Metzger Named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Boyd Freshman of the Year

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SAN FRANCISCO — The Pac-12 Conference announced today the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball postseason honors and All-Conference teams for the 2023 season, as determined by a polling of the Conference coaches. UCLA’s Maggie Boyd was voted the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year while UCLA Head Coach Stein Metzger was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

Competing exclusively on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts, Boyd enjoyed an impressive debut season with a 23-6 overall individual record. The freshman teamed up with senior Lexy Denaburg to hold down the No. 1 court for the majority of the season, going 17-6 as the Bruins’ top tandem. All totaled, the pair of Boyd and Denaburg completed the regular season with a 20-6 record and collected a Pac-12 Pair of the Week honor (March 14). Boyd is the third Freshman of the Year recipient from UCLA, joining last year’s winner Jessie Smith and inaugural recipient Megan McNamara in 2016. Boyd was also named to the First Team All-Pac-12 and the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.

In his 11th year at the helm, Metzger earns his third Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor (2017, 2018, 2023), the only coach to earn the award more than once since its origin in 2016. After opening the preseason at No. 1, Metzger guided the Bruins back to the top of the AVCA poll in Week 8 before going on to their third Pac-12 Championship and the No. 1 overall seed for the 2023 NCAA Championship with the nation’s most wins (37-3). He will now seek to lead UCLA to its third NCAA title (2018, 2019). 

The coaches also voted on the All-Pac-12 and All-Freshman Teams, which are listed below. The All-Pac-12 Team is comprised of 10 student-athletes on the First Team and 10 on the Second Team. Five student-athletes are also named to the All-Freshman Team.

Three Bruins, graduate student Abby Van Winkle, senior Lexy Denaburg, and junior Peri Brennan were named First Team All-Pac-12. It marked the third straight year that Denaburg landed on the First Team. It marked the third straight year Van Winkle earned All-Pac-12 honors after being named to the Second Team in 2021 and the First Team in 2022. It is the first postseason honors for Brennan.

2023 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Postseason Honors

Pac-12 Pair of the Year: Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple, USC

Pac-12…