By Robert Cook
Staff Writer
Mira Costa High School held its first beach volleyball hall of fame ceremony on June 7 at the Manhattan Beach Pier. During the ceremony Mira Costa alumni were recognized for their achievements in women’s beach volleyball, and the winner was chosen to be the first inductee of the MCHS Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame.
According the Costa varsity Beach Volleyball Coach Eric Fonoimoana, players were nominated based on their accomplishments in both the classroom and on the volleyball court, then voted for online by the community.
“I am a proud Mira costa graduate and honored to be nominated for the Mira Costa High Beach volleyball hall of fame,” nominee Holly McPeak said. “Beach volleyball was my passion and I was able to compete in three Olympic Games, so I hope I can help inspire the players of the future.”
McPeak, Barbra Fontana, and Nina Matthies were nominated for the Mira Costa Women’s Hall of Fame award; Matthies won the award. The newly created hall of fame was created to honor Costa’s legends in beach volleyball who inspire and paved a path for others in beach volleyball.
“The hall of fame was ultimately created to motivate the girls and recognize the women who have paved the way to beach volleyball opportunities such as NCAA Scholarships, Olympics and professional tours,” Fonoimoana said.
Nina Matthies, an indoor and beach volleyball star, has been playing volleyball for almost her entire life. Matthies was captain on her UCLA team, and has won 43 beach volleyball tournaments earning her just over $100,000. Matthies has had a dominant career in beach volleyball and believes every Costa student in beach volleyball has the potential to succeed in their sport.
“Everyone on this beach team has the potential to succeed in this sport through college levels and even professionally,” Matthies said.
After receiving the award, Matthies gave a speech concerning her profession in beach volleyball and also her love for the sport. Matthies thanked the community and talked about what a honor it was to receive the award.
“The new hall of fame inspires us young players to try and achieve great things through beach volleyball and also recognizes the greatness in these athletes that win the award,” freshman beach volleyball player PJ Sundeen said.
During the event, event organizer Bill Inman gave a speech about each of the candidate’s successes through beach volleyball. Matthies received 500 votes and gave a speech recognizing her fellow candidates, the community, and the Costa volleyball players.
“As competitive as all three are, they are all absolutely worthy of being on this trophy and they already have their names on a multitude of other trophies and medals that are well beyond belief,” Inman said.
After Matthies gave her winner inductee speech, the event changed pace towards recognizing the success of the Mira Costa women’s beach volleyball team. Fonoimoana talked about the the beach team’s massive amount of achievements and how he is looking forward to another dominant Costa season next year.
“The Mira Costa Volleyball team is consistently so dominant because of the skilled and determined players, the coaching staff, and most of all because our booster support,” said Fonoimoana.
Leave a Reply