Beach volleyball to test lineup, face ranked opponents in season-opening tournament

This post was updated Feb. 26 at 1:51 p.m.

Abby Van Winkle said she remembers how the Bruins reacted after learning about Lindsey Sparks’ season-ending injury.

“We were devastated,” Van Winkle said. “But we knew that we would have to fill other spots.”

Sparks, who paired up with Van Winkle as then-sophomores for the 2021 postseason, sustained injuries to her patella and MCL last summer – forcing her to watch from the sidelines for at least a year.

No. 2 UCLA beach volleyball will begin the 2022 campaign this weekend without Sparks, a mainstay in the lineup last year, at the Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Honolulu. The blue and gold will match up against No. 7 Stanford and Saint Mary’s on Friday before facing tournament host No. 10 Hawai’i on Saturday.

The absence of Sparks won’t be the only change to the Bruins’ lineup this season, according to coach Stein Metzger.

“Our freshman class is playing exceptionally well,” Metzger said. “They’re learning very quickly. They have assimilated and understand our system, and that happened in a very short time.”

Of the six true freshmen on the roster, four of them will take the court in Hawaii, including Sophie Moore, Jessie Smith, Natalie Myszkowski and Katie Hashman. Together with freshman Madeline Bonanni, the quintet represents all five 2021 AVCA Junior Beach All-Americans on UCLA’s roster – the most of any program in the country.

Redshirt junior Pani Napoleon and graduate student Marlie Monserez, transfer students from Hawaii’s beach program and Florida’s indoor volleyball team, respectively, are the last new faces for UCLA, a team that lost four starters from its 2021 national championship final run.

Monserez, a two-time AVCA All-American, spent four years with the Gators at the setter position en route to tallying 3,680 assists – good for fifth in Florida’s history.

In addition to Monserez’s skills on the court, sophomore Lexy Denaburg said the graduate student’s charisma is also making an impact.

“She’s such a good volleyball player, but her personality adds so much to the team,” Denaburg said. “She brings so much joy and so much positive energy to us, and she’s really going to contribute for us this year.”

For the third year in a row, Denaburg will play with a new partner after taking the court with Sparks in 2020 and the now-graduated Savvy Simo in 2021.

While the Bruins’ roster features many new faces, the weekend’s tournament will mark a familiar sight for the team.

For the fourth time in five seasons, UCLA will begin its road schedule in Hawaii. The Bruins will also face the Cardinal to start the season for the second year in a row.

In addition to the two ranked opponents on the docket, Metzger said the tournament conditions in Hawaii provide the perfect training ground for the NCAA tournament in Gulf Shores, Alabama in May.

“I really like to go to Hawaii on an annual basis because they have trade winds,” Metzger said. “Learning the wind game is really important.”