The OUAZ Beach Volleyball team had amazing success in 2024, putting together a season that saw the team sit at the top of the Coaches' Poll for multiple weeks and make it to the NAIA National Invitational Final. The great team success led to great individual players whose hard work allowed the Spirit to have an excellent season.
"There are no words to express how proud I am of this team," Head Coach Haleigh Carvalho said. "The grit, determination and hard work they all put in this season is awe-inspiring."
In the regular season, the Spirit dominated many conference weekends. No regular season weekend was more important than the four duals at The Master's, where OUAZ went 4-0 and clinched the GSAC Regular Season Championship.
After a great run in the GSAC Tournament, where the Spirit made an appearance in the Final, the NAIA National Invitational allowed the program to show off its talent to everyone. OUAZ was perfect through pool play and made it to the Final, gritting out 3-2 victories in four of its five dual victories.
"For this team to go from not winning a dual at Nationals the previous year, returning the majority of the players, and making the run to the Final this year is a true testament to how this team got to work every day and grew as players, teammates, and competitors," Haleigh Carvalho said. "I am so thankful to be surround by the best staff in the world and all the work they put in to make the program as successful as possible. This amazing season does not happen without all of the support from the training room, the weight room, administration, and for the tireless hours the other coaches put in."
With the National Runner-Up finish, the Spirit had many of its players earn recognitions. The ones pair all season long for OUAZ ended the year with a lot of hardware, as Summer Hanks and Diana Enriquez earned awards two different organizations.
The two were named NAIA Pair of the Year after dominating through most of the National Invitational. Their efforts all season long led them to be named to the AVCA All-American Team.
The NAIA also recognized two teams of All-Americans, and the Spirit had a pair on each squad. The twos pair of Mattea Wilson and Oliva Andersh were named to the First Team, and the threes pair of Grace Hughes and Amanda Carlson were named to the Second Team.
There were plenty of honors celebrated at the NAIA National Invitational as well. After sweeping through pool play and reaching the Final, Hanks, Enriquez, Wilson and Andersh were named through the All-Tournament team.
The celebrations came on and off the sand during the National Invitational week for OUAZ. The night prior to the first round of Pool Play, Sam Baer earned the NAIA Champions of Character award. With the team victory in pool play the next afternoon, Haleigh Carvalho earned the 100th win as the head coach of the OUAZ program.
"We are extraordinarily proud of our team and what they overcame this season in order to be successful," Associate Head Coach Bryan Carvalho said. "These girls kept moving forward and continued to learn despite very difficult challenges both individually and as a group. It is truly an honor to have six All-Americans and the Pair of the Year on one team. A huge shout out to our Head Coach Haleigh for her leadership and vision. A shout out to Assistant Coach Viri Serrano for her knowledge and commitment to helping us get better. A big thanks to our Director of Sports Medicine Joe Toenjes and Strength and Conditioning Coach Rob Hernandez who kept our girls healthy and strong all year. Plus, a thank you goes out to our admin staff for all of their support.
The sport of beach volleyball, especially at the NAIA level, continues to grow. The Spirit will look to grow and return to the national stage as the 2025 season draws closer.
"I am so thankful to be surrounded by such a wonderful group of young women," Haliegh Carvalho said. " I cannot wait to see what next year brings them."
