Video interview by VBM contributor Rob Espero
LOS ANGELES — Nicole and Megan McNamara had quite a summer.
The 5-foot-9 identical twins, who have held down the top pairing for the Bruins all four years of their college careers, won gold at the Women’s FISU World University Championship in Munich. They also had success on the FIVB world tour, finishing fourth at the FIVB three-star in Chetumal, Mexico, losing in three sets in the bronze-medal match to Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat 21-16, 8-21, 10-15.
The McNamaras and the UCLA beach squad — with nine of 10 returning starters — began their quest to repeat as NCAA beach volleyball champions by beating Cal Poly’s top pair to open the season last week.
“Theyâve really come into their own in terms of maturity and being leaders both on and off the court,” UCLA coach Stein Metzger said. “Theyâve got total buy-in on what it means to be a Bruin, even coming from another country.”
VolleyballMag.com’s Rob Espero visited with the McNamaras — who are from Vancouver, Canada — after UCLA’s 5-0 win over Cal Poly, when they defeated Torrey Van Winden and Emily Sonny 21-16, 24-22. That’s Megan on the left.
