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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 2022 season, as determined by a polling of the Conference coaches. UCLA’s Jessie Smith was voted the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
Smith posted an impressive debut season with a 27-11 overall individual record. The freshman shared three different partners across three courts, eventually landing with senior Lea Monkhouse at the No. 3 spot for the final half of the season. Teamed with Monkhouse, the pair compiled a 14-4 record including a 7-2 mark in the postseason, highlighted by an unblemished 4-0 record (with one unfinished dual) in helping the Bruins to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championship and earning themselves a place on the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Smith is the second Freshman of the Year recipient from UCLA, joining inaugural winner Megan McNamara in 2016.
Three Bruins, sophomores Devon Newberry and Lexy Denaburg and junior Abby Van Winkle were named First Team All-Pac-12. It marked the second straight year that Denaburg and Newberry landed on the First Team. It marked the second straight year Van Winkle earned All-Pac-12 honors after being named to the Second Team in 2021. Van Winkle and Denaburg played the majority of the season together going 26-10 on court one. Newberry spent the majority of the season with Jaden Whitmarsh and the duo went a combined 28-7 on the year on courts two and three.
Senior Lea Monkhouse was named Second Team All-Pac-12 for the second straight season. She had three partners in her final season as a Bruin, going a combined 29-12 on the top three courts at UCLA in 2022.
The Bruins had three players named to the five-person All-Freshman Team, which included Smith, Natalie Myszkowski and Sophie Moore. Moore and Myszkowski played the entire season together and went a combined 28-7 on courts three through five.
2022 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Postseason Honors
Pac-12 Pair of the Year: Tina Graudina and Hailey Harward, USC
Pac-12 Player of the Year: Tina Graudina, USC
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Jessie Smith, UCLA
Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Dain Blanton, USC
2022 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball All-Conference Teams
First Team
| Name | School | Year |
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