MORAGA, Calif. — With an expanding beach volleyball roster for the upcoming school year, Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball has announced the addition of four new beach recruits. These four continue a strong recruiting class for the beach volleyball program, which has grown to its largest size in program history.
 
Aria Barker is the third MiraCosta Spartan to head to Saint Mary's for the 2022-23 school year, joining Cameron Martinez and Paola Peralta. Barker played both indoor and beach for the Spartans, helping MiraCosta earn a number-six seed in the CCCAA State Playoffs for beach, and second-place overall in the conference. Barker led the indoor squad with a .311 hitting percentage and was third on the team with 129 kills, while racking up a total of 40 blocks during her freshman season. She prepped at Mission Vista High School and was part of MiraCosta's Associate Student Government.
 
Hannah Couch stays on the West Coast after her high school days at Auburn Riverside in Washington, where she was a standout on the indoor team for four seasons. She did a little bit of everything as a senior, totaling a .380 hitting percentage, 35 aces, and 179 digs en route to First Team All-State honors at the libero position. She was named All-League First Team three times in her career, including as a senior when she won the Defensive Player of the Year award. She helped lead Auburn Riverside to four NPSL championships in four seasons.
 
Daniella Kensinger heads north to Moraga after graduating from Venice High School in the Los Angeles area. The 5'9" incoming freshman racked up the stats as a senior, where she posted 327 kills, 244 digs, 64 aces and 30 blocks for Venice. She was named the Player of the Year for CIF-LA and the Western League during the 2021 season, part of several high school honors. She was named First Team All-Western League twice, and added another First Team All-CIF-LA to her resume in 2020. She was heavily recruited coming out of SoCal, with three Pac-12 schools and Pepperdine among some of the notable colleges she received interest from.
 
Angie Bour graduated from Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, Arizona and heads west to play beach for the Gaels. She enjoyed great success during her last two years of indoor volleyball, particularly on the defensive side, where she recorded 545 digs and 67 aces as a senior. This led the captain of the team to be named the All-Region Defensive Player of the Year, as well as conference Defensive Player of the Year. She was also a standout on the beach courts as well for Corona del Sol, named All-Section First Team for beach as a senior.
 
"Hannah, Daniella, Aria and Angie are outstanding additions to our SMCVB family. They are great athletes and have pushed themselves to an elite level on the beach and will contribute to our team's success," head coach Rob Browning said. "One of the many things we love about these four, and the other wonderful student-athletes joining our beach roster this fall, is that they are hungry to work hard and get better. They know this is not their destination, this is the beginning of the next phase of their athletic career and there's a journey ahead of them that begins when they step on campus in September."
 
Stay tuned to SMCGaels.com for news about the upcoming beach volleyball season, including the 2022-23 schedule release.