SAN BRUNO, Calif. – LMU captured its first West Coast Conference Beach Volleyball Championship last season and has been picked to defend its title, as announced Wednesday. The Lions, who entered the season ranked No. 8 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.
LMU posted a 27-11 overall record in 2019 and placed five student-athletes on the Preseason All-WCC squad, all of whom earned first or second team all-conference honors last year:
Bo Culo,
Emma Doud, WCC Freshman of the Year
Reka Orsi Toth, Jessie Prichard and
Savannah Slattery.
WCC Freshman of the Year Brook Bauer, WCC Defensive Player of the Year Deahna Kraft and All-WCC First Team Heidi Dyer.
One of only two teams to compete in all eight AVCA/NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championships, Pepperdine (20-11, 2019) enters the season ranked No. 6 in the national preseason poll and collected 31 votes, including the remaining first-place vote. Three Waves earned preseason All-WCC honors: 2019 Defensive Player of the Year
Brook Bauer,
Gigi Hernandez and
Deahna Kraft.
Saint Mary’s received 24 votes overall to finish third in the Preseason Poll. Two Gaels collected spots on the Preseason All-WCC Team:
Selbie Christensen and
Alexsa Parker. SMC was in the “receiving votes” category in the preseason national poll.
Santa Clara picked up 21 votes for fourth place, five points in front of Bay Area rival San Francisco which received 16 votes, good for fifth place.
Anna Dalla Vecchia collected preseason All-WCC honors for the second straight year for USF. Pacific (11) and Portland (8) round out this year’s ballot.
The fifth season of WCC Beach Volleyball is just underway. Be sure to follow @WCCsports on Twitter and log on to wccsports.com to keep up on all the action.
2020 WCC Preseason Beach Volleyball Coaches Poll
| Team (First Place Vote) |
|
Pts. |
| 1. Loyola Marymount |
(6) |
36 |
| 2. Pepperdine |
(1) |
31 |
| 3. Saint Mary’s |
|
24 |
| 4. Santa Clara |
|
21 |
| 5. San Francisco |
|
16 |
| 6. Pacific |
|
11 |
| 7. Portland |
|
8 |
2020 All-WCC Preseason Beach Volleyball Team
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
| Brook Bauer |
Pepperdine |
Jr. |
| Selbie Christensen |
Saint Mary’s |
So. |
| Bo Culo |
Loyola Marymount |
Sr. |
| Anna Dalla Vecchia |
San Francisco |
Jr. |
| Emma Doud |
Loyola Marymount |
Sr. |
| Gigi Hernandez |
Pepperdine |
Sr. |
| Deahna Kraft |
Pepperdine |
Sr. |
| Reka Orsi Toth |
Loyola Marymount |
So. |
| Alexsa Parker |
Saint Mary’s |
Sr. |
| Jessie Prichard |
Loyola Marymount |
Sr. |
| Savannah Slattery |
Loyola Marymount |
Sr. |
*Due to a tie for the final spot on the preseason team, there are 11 preseason honorees instead of the normal 10.