SAN BRUNO, Calif. — All-Academic recognition from the West Coast Conference always carries a special meaning, and in a lot of ways, perhaps even more to beach volleyballers at Saint Mary's College. Nearly the entire roster also competes during the indoor season, making their athletic year nonstop, just like their academic calendar. This makes it more impressive that a total of eight Gaels was announced on the 2020 WCC All-Academic Team, with Sienna Young leading the way on the First Team.
 
In order to qualify for All-Academic WCC honors, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and hold at least a sophomore standing.
 
In a shortened season that only saw the Gaels compete in eight matches, Young went 4-4 on the year with her teammate Jasmin Suarez. Their statement victory came on February 29, when the Gaels took on No. 5 Hawaii in a neutral site contest hosted by Stanford, and the two swept their foes from the Aloha State. This award comes after Young also was named to the 2019 WCC All-Academic First Team during the indoor season, sweeping the awards during her senior season. Young finishes her time at Saint Mary's with a 3.75 grade point average, and a degree in business administration.
 
Saint Mary's finished second among the seven schools in the conference with seven others who were named honorable mention selections to the All-Academic team. Selbie Christensen (3.73, Economics), Chandler Cowell (3.55, Communications), Kelsey Knudsen (3.90, Business Administration), Jennifer "Boo" Laird (Psychology/Business Administration), Abigail "Abby" Matoso, Aubrey Pitts (3.59, Allied Health Science), and Aeriel Sundt (3.69, Business Administration) all found themselves on the list.
 
The entire list of 2020 WCC Beach Volleyball All-Academic selections can be found below.
 

Name	School	Class	GPA	Major
Claire Danna	Pacific	Sr.	3.80	Speech Language Pathology
Hannah Frohling	Pepperdine	Sr.	3.95	Sports Medicine
Peyton Lewis	Pepperdine	So.	4.00	Economics
Jessie Prichard**	LMU	Sr.	3.84	Communication Studies
Simone Priebe	Pepperdine	So.	3.94	Hispanic Studies
Liz Reich	Portland	Jr.	3.82	Biology
Megan Rice	LMU	Jr.	3.83	Marketing
Michelle Shaffer	Santa Clara	So.	3.72	Accounting
Savannah Slattery	LMU	Sr.	3.40	Marketing
Sienna Young	Saint Mary's	Sr.	3.75	Business Administration

 
WCC BEACH VOLLEYBALL ALL-ACADEMIC HONORABLE MENTION
LMU: Sydnie Herrmann, Reka Orsi-Toth, Savannah Slattery
PACIFIC: Lucy Carpenter, Alexis Keith, Gabby Leo, Riley Ramsey, Sharzad Sadeghi, Kaelyn Saler, Kristy Siridakis, Jenny Todd, Jadyn Tubbs
PEPPERDINE: Brook Bauer, Jordan Ferrari, Alexis Filippone, Katie Gavin, Savana Greene, Michaela Kasper, Melanie Paul
PORTLAND: Claire Forrest, Kellie Hughes, Kassidy Naone, Sarah Strong
SAINT MARY'S: Selbie Christensen, Chandler Cowell, Kelsey Knudsen, Jennifer "Boo" Laird, Abigail "Abby" Matoso, Aubrey Pitts, Aeriel Sundt
SAN FRANCISCO: Shannon Levinson, Katie Wagstaff, Emily Zinger
SANTA CLARA: Alex Anthony, Kathryn Decker, Kathryn LeBaron, Gretchen Reinert, Natalia Rentsch