SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Pepperdine has been picked to repeat as West Coast Conference Beach Volleyball champions, as announced Wednesday afternoon. The Waves, who enter the season ranked No. 4 in the AVCA Preseason Poll, received all six first-place tallies and the maximum 36 points allotted by virtue of a vote among the league’s seven head coaches.
The Waves placed three student-athletes on the Preseason All-WCC squad, all of whom earned first-team all-conference honors in 2018: WCC Freshman of the Year Brook Bauer, WCC Defensive Player of the Year Deahna Kraft and All-WCC First Team Heidi Dyer.
Pepperdine will vie for its fourth consecutive WCC title in 2019, but will do so with a new leader for the first time in three and a half decades. Former assistant Marcio Sicoli will take the reins, replacing head coaching legend and beach volleyball pioneer Nina Matthies. Matthies stepped down last season at the culmination of an illustrious 35-year coaching career.
Saint Mary’s picked up the remaining first-place tally and received 30 votes overall to finish second in the Preseason Poll. The Gaels also tabbed a trio to the Preseason Team in Emily Bible, Sarah Chase and Lindsey Knudsen.
Preseason No. 15 LMU received 27 votes for third place and was the third WCC squad to tout three to the All-WCC Team. The Lions placed Sara Kovac, Jessie Prichard and Savannah Slattery to the ten-member roster.
San Francisco received 18 votes to come in fourth while picking up a Preseason All-WCC nod in Anna Dalla Vecchia. The Dons narrowly beat out Pacific, who garnered 17 votes for fifth place. Portland (11) and Santa Clara (8) rounded out this year’s ballot.
First serves for the fourth season of WCC Beach Volleyball will be on Friday, February 22. Be sure to follow @WCCsports on Twitter and log on to wccsports.com to keep up on all the action.
WCC BEACH VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL
|
School |
Votes (First Place) |
| 1. |
Pepperdine |
36 (6) |
| 2. |
Saint Mary’s |
30 (1) |
| 3. |
LMU |
27 |
| 4. |
San Francisco |
18 |
| 5. |
Pacific |
17 |
| 6. |
Portland |
11 |
| 7. |
Santa Clara |
8 |
ALL-WCC PRESEASON BEACH VOLLEYBALL TEAM
| Name |
Institution |
Year |
| Brook Bauer |
Pepperdine |
So. |
| Emily Bible |
Saint Mary’s |
Sr. |
| Sarah Chase |
Saint Mary’s |
Sr. |
| Anna Dalla Vecchia |
San Francisco |
So. |
| Heidi Dyer |
Pepperdine |
Sr. |
| Lindsey Knudsen |
Saint Mary’s |
Sr. |
| Sara Kovac |
LMU |
Sr. |
| Deahna Kraft |
Pepperdine |
Jr. |
| Jessie Prichard |
LMU |
Jr. |
| Savannah Slattery |
LMU |
Jr. |