Megan and Nicole McNamara will be looking to close out their decorated university careers in somewhat of an underdog role at this week’s NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships in Golf Shores, Alabama.
The 21-year-old twins from Tsawwassen will lead the defending champion UCLA Bruins as the No. 2 seed into the eight-team event which gets underway on Friday.
The Bruins sat on top of the rankings for much of the season before dropping three matches to rival USC, including Saturday’s Pac-12 Championship match in Los Angeles. The Trojans 3-2 victory included the McNamaras falling in straight sets (21-18, 21-17) to Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina in a battle of No. 1 teams.
It was the same result a day earlier in winner’s bracket play with USC’s 3-2 triumph including Bustamante/Graudina trimming the McNamaras in three sets (21-13, 18-21, 15-10).
The Bruins will open play Friday against Hawaii. Other participating schools include Florida State, LSU, Stetson, Pepperdine and Cal Poly.
With arguably the toughest strength of schedule in the country, the Bruins have already faced all seven of the other teams in the NCAA Championship field a total of 15 times, going 12-3 in those contests with the only losses coming to the Trojans.
McNamaras took their careers south after shining in the indoor and outdoor versions of the sports. They helped the South Delta Sun Devils win four straight provincial championships — one at the junior level in their Grade 9 year followed by three more in senior — the first B.C. volleyball titles in school history.
They will be one of three teams representing Canada at this summer’s World Beach Volleyball Championships in Germany after winning a recent qualifying event in Toronto.
