Bangkok, Thailand, May 9, 2018 - Five days after leading the University of California at Los Angeles to the 2018 collegiate women's beach volleyball championship in the United States, Megan and Nicole McNamara of Canada will make their FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour debut here Thursday at the $10,000 Bangkok Open.
The 20-year old Canadian twins from Delta, British Columbia, will be seeded sixth in the women's Bangkok Open qualifier and will play third-seeded Karoline Frohlich/Viktoria Seeber of Germany with the winner advancing to Friday's pool play rounds in the FIVB World Tour event.
While the Germans were placing ninth last week at the FIVB event in Cambodia, the McNamaras were finishing their junior season at UCLA by winning all four of their NCAA matches to help UCLA to its first-ever NCAA championship in beach volleyball in Gulf Shores. The Pac-12 Pair of the Year, the McNamaras earned All-Tournament Team honours last week for Court 1 and finished the season with a 35-7 record.
Participants in four FIVB Age Category World Championships along with winning the silver medal at the Nanjing 2014 Olympic Games in China, the McNamaras have compiled an 81-28 record in three collegiate seasons at UCLA where the Lady Bruins are coached by American Olympian Stein Metzger.
"They are relentless. They never take a play off. It's like two bodies and one mind," said Metzger, who played in 67 FIVB World Tour events for the United States with two gold medals, 15 podium placements, 17 final four finishes and 27 quarterfinal appearances in an 11-season international career.
"I just love being outside in the sun," Megan was quoted in an article on ESPNW this week. "With our twin connection, it's just fun playing just the two of us, you get more touches. It's just you and your partner. You're in control. You're on your own, kind of."
The McNamaras have compiled a 32-7 match mark while playing in FIVB age category beach volleyball events. The pair placed fifth last July at the Under-21 World Championships in Nanjing. In 2016, the Canadian pair finished third in the Under-21 worlds in Lucerne, Switzerland. Prior to the 2014 youth Olympics, the McNamaras placed 17th at the Under-21 worlds in Cyprus before netting a bronze medal the next week at the Under-19s in Portugal.