Tulane Beach Volleyball Welcomes Seven Newcomers
Aug 26, 2022 | Women's Beach Volleyball
NEW ORLEANS - As classes get underway in Uptown, Tulane University Beach Volleyball Head Coach Eyal Zimet has announced the addition of seven players ahead of the upcoming 2022-23 campaign.
The Green Wave welcome in five freshmen and a pair of graduate transfers to the program to begin the fall season.
"We are extremely excited to have this unique group of intelligent, competitive, and hard-working young ladies join our Tulane Beach Volleyball family. They are passionate about beach volleyball as much as we are. This class will add even more depth and will intensify the competition on the sand as we continue to build on our strong team academics and culture. With a healthy blend of youthful drive and eagerness to learn from Simone Gibson, Molly Trodd, Alex Hennessey, Kenzie Cutler, and Sam O'Connor, along with the maturity and experience of Mollie Ebertin and Abby Jackson, we can't wait to get after it together this season! Roll Wave!!"Head Coach Eyal Zimet
McKenzie Cutler
CLASS: Freshman
HOMETOWN: Grapevine, Texas
High School: Lettered in beach volleyball, indoor volleyball and track and field at Southlake Carroll… Won the BVCA Nationals Club Championship in 2022… Finished fifth at the Open Nationals BVCA Club v Club in July 2022… Posted a fourth-place finish in the Open BVCA Club Challenge in April 2022… Finished second in the Open BVCA Clearwater Club Challenge in January 2022… Placed ninth at the Clearwater Bevolley Showcase in January 2022… Came in ninth place in the AAU JO Game in 2019… Made three playoff appearances with the indoor volleyball team… Earned AVCA All-Region Team, Team Offensive Player of the Year and Academic All-State and served as Varsity Captain as a senior in 2021-22…Named Team Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Second Team All-District and Academic All-District as a junior in 2020-21… Garnered All-District Honorable Mention and Academic All-District as a sophomore in 2019-20… Ran the 100M hurdles, the 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay and 300M hurdles in 2018… Qualified for the Texas 6A State Regionals in the 100M hurdles.
Personal: Daughter of Shari and Paul Cutler… Has one older sister Emily… Mother, Shari, was on the swim team at UCLA and father, Paul, was on the swim team at UBC… Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southlake Carroll… Won the Girl Scout Gold, Silver and Bronze awards… Plans to major in Business/Finance.
Simone Gibson
CLASS: Freshman
HOMETOWN: Manhattan Beach, California
High School: Played beach volleyball at Mira Costa High School her sophomore through senior years after spending one year at La Jolla High School… Won the State Championship in beach volleyball at Mira Costa under head coach Nancy Mason.
Personal: Daughter of Marnell and Bill Gibson… Has one sister, Haley… Her sister Haley played beach volleyball at Tulane from 2018-22… Plans to major in Engineering Physics.
Alexandra Hennessey
CLASS: Freshman
HOMETOWN: Jacksonville Beach, Florida
High School: Four-year letterwinner in indoor volleyball and lettered one year in beach volleyball at Duncan U. Fletcher High School… Posted a personal record of 12-1 and helped her team win the district championship and finish runner-up in regionals in beach volleyball… Part of the P1440 Fab 50 program - top 50 beach volleyball girls in the country… Finished fifth in the AVP East Coast Nationals and the USAV Nationals in 2021… Placed second in the BVCA Showcase… Won gold representing the United States for beach volleyball at the 21st Maccabi games in Israel… 2022 MVP of indoor volleyball and the inaugural year of beach volleyball… Four-time district champion and three-time gateway champion in indoor volleyball… Three-time Gateway Conference Athlete of the Year for indoor volleyball… All-County Volleyball Athlete four times… Named 2021 Offensive Player of the Year for indoor volleyball.
Personal: Daughter of Dawn and Mark Hennessey… Has an older sister, Maggie, and a younger brother, Jack… Member of the American Sign Language Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Beaches Go Green Club… Plans to major in Neuroscience.
Sam O'Connor
CLASS: Freshman
HOMETOWN: Bellevue, Washington
High School: Two-year letterwinner in volleyball at Lakeside School… Qualified for the state championship as a freshman and sophomore… Went 10-0 in league play and finished second in the state tournament her freshman year… Earned All-Metro League honors following her freshman and sophomore seasons… Stopped playing high school volleyball following her sophomore year to pursue beach volleyball.
Personal: Daughter of Catherine Claeys and Mark O'Connor… Has one sister Claire O'Connor…Father, Mark, played basketball and football at the University of Puget Sound… Plans to major in Political Economy and minor in Spanish.
Molly Trodd
POSITION: Infielder
CLASS: Freshman
HOMETOWN: London, England
High School: Lettered in beach volleyball and indoor volleyball at Mira Costa High School… Played as the one seed in beach volleyball for head coach Nancy Reynolds… Went undefeated to win the CIF and League Championships her senior year… Earned All-District Most Valuable Pair following her senior season… Won gold at the 2019 ISF World Championships in Sicily, Italy… Played for head coach Cam Green as a defensive specialist and libero for the indoor volleyball team… Served as the varsity team captain for both beach and indoor volleyball as a senior.
Personal: Daughter of Laura and Ben Trodd… Has one older sister, Ella Trodd, and one younger brother, Josh Trodd… Graduated Summa Cum Laude and earned Honor Roll all four year at Mira Costa High School… Plans to major in Business/Psychology.
Molly Ebertin
CLASS: Graduate Student
HOMETOWN: Saratoga, California
Prior to Tulane: Played four season seasons at the University of Southern California…Helped lead the Women of Troy to the 2022 NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship… Went 25-6 during the quest for the 2022 NCAA National Championship playing with three different partners…Finished her career at USC with an overall record of 49-29… Went 5-3 overall as a junior during the 2021 campaign… Posted a 5-4 overall record as a sophomore in a season shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic… Earned Pac-13 All-Freshman Team selection in 2019 after going 14-16 overall playing with two different partners.
High School: Four-year letterwinner in volleyball at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California.… All-West Catholic Athletic League First Team as a senior and All-WCAL Second Team as a junior… Named to Cal-Hi Sports Second Team All-State as a senior… 2018 Saint Francis Outstanding Senior Athlete award… Graduated maxima cum laude with honors… Played two years for Santa Cruz Beach Volleyball Club… 2018 BVCA National Champion with partner Maggie Walters… Member of the USAV Beach High Performance A2 program… Competed in the 2017 and 2018 USAV Beach High Performance National Championships… Second place at 2018 San Francisco AVP First event.
Personal: Daughter of Amy and Chuck Ebertin… Has three brothers Matthew, Kyle, and Jack… Her father played football at USC.
Abby Jackson
CLASS: Graduate Student
HOMETOWN: Flower Mound, Texas
Prior to Tulane: Played three seasons at Florida Atlantic University…Tied the school record in career flight 5 wins… Recorded 21 kills and 17 digs against No. 8 Stanford to clinch the match for FAU on court 5 with Mica Allison, 21-15, 14-21, 15-12, after playing as a duo for the first time ever… Tallied 12 kills and eight digs against eventual National Champion No. 1 USC, as well as 13 kills and 14 digs versus No. 5 LMU in the NCAA Championship Elite 8… Finished eighth at the 2022 NCAA Championship… Helped the Owls win the CCSA Conference Championship in 2021… Transferred to FAU after playing one season at Missouri State… In her lone season with the Bears she won 10 matches playing with four different partners.
High School: Earned multiple bids to Rox, AAU and BVCA national tournaments with her 692 Beach Texas club… Indoors, played outside hitter, right side and libero during her career at Flower Mound High.
Personal: Daughter of Julie and Joey Jackson… Has a twin sister Anna and a younger sister Audrey… Abby comes from a family of athletes - her mother played indoor volleyball at Wichita State, her father played baseball at Wichita State and in Minor League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and her twin sister Anna plays basketball at the University of Denver… Graduated with Magna Cum Laude Honors in 2022 from Florida Atlantic University… Plans to get her Masters of Science in Sport Studies.
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