UCLA freshmen Megan and Nicole McNamara found time in their busy schedule, on and off the court, to earn the opportunity to represent Canada at the FIVB U21 World Beach Volleyball Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The twins from Tsawwassen flew to Toronto two weekends ago where they dominated the Volleyball Canada U21 Team Trials at the National Training Centre.
The McNamaras went 5-0 and didn’t drop a set in the process. Five days later they were in Florida with their UCLA teammates for a match against Florida State University, featuring the fourth and second ranked teams in the nation respectively.
“It was a great weekend competing in the qualification tournament in Toronto,” said Megan. “We played five matches in two days and had a great weekend. We are so excited to represent Canada in Switzerland and play against some of the best teams for our age group in the world.”
The Bruins (7-4) are currently on pace to make the first-ever NCAA Championship. While it is still early in the beach season, the nationals will be contested in Gulf Shores, Ala., on May 6-8. Should the Bruins qualify, the McNamaras are going to rack up some frequent flyer miles as they would leave for Switzerland right after the conclusion of the NCAA Championship. The Worlds are slated for May 11-16.
“It was difficult to mentally prepare for the tournament as we were both focusing on our final exams in the weeks leading up to it,” added Nicole.
“Our daily training at UCLA with our coaches and team has prepared us to compete at a high level and we look forward to the challenge of competing against some of the best players in the world.”
The McNamaras defeated Amanda Harnett and Kelsey Veltman (Ontario) in the finals. Harnett is a freshman opposite at the University of North Dakota while Veltman is a middle blocker for Western University in London, ON. Both pairs will represent Canada in Switzerland. Brittney Sestric and Lea Monkhouse (Ontario) finished in third.
Wearing Canadian colours is nothing new for the twins.
The South Delta Secondary School graduates earned silver at the Youth Olympic Games in China two years ago. That same summer, they also captured bronze at the FIVB U19 Beach Volleyball Championships in Portugal.
Their outstanding high school career at South Delta, included leading the Sun Devils to three consecutive provincial titles. They signed with UCLA early in their Grade 11 year.
