Megan Norma McNamara (born August 1, 1997) is a Canadian

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

player. Along with her

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

, Nicole McNamara, Megan has competed in many beach volleyball events around the world. From the fall of 2015 until the spring of 2019, Megan competed collegiately for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, leading the team to its first Pac-12 and NCAA titles in the sport during the 2018 season, and a second NCAA championship in the 2019 season.

Early life

Megan was born in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough, New Westminster, Queensborough), between the two estuarine dis ...

, and attended high school in

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

, at

South Delta Secondary School South Delta Secondary (SDSS) is a public high school in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada. There are approximately 1,500 students enrolled in each grade 8 through 12 (as of 2019/2020). Graduation rates in the years 2005 to 2010 vary between 9 ...

. Her first notable achievement in international beach volleyball competition was winning the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the 2014

FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships The FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships (previously known as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Youth World Championships) is a double-gender international beach volleyball tournament for athletes under the age of 19. The competition first t ...

. Three weeks later, they won the silver medal at the

2014 Summer Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Youth Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games, an ...

after being defeated in a 3-set-final.

Beach volleyball career

University experience

In 2015, Megan became a member of UCLA Bruins beach volleyball team. She and her sister went 16-12 in dual matches on court one during the 2016 season, leading the team to a 22-8 overall record and third place finishes in both the inaugural

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

tournaments, and fourth-place ranking nationally. During the season, she and Nicole were named Pac-12 Pair of the Week for the week of April 4, to the All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman First Teams, and to the

AVCA The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit corporation, non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is cur ...

Collegiate Beach All-America Team. During the 2017 season, Megan and Nicole improved to 28-7 in dual matches, leading the Bruins to a 30-6 overall record. The team finished runner-up at the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships by a single match, but was defeated in the NCAA tournament in its third match after falling to

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in the Elimination Bracket. During the season, she and Nicole were named Pac-12 Pair of the Week for the weeks of March 14 and April 11. As with her freshman year, Megan earned both All-Pac-12 First Team and AVCA All-American honours. She was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team for beach volleyball following the season for her performance in the classroom her sophomore year. During the 2018 season, Megan and Nicole went 35-7 in dual matches, leading the UCLA Bruins to a 40-4 overall record and to their first Pac-12 and NCAA championships, beating the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

) and Florida State, respectively. Once again, the sisters were honoured as members of the All-Pac-12 First Team, and as All-Americans in the process. Additionally, the McNamara twins were named Pac-12 Pair of the Year in the week following completion of the championship. Following the season, Megan was once again named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team to honour her performance in the classroom for her junior year. During the 2019 season, Megan and Nicole went 32-4 in dual matches, leading the UCLA Bruins to a 35-3 overall record and their second consecutive NCAA championship, beating

in the final match. Additionally, they finished runner-up to USC at the Pac-12 championship. One final time in their collegiate careers, both sisters were honoured as members of the All-Pac-12 First Team and as AVCA Collegiate All-Americans. Additionally, the McNamaras were named Pac-12 and AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week for the week of April 2.

International competition

At the 2016

FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships The FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship is a double-gender international beach volleyball tournament for athletes under the age of 21. The competition first took place in Le Lavandou, France in 2001. Results summary Men's tournament Wo ...

, Megan and Nicole won the bronze medal by coming back from one set down (18-21, 23-21, 15-10) against the United States' Sarah Sponcil and Torrey Van Winden in the third place match. In May 2018, Megan and Nicole competed in their first FIVB World Tour event, the

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

1 star, winning five matches and advancing to the semifinals before eventually finishing in fourth place. In early June 2018, Megan and Nicole won the women's competition at the 2018

Volleyball Canada Volleyball in Canada dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. Today, the sport is played at various levels of competition throughout the country. History Volleyball was invented in the United States in 1895 and made its first appearance in ...

NORCECA The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) is the international governing body for the sports of volleyball in Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean. NORCECA is the continental confederation that r ...

Open Beach Trials in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, earning the top ranking for Canada for subsequent competition in the 2018 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour. Later in the month, they competed in their second FIVB World Tour event, the

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Open 2 star, advancing through the qualifying rounds to pool play, before barely missing out on the quarterfinal round due to point differentials. Megan and Nicole then competed at the Die Techniker Beach Tour event in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, earning a fifth place finish after a three-set loss to the tournament's fourth place finisher. In mid-July 2018, the McNamaras competed at that year's

FISU The International University Sports Federation (FISU; ) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of ...

World University Beach Volleyball Championship in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, winning the gold medal in the championship with a three set win against Spain. Later in July, she and Megan also competed at FIVB 3 star tour events in both

Haiyang Haiyang (), is a coastal city in the Shandong province in eastern China, located on the Yellow Sea (southern) coast of the Shandong Peninsula. Its name translates directly to "ocean" (海) and "sun" (阳) in Mandarin. It is a county-level city ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. In mid-August, she and her sister won the Canadian championship at the 2018 Senior Beach Nationals in Toronto, winning seven total matches including a three-set win over the team of Gordon and Bukovec in the final. As a result of winning the Canadian NORCECA Open Beach Trials in June, Megan and Nicole qualified to compete in NORCECA beach volleyball tour events later in the year. Competing at the

Punta Cana Punta Cana is a resort town in the easternmost region of the Dominican Republic. It was politically incorporated as the "Verón–Punta Cana township" in 2006, and it is subject to the municipality of Higüey (La Altagracia Province). According ...

(

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

) tour stop in late September, they placed second to the American team of Falyn Fonoimoana and Molly Turner.

Accolades

* Champion, 2018 Senior Beach Nationals (Canada) * Champion, 2018 WUC Beach Volleyball (representing

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) * 2x NCAA Champion, Beach Volleyball (2018 & 2019, representing UCLA) * 4x AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball All-American (2016-2019) * 2018 VolleyMob All-American, Beach Volleyball * 2018 Pac-12 Pair of the Year (with Nicole McNamara) * 4x First-team All-

(2016-2019) * First-team Pac-12 All-Academic (2018, 2017) * 2016 Pac-12 All-Freshman First Team * 5x Pac-12 Pair of the Week (with Nicole McNamara, 2016-2019) * 2019 AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week (with Nicole McNamara, for April 2) * Bronze Medalist, Beach Volleyball, 2016 FIVB U21 World Championships * Silver Medalist, Beach Volleyball, 2014 Summer Youth Olympics * Bronze Medalist, Beach Volleyball, 2014 FIVB U19 World Championships

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Megan Living people 1997 births Canadian women's beach volleyball players UCLA Bruins women's beach volleyball players Beach volleyball players at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Sportspeople from Richmond, British Columbia Canadian twins Youth Olympic silver medalists for Canada 21st-century Canadian sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen