Florida State, UCLA Each Boast Four 2018 AVCA HS Beach All-Americans

If the AVCA list of High School Beach All-Americans is any indication, the future is bright for collegiate powerhouses UCLA and Florida State amongst others.

Each school had four incoming freshmen listed among the expanded list of 16 AVCA Beach All-Americans.

Of the 16 honorees, 10 hail from California and two are from Texas. Second teamer Abbie Hughes from Mason High School in Mason, Ohio, and the Ohio Valley Beach Academy is the only player that calls the Midwest home.

First teamer Charlie Ekstrom, who is bound for Stanford, was the 2018 AAU National Player of the Year.

First teamer Kylin Loker, who signed with Hawaii, is the ninth high school All-American to play for the Rainbow Wahine since the AVCA introduced the awards in 2014. She follows Morgan Martin (2016) and will be the fifth high school All-American on the team’s beach roster this spring. Loker finished ninth among 80 pairs at the AAU Junior Olympics.

Cal Poly’s Jayelin Lombard earned first team honors after finishing fifth out of 60 pairs at the AVPFirst Nationals and 17th among 150 pairs at the BVCA National Championships.

Piper Monk, who is set to join defending champion UCLA, was first at the AVPFirst National Championships, won her second straight IBVL state championship and finished second at the AAU Junior Olympic and AAU National Championships and third at the BVCA National Championships.

Florida State’s Kate Privett boasted a No. 1 ranking at AVPFirst Texas and a No. 3 overall ranking. She finished first at the AAU Junior Olympics, second athte BVCA Nationals and fifth at AAU Nationals.

Lindsey Sparks, Abby Van Winkle and Jaden Whitmarsh, all of whom are heading to UCLA alongside Monk, round out the first team.

Sparks, who is a member of the USA U19 Junior Beach National team, finished first at AVPNext Huntington Beach and second at the NORCECA Youth Olympics qualifier in Cuba. Van Winkle competed at the AVPFirst 18U National Championship and has not finished worse than second in all 15 tournaments she has participated in since last year. For her part, Whitmarsh, who was a 2017 first All-American indoors, finished first at the AAU Pan Pacific Championships and posted top five finishes at the USA Beach HP Championships, U19 World Championship trials and BVCA National Championships.

Among the second team honorees, is Arizona’s Sarah Blacker, who was the CBVA Women’s A Champion at 18U, finished ninth out of 125 pairs at the BVA National Championships and AAU Junior National Championships.

South Carolina’s Abby Carroll became the fourth Gamecock player to be tabbed to the high school beach team, following Carly Schneider and Katie Smith (2016) and Julia Mannisto (2014). Carroll, who was part of the first ever Texas pair to win an AAU National Championship back in 2016, finished third at the AAU Junior Olympics.

Madelyn Delmonte, who is slated to play at Georgia State, claimed six first place finishes in 2018, including the Rox Beach National Championship, and finished third out of 74 pairs at the Beach Fest NBT Beach National Qualifier.

FIU’s Abbie Hughes is familiar with Gulf Shores, Alabama, home of the NCAA Beach Championships, having won back-to-back Beach Fest Gulf Shores Tournaments, while also winning two AVPNext events and finishing second at the USA National Championship.

USC’s Laurel Kujan earned her CBVA AAA rating in 2016 and posted top five finishes at the CBVA Huntington Open and 18U Tour Stop in 2018.

Florida State claims the remaining three members of the second team: Jenna Johnson, Morgan Kuchar and Lexi McKeown. Johnson finished third at the AAU Coquina Beach Super Regional and was the NVL Rize 18U Qualifier champion. Kuchar boasts a third place finish from the 92-pair AAU West Coast Junior Olympic Games. McKeown topped the podium at two AVCAFirst and AAU tournaments and also picked up an IBVL pair championship.

2018 AVCA High School Beach All-America First Team

2018 AVCA High School Beach All-America Second Team