UCLA Beach 2020

[dunninla3]

It seems USC and Hawaii have Beach threads, and UCLA, well, not.  Strange being the back to back National Champions not having a thread, so here you go.

I'll start by transferring to here a post I made in Nov. from a thread saying Indoor AA Jacqueline Quade is transferring from IL to UCLA for Beach.

Firstly, I am quite impressed with how Stein Metzger has put together a powerhouse program in a relatively short period of time, after not really being on the map for 2012 - 2015.


Lose Starters (5) all playing AVP or FIVB except Carey:
McNamara righty, team 1
McNamara lefty, team 1
Sarah Sponcil, defense, Team 2
Zana Muno, defense, Team 3
Izzy Carey, blocker, Team 5


UCLA 2020 Roster:


Returning Starters (5):
- Lily Justine, Sr, 5'11 blocker Team 2
- Abby Van Winkle, So., 6'2 blocker Team 3 -- Played AVP Seattle w. Monk-Heidrich
- Savvy Simo, Sr., 5'10 defender Team 4 -- OH Indoor convert from Libero/DS
- Leah Monkhouse, Jr., 6'0 blocker Team 4 -- transfer from Hawaii
- Lindsey Sparks, So., 5'9 defender Team 5

Experienced Reserves (3):
- Megan Muret, Jr., 5'9 defender Starter Team 5 in 2018, NLI recruit
- (Mac) Kenzie May, Jr., 6'3 blocker starter Team 4 in 2018, replaced on Team 4 by Monkhouse early in 2019 -- Indoor outside starter
- Maddy Yeomans, Sr., 6'0 blocker Teams 3 and 4 replaced injured Monkhouse Team 4, won 2019 NCAA semis and finals sets, -- walk on

Incoming NLI Freshmen (3):
- Lexi Denaburg 6'0 blocker, Florida (played high performance with Powers, below)
- Rileigh Powers, 5'10 defender, Florida
- Devon Newbury, 5'10, blocker/defender, Santa Monica

Returning non-starters (6):
Piper Monk-Heidrich, So. 6'0 defender/blocker, NLI recruit
Jaden Whitmarsh, So. 5'8 defender, NLI recruit
Cami Sanchez, Jr., 5'10 defender, NLI recruit
Hanna Phair, Jr. 5'10 , defender, walk on
Hawley Harrer, Jr. 6'2, blocker, Indoor OH
Maggie Walters, So. 5'10, defender walkon

Incoming Transfer (1), from U of Illinois: on scholarship
Jacqueline Quade, Gr., 6'2 OH 1st Team All American Indoor. Watched her play v. Minn in Nov. She is good, and the comparison somebody made to Mac May is apt. I found her to be spirited, and she played very well v. Minn out of the back row as well as both pins. Her defense was above average for her size. What I can't tell is her Serve Receive capability. A few times she took serves overhand, which doesn't translate to beach at all. And of course no clue as to whether she can set, since she'd be doing that 90% of the time at UCLA Beach.
uclabruins.com/news/2020/1/2/beach-volleyball-ucla-bvb-adds-first-ever-graduate-transfer.aspx

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Possible Lineup:
1. Van Winkle / Simo
2. Yeomans or Monkhouse / Sparks
3. Monkhouse or Yeomans / Monk-Heidrich
4. Denaburg or Newberry / Powers or Muret
5. Justine or May or Quade or Newberry or Denaburg/ Whitmarsh or Powers or Muret

Questions:
- Can Steino possibly keep 18 on the team?
- Is there a starting place for PAC Indoor POY and AA Mac May on the sands of Westwood?
- Is there a starting place for AA transfer Quade, given no high level beach experience?
- Should Van Winkle and Monk-Heidrich be split up after playing well in Seattle?
- Should Steino pair best blocker (Van Winkle) with best defender (IMHO Simo), or pair best blocker and best defender with others to strengthen the team overall?
- Should Monk-Heidrich be used as a blocker or defender? She can do both.
- Which Big will he redshirt?  There are 9 quality bigs, and at most 7 spots that matter.
- As happened to Kenzie May in 2019, will Justine not make it into the starting 5 teams?

One of the starters, Simo, and two of the reserves, May and Harrer, are on Indoor scholarship that does not count against the Beach scholarship limit.

[newbeach]

I don't think Van Winkle and Monk-Heidrich will be paired for UCLA. They are friends, but I don't know if they make the most sense for the team.

Monkhouse can split block, or defend or block.

Justine will definitely be in the top 5 flights.

Isn't Denaburg only 6', and not 6'2?

Quade is a great indoor player, but I am not sure if she beats out Mac May for a position. Quade would have to beat out, Van Winkle, Denaburg, Justine, May, and maybe Monkhouse (if she blocks),and Yeomans. I think that may be a tall order.

[dunninla3]

thanks, fixed Denaburg to 6'

[dunninla3]

Jan 6, 2020 1:28:05 GMT -5 newbeach said:

Justine will definitely be in the top 5 flights.

Well, you could have said that about Mac May last year too, but it didn't happen.  When Justine didn't play with who may go down as the greatest USA Beach defender of this coming decade, she wasn't much better than .500, with three different partners.   Throw Sponcil in, and BAM, #2 team.  Take Sponcil out, and I think you've got a maybe #5 Big... but that means Steino just gave a scholly to Quade, whom he will sit on the bench?

UCLA has an embarrassment of riches in the Big department this year.

[newbeach]

Well, fortunately, that wasn't something I said of Mac May last year (and Justine did play with Sponcil, sure, but Stein could have put in May with her if he wanted). I knew May starting, and getting playing time (especially with the arrival of Monkhouse) was not a sure thing.

I agree that they have a wealth of players to choose from, but Quade wouldn't be the first (or the last) grad transfer who sat on the bench. I'm not saying that she won't play, but that it will be a tall order. May is coming off a great indoor season as well, knows the team, has NCAA beach experience, and it hasn't been easy for her. Quade will have a steep learning curve.

Players that are new to beach find it a little easier to assimilate when they arrive in the Fall than arriving in January. The season is short, and they have to not only learn the game but find chemistry with players (most who have been working with semi-set partners since September). I'm not saying it isn't possible that Quade can do this, I am saying it isn't going to be easy given the talent that the UCLA team has. It will definitely be interesting to see how she does.

As far as Justine, Stein likes her... a lot. He clearly believes in her to put her where she was regardless of the partner. She has worked hard and improved a lot since playing with Sponcil. I'm not saying she is necessarily the best blocker (I would put Van Winkle and Denaburg ahead of her in the depth chart). But, I don't think she will sit. You asked the question, and that's my opinion.

Again, a lot is going to depend on who has chemistry with whom, if Monkhouse plays as a full-time blocker, how May looks in her third year on the beach compared to Quade, and how Quade progresses, etc. as to where the lineup ends up. It may also start out in one way, and then a few players work their way into the starting lineup.

[Deleted]

I know how you feel about Justine, from previous posts but she and the team has been successful with their formula. Looking at her previous record she was partnered up with Holroyd (11-9)(no longer on the team) and Simmo (6-3) prior to partnering with Sponcil. Going off this, I would say that she needed a "better" partner before playing with Simmo and Sponcil. Maybe that is a partnership that could be re-visited this season. Certain players do step-up/improve their game depending on who their playing with, maybe Justine just needed someone either at her level or someone that could elevate her game?

What would Mac May, need to improve on to make the top 5? I know Monkhouse, has the ability to split but it is surprising that May, lost her position to a transfer that primarily played D in her previous school.

[GoUCLA]

I've never been too big on Justine, but I think she plays ahead of Yeomans at this point. I'm curious why you have Yeomans ahead of Justine. Is it based on her performance with Simo at the NCAA championship?

[dunninla3]

Jan 6, 2020 17:52:27 GMT -5 GoUCLA said:

I've never been too big on Justine, but I think she plays ahead of Yeomans at this point. I'm curious why you have Yeomans ahead of Justine. Is it based on her performance with Simo at the NCAA championship?

Three reasons --

First, yes, when Yeomans replaced Monkhouse at the NCAAs this year she played very, very well.

Three years ago Yeomans played #2 pairs, and #3 pairs, and had a pretty good record, and didn't need Sponcil to do that.   I always wondered why the following year she was relegated to the bench... especially for May, whose game was far behind Yeoman's.   But clearly Steino thought both May and Justine would yield better results.  It puzzled me.

Third, I just like her game in the opportunities I've seen her play, and having played and watched Beach  for over 30 years, I think she's more skilled.  My opinion is that if Steino had paired Yeomans with Sponcil, they would have lost at most only one or two matches.   Yeomans can put up a pretty good block.

I don't think Justine's game is bad, I just like the other bigs more.   If she plays well without Sponcil, then I was wrong.   For her sake I hope my assessment IS wrong.  I just always felt Justine was too short/lacked hops to be an effective blocker, and too slow to be a defender.   She actually seems like she has a great attitude, and seems like a great person.   I am only commenting on play.

UCLA has really got an interesting problem, with all those Bigs.

[dunninla3]

Jan 6, 2020 15:37:02 GMT -5 @micahlitt said:

I know how you feel about Justine, from previous posts but she and the team has been successful with their formula. Looking at her previous record she was partnered up with Holroyd (11-9)(no longer on the team) and Simmo (6-3) prior to partnering with Sponcil. Going off this, I would say that she needed a "better" partner before playing with Simmo and Sponcil. Maybe that is a partnership that could be re-visited this season. Certain players do step-up/improve their game depending on who their playing with, maybe Justine just needed someone either at her level or someone that could elevate her game?

What would Mac May, need to improve on to make the top 5? I know Monkhouse, has the ability to split but it is surprising that May, lost her position to a transfer that primarily played D in her previous school.

If 6-3 was the best she could do with Simo, there's an issue there.   Or I should say WAS an issue there.  Perhaps playing with Sponcil has improved her game a lot, but it remains to be seen how she hits without those sweet sets she got from Sponcil.

Re Mac May, her serve receive was pretty shaky the past two years, but I noticed this year it had improved Indoor.  Also, in Indoor you can sort of "blend in", do your role, etc. since there are 5 others.  In Beach, both players have to have a killer attitude.   This year Mac May has commented herself that she simply made a decision to elevate her game and take charge.   She hadn't done that her first two years in Beach, or Indoor.   If she carries that same mindset she had in Indoor this year to Beach, I do think she makes the top 5.   Better SR and take charge attitude won't help in transition plays, or in her setting, but it gets her a lot closer to starting.

[uclabrian]

Finally a thread about UCLA for this season, thanks for starting it and for all the great info.

I agree there's a surplus of talent here. Will be interesting to see who Stein pairs with who.

I think Yeomans has to make the lineup, she was super impressive as a fill-in at NCAAs. And I'd bet May does make it as well, as noted she seems to have turned it up a notch this school year.

[burbank55]

I often thought about starting a UCLA Beach thread to guess at lineups, but thought why if the Bruins don’t care enough.

1) Volleyballmag.com article about the Bruins upcoming year didn’t even mention Yeomans once. Steino praised Walters though.
2) My guess at the Bruins lineup:
Van Winkle - Simo
Justine - Sparks
Monkhouse - Muret
May - Monk-Heidrich or Walters
Denaburg - Powers

[dunninla3]

so....

UCLA picks up Jr. Transfer Libero Zoe Fleck from UCSB. She picked UCLA over offers from Nebraska, Texas, and Wisconsin per another thread. Essentially she had her pick of any school other than Stanford.  She had tremendous games at Libero vs. Texas St. and then Texas in the NCAAs and caught Karch's (and everyone else's) attention in the commentary several times.  Player of the match with Ruddins and almost helped UCSB upset Texas.

On her Instagram, she got congrats from Beach players Whitmarsh, Newberry and Powers. That made me wonder if she wants to play Beach as well. Anyone know?  If she does, I suppose that means she needs to start classes right now to be eligible during this current season.

Which also reminds me that Illinois grad transfer OH AA Jacqueline Quade is supposed to join the Beach team.   Anyone know if she is in fact already on campus or at practices?

[newbeach]

Quade has been practicing with the team.

[exit237a]

Thanks for the thread!  Just chiming in to get this on my "Participated" radar : )

[fetchin]

Jan 21, 2020 16:46:44 GMT -5 dunninla3 said:

so....

UCLA picks up Jr. Transfer Libero Zoe Fleck from UCSB. She picked UCLA over offers from Nebraska, Texas, and Wisconsin per another thread. Essentially she had her pick of any school other than Stanford.  She had tremendous games at Libero vs. Texas St. and then Texas in the NCAAs and caught Karch's (and everyone else's) attention in the commentary several times.  Player of the match with Ruddins and almost helped UCSB upset Texas.

On her Instagram, she got congrats from Beach players Whitmarsh, Newberry and Powers. That made me wonder if she wants to play Beach as well. Anyone know?  If she does, I suppose that means she needs to start classes right now to be eligible during this current season.

Which also reminds me that Illinois grad transfer OH AA Jacqueline Quade is supposed to join the Beach team.   Anyone know if she is in fact already on campus or at practices?

Fleck is like 5’5 with not much beach experience she won’t help there.