METZGER Crosstown Rival No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COACHING STAFF STEIN record (.890) in the last three seasons. In 2017, the Bruins picked up a lot of fi rsts, but none were larger than knocking off METZGER crosstown rival No. 1 USC in the semifi nals of the Pac-12 Championship. UCLA also posted its fi rst-ever win over then-No. 2 Florida State, 3-2, in the fi nal game of the Head Coach Inaugural East Meets West Challenge, hosted by UCLA at legendary Manhattan Beach Pier in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Along the way, UCLA fi nished with a then-school-record 8th Season at UCLA 30 wins compared to just six defeats and won a then-school-record 24 consecutive 147-41 (.782) duals, fi nishing second at the Pac-12 Championship. UCLA ‘96 In 2016, the Bruins fi nished third at the inaugural NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores, Ala. UCLA ended the season with a 22-8 overall record, including going 3-2 at NCAA’s, defeating 8th-seeded Stetson (3-2), 3rd-seeded Pepperdine (3-2) and 5th-seeded Hawai’i (3-0). The Bruins fell in the elimination bracket to No. 1 Florida Stein Metzger, the 2017 and 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and the 2017 and 2018 State (3-1). USMC/AVCA National Coach of the Year, enters his eighth season as the UCLA Beach Beach volleyball saw several changes in 2015, when UCLA announced that Coach Metzger Volleyball Head Coach in 2020 after guiding UCLA to back-to-back NCAA Championships would leave his duties as assistant indoor coach to focus solely on beach. In addition, in 2018 (40-4) and in 2019 (35-3). He sports an overall record of 147-41 (.782). the Pac-12 Conference announced during the summer of 2015 that beach volleyball The Bruins’ three losses in 2019 were all to USC by a score of 3-2. But seeded No. would become a Pac-12 sponsored sport effective the 2016 season. Additionally, the 2 for the NCAA Championship after the Trojans won the Pac-12 Championship, UCLA NCAA offi cially sponsored its fi rst national championship in 2016. used it as fuel to the fi re and defeated top-seeded USC in the NCAA title match, 3-0, The Pac-12’s adoption of beach volleyball made it the league’s 23rd sport and the fi rst without dropping a single set. The Bruins had four All-Americans for the fi rst time in school history in 2019 as Megan and Nicole McNamara from court one and Sarah Sponcil and Lily Justine from court two were all honored by the AVCA. Additionally, the THE METZGER FILE McNamara twins became the fi rst tandem in the history of the NCAA to earn fi rst team All-America honors all four years. Coaching Highlights • Guided the women’s beach volleyball team to NCAA Championships in 2018 & 2019 The 40 wins in 2018 were a school and NCAA record for a single season. UCLA also • Led the Bruins to a Pac-12 Tournament titles in 2018 won a school-record 31 consecutive duals during the 2018 campaign and won its • Set UCLA and NCAA all-time record for wins in a season (40) in 2018 fi rst-ever Pac-12 Conference Championship, defeating the defending champions USC • Set UCLA all-time winning streak (31 duals) in 2018 twice on the same day to win the title. The Bruins beat the best all season long with • Named USMC/AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018 33 of their 40 victories coming in wins over nationally-ranked teams and going 5-1 on • Named Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018 the year against the defending NCAA Champions, USC. Additionally, all four losses on • Won his 100th career dual with a 4-1 win over No. 5 Cal Poly (Apr. 7, 2018) the year were to teams ranked in the top four. Metzger won his 100th career dual in • Metzger has also trained U.S., French and Israeli National Beach teams 2018 with a 4-1 win over No. 5 Cal Poly at the Stanford West Coast Classic (Apr. 7). • Metzger has also coached with the USA Volleyball Elite Development Program A U.S. Olympian and UCLA Hall of Famer, Metzger has guided the Bruins to a 105-13 • Metzger was named p1440’s Director of Player and Business Development in 2019 Team USA Highlights • Is one of UCLA’s NCAA-record 14 Olympians to make a NCAA-record 19 appearances in the Olympic Games (10 on the women’s side, nine on the men’s) • Played in one Olympic Games – 2004 (Athens) • Was the top American men’s fi nisher, placing fi fth with his partner, Dax Holdren • Won bronze at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Australia with partner, Kevin Wong UCLA Highlights • Led UCLA to three NCAA titles (1993, 1995, and 1996) • Finished four-year career second all-time in UCLA history in assists (5,158) and sixth in aces (110) • Named AVCA co-Player of the Year in 1996 • Named to NCAA All-Tournament Team in 1995 and 1996 • Named AVCA 1st team All-American and Asics 2nd team All-American in 1995 • Named 1st team All-American by Asics and AVCA in 1996 • A three-time All-Conference player, named MPSF Player of the Year in 1996 • Inducted into UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 • Graduated from UCLA in 1996 with a degree in environmental studies Professional/International Competition Highlights • 2012 played his fi nal AVP Tour events (career spanned 17 years) • 2006 was the top-ranked player in the AVP • 2006 reached semifi nals in the fi rst 14 AVP events, winning fi ve times (Mike Lambert) • 2006 was third in kills per game (7.54) and ninth in digs per game (4.24) • 2005 AVP Team of the Year (Jake Gibb) capturing four event titles • 2005 was the top-ranked player in the AVP • 2005 led the AVP in digs (950), 2nd in hitting (.452) and 3rd in kills (1,314) • 2003 FIVB World Championships won silver in Rio de Janeiro (Dax Holdren) • 2001 won two AVP titles, including Manhattan Beach (Kevin Wong) • 1996 Made pro beach volleyball debut in a Manhattan Beach qualifi er with Mike Diehl • Captured a total of 18 titles (16 AVP, 2 FIVB) UCLA Head Coach Stein Metzger checks in with Izzy Carey during the 2019 NCAA Championship. 5 COACHING STAFF major conference to sponsor beach volleyball. Eight member institutions currently sponsor Following his days in Westwood, Metzger competed professionally on the AVP Tour, beach volleyball, well above the conference threshold of six. In a related decision, beach winning 16 times with partners Kevin Wong (two times), Jake Gibb (four), Mike Lambert volleyball had a Pac-12 Championship beginning in the spring of 2016. (nine) and Mark Williams (one). Metzger was twice a part of the AVP Team of the Year with Gibb (‘05) and Lambert (‘06), ranking as the Tour’s top player both seasons. He Metzger completed his third season with the UCLA women’s indoor volleyball staff in earned the Crocs Cup title in 2006. 2014, his second as an assistant coach, while serving as a volunteer coach in 2012. In 2004, Metzger earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball team, fi nishing in Metzger has guided UCLA Beach Volleyball since its inaugural season in the spring of fi fth with partner Dax Holdren. A year prior, the duo won the silver medal at the 2003 2013. The Bruins have been ranked in the Top 10 throughout each of their fi rst seven Beach Volleyball World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Metzger also has two campaigns. Debuting the sand team competitively just two months after the sport international titles to his credit with Wong in 2001 and ‘02, as well as a Bronze medal was added to UCLA’s athletic program, Metzger guided Kelly Reeves to the program’s at the ‘01 Goodwill Games. fi rst sand All-America award in 2013, while two pairs (Reeves and Meg Norton and Zoë Nightingale and Becca Strehlow) each made the AVCA National Championships. In addition to his collegiate coaching accolades, Metzger has trained U.S., French and Israeli National Beach teams. He has also coached with the USA Volleyball Elite Over the fi rst three seasons of Bruin sand volleyball, Metzger, who is one of UCLA’s Development Program. NCAA-record 13 Beach Volleyball Olympians, led the program to 20 dual wins (10 in 2015) and coached three sets of pairs’ teams to the AVCA National Championships, A 1996 graduate of UCLA with a degree in environmental studies, Metzger was inducted including Zoë Nightingale and Kamila Tan in 2015. The fast-growing discipline became into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. Metzger and his wife, Emily, live in Redondo an NCAA-sponsored sport in 2016, the fi rst year an NCAA Championship was awarded Beach with their daughter, Quinn, and son, Otto. in beach volleyball. In the fi rst two years, members of the Bruin indoor team populated the beach roster, Metzger’s Career Coaching Record but the 2015 campaign brought the fi rst-ever beach-only players. Year Overall Record Pac-12 NCAA Metzger returned to his alma mater as a coach, having played on the Bruin men’s 2013 3-7 n/a — team from 1993-96 and winning three National Championships. Metzger, who was a 2014 7-8 n/a — teammate of current head coach Michael Sealy on the ‘93 title-winning squad, is second all-time in UCLA history in assists (5,158) and sixth in aces (110).