hana Makonova & Sophia Hladyniuk (CSU Bakersfield); Kailey Klein & Victoria Rogers (CSUN); Lauren Eknoian & Emily Sparks (CSUN); Riley Wagoner & Ilihia Huddleston (Hawai’i); Jaime Santer & Kylin Loker (Hawai’i); McKenna Smith & Ashtin Olin (Sacramento State); Bridgette Smith & Caitlin Volkmann (Sacramento State); Ashlee Goycoochea & Rose Holscher (UC Davis); Tabitha Mitchell & Lily Justine (UC Davis) |