Mertz, McHugh Named AVCA Collegiate Beach All-Americans
May 17, 2018 | Women's Beach Volleyball
AVCA's Release
NEW ORLEANS - Tulane beach volleyball's senior Madeline Mertz and sophomore Kaylie McHugh were named Collegiate Beach All-Americans by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), the organization announced today.
"This is such a special honor for Maddy and Kaylie, who are now our program's first All-Americans," head coach Wayne Holly said. "I'm incredibly proud of them. They had an exceptional season for us and did so because they thrived on high-level competition and embraced being challenged in their training. Maddy has grown tremendously in her four years here as a leader and player, and Kaylie is among the most creative, strongest-minded competitor I have ever coached. As a pair, they had a dominant season for us, and I'm grateful they wore our uniform together."
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Our All-Americans. @madmadmertz & @KaylieMchugh #RollWave ?????? pic.twitter.com/NzQaqgUVYY
— Tulane Beach VB (@GreenWaveBeach) May 17, 2018
Mertz and McHugh, who played as Tulane's No. 1 duo throughout the 2018 season, finished the year with a 32-9 record, setting a new program record for most wins in a single season. The duo had 11 victories against ranked opponents in the regular season, and they dominated for much of the year, with 24 of their 30 wins coming in straight sets.
The pair was selected to compete at the Bridgestone USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships in Hermosa Beach, California, on May 10-12, where they won twice at the pairs tournament before ending their season.
Mertz and McHugh become the first players in Tulane beach volleyball's history to be named All-Americans. The Green Wave's top duo was previously named to the 2018 CCSA Beach Volleyball All-Conference Team in a unanimous selection, earned the conference's Pair of the Week honors once during the regular season and was tabbed as 2018 AVCA Top Flight Award Winners.
Mertz and McHugh were also named to the CCSAÂ All-Tournament Team at the 2018 CCSAÂ Championship after going 3-1 with a win over No. 9 FIU's top pair.
Individually, Mertz earned her 104th career win in Hermosa Beach, becoming the program's all-time winningest athlete. She holds the record for the most career wins in school history and is just the second athlete in the program's history (Tea Juric - 103 wins) to achieve the feat.
The 2018 selections were made by the AVCA Beach Volleyball All-America Committee: chairperson Beth Van Fleet (Georgia State), Kristen Rohr (Grand Canyon), Wayne Holly (Tulane), Capri Grotowski (FAU), Jeff Hall (Hawai'i), Anna Collier (Southern California).
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2018 AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH ALL-AMERICANS
| Name | University |
| Torrey Van Winden | Cal Poly |
| Tia Miric | Cal Poly |
| Federica Frasca | FIU |
| Margherita Bianchin | FIU |
| Victoria Paranagua | FSU |
| Vanessa Freire | FSU |
| Claire Coppola | LSU |
| Kristen Nuss | LSU |
| Madeline Mertz | Tulane |
| Kaylie McHugh | Tulane |
| Megan McNamara | UCLA |
| Nicole McNamara | UCLA |
| Emily Maglio | Hawaii |
| Ka'iwi Schucht | Hawaii |
| Abril Bustamante | USC |
| Tina Graudina | USC |
HONORABLE MENTIONÂ
| Name | University |
| Lily Justine | UCLA |
| Sarah Sponcil | UCLA |
| Deahna Kraft | Pepperdine |
| Corinne Quiggle | Pepperdine |
| Nele Barber  | LBSU |
| Molly Turner | GCU |
