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IRVINE, Calif. – The Big West beach volleyball award winners have been announced headlined by top tandems and the league's two participants in the 2023 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship.
For the second consecutive season, All-American pair of Kaylee Glagau and Brooke Van Sickle of Hawai'i secured Pairs Team of the Year distinction. The two are the first repeat winners of the award since The Big West began sponsoring the sport in 2016. A duo from UH has taken top honors in five of the seven iterations.
All-Americans on the sand a season ago, the upperclassmen duo of Glagau and Van Sickle have compiled a career record of 51-22 in two seasons playing as a pair.
This season, Glagau and Van Sickle have amassed an impressive 29-3 record, primarily playing from the No. 1 position in the lineup for the Rainbow Wahine, and enter the national championship winning nine of their last 10 matches. The lone blemish came at the hands of Long Beach State's Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah in the 2023 Big West Beach Volleyball Championship.
The freshmen phenoms of Gementera and Hagenah led the Beach to The Big West title and national championship berth, and earned Big West Co-Freshman of the Year honors in the process. The coupling has a 33-5 record in their first collegiate season on the sand, playing from courts 1, 2 and 3. The two rolled through the Championship from the No. 1 position, dropping just one set in four matches.
Long Beach State coach Mike Campbell was tapped as Big West Coach of the Year, a second career honor after also earning distinction in 2017. The Beach have compiled a 24-14 record heading into the National Collegiate Championship where they will take on California a first-round matchup on Friday.
Two Cal Poly tandems earned a place on the All-Big West First Team, with Piper Ferch pairing up with Izzy Martinez for honors and Piper Naess coupling with Jayelin Lombard. Both pairs compiled an 18-16 overall record in 2023 as the Mustangs advanced to the finals of the 2023 Big West Championship. Ferch and Martinez primarily played on Court 1 while Lombard and Naess held down the second spot in the lineup.
For Lombard, a senior from Indio, Calif., this marks a fourth All-Big West nod, also earning a place on the first team in 2021 and '22. Last season, Lombard's success came with partner Ferch, who now has two All-Big West career honors.
UC Davis' Colleen McGuire and Kylie Miller also earned first team acclaim after an impressive season for the Aggies. The pair closed the season with a 22-8 overall record, and went 20-5 from the twos. The senior/sophomore duo are just the second UC Davis pairing to earn a spot on the All-Big West First Team. As a team, UC Davis went 20-12 on the year and earned the No. 3 seed in the conference championship.
Rounding out the first team selections is CSU Bakersfield No. 3 pairing of Hayley McCluskey and Isabella Almeida. The twosome went 17-9 on the year and helped the team secure a 16-10 overall record. The win tally is the most in Roadrunners' program history.
The second teams sees two upperclassmen tandems for Hawai'i in Ilihia Huddleston and Jaime Santer, and Kylin Loker and Riley Wagoner. Both Santer and Huddleston were members of the 2021 All-Big West Team with different partners. This season, Huddleston and Santer have a 21-3 record together for the BeachBows.
Long Beach State's Sydney Stevens and Julia Westby are joined by Brooke Golik and Delaney Peranich of Cal Poly and the CSUN pair of Abbey Sweeting and Gabriela Griego on the second team.
All seven Big West squads have at least one pairing on the 2023 listings, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
| 2023 Big West Beach Volleyball All-Conference Team |
| Pairs Team of the Year: |
Kaylee Glagau & Brooke Van Sickle, Hawai'i |
| Co-Freshmen of the Year: |
Malia Gementera & Taylor Hagenah, Long Beach State |
| Coach of the Year: |
Mike Campbell, Long Beach State |
| All-Big West First Team
|
|
Pair
|
Year
|
Institution
|
Hometown
|
|
Piper Ferch & Izzy Martinez
|
So./Fr.
|
Cal Poly
|
Redmond, Wash. /
|
|
Piper Naess & Jayelin Lombard
|
Jr./Sr.
|
Cal Poly
|
Laguna Beach, Calif. /
|
|
Hayley McCluskey & Isabella Almeida
|
Sr./Fr.
|
CSU Bakersfield
|
Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
|
|
Kaylee Glagau & Brooke Van Sickle
|
Jr./Gr.
|
Hawai'i
|
Mississauga, Canada /
|
|
Malia Gementera & Taylor Hagenah
|
Fr./Fr.
|
Long Beach State
|
Chula Vista, Calif. /
|
|
Colleen McGuire & Kylie Miller
|
Sr./So.
|
UC Davis
|
Naperville, Ill. /
|
| All-Big West Second Team
|
| Pair |
Year |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Brooke Golik & Delaney Peranich |
Sr./Sr. |
Cal Poly |
Northridge, Calif. /
Half Moon Bay, Calif. |
| Abbey Sweeting & Gabriela Griego |
Sr./R-Jr. |
CSUN |
Southlake, Texas /
Corona, Calif. |
| Ilihia Huddleston & Jaime Santer |
Jr./Jr. |
Hawai'i |
Oceanside, Calif. /
Toronto, Canada |
| Kylin Loker & Riley Wagoner |
Sr./Jr. |
Hawai'i |
Carlsbad, Calif. /
Dublin, Ohio |
| Sydney Stevens & Julia Westby |
R-Jr./Fr. |
Long Beach State |
Oceanside, Calif. /
Oceanside, Calif. |
| Honorable Mention: Sophia Hladyniuk & Emma Erteltova (CSU Bakersfield); Lauren Eknoian & Tasha Mae (CSUN); Chandler Cowell & Sydney Miller (Hawai'i); Natalie Glenn & Megan Widener (Long Beach State); Mari Molina & Emily Mattoon (Long Beach State); Bridgette Smith & Kalani Hayes (Sacramento State); Mia Olen & Megan Luly (UC Davis) |