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Creating a Legacy: 2022 in Review

by gostanford.com
Jun 30, 2022

STANFORD, Calif. -- Records shattered. A legacy created.

Continuing the program's success from 2021, Stanford ended its 2022 season with a 24-12 record, the most wins in a single season in program history and the fewest losses for the program since the 2017 campaign. That marked just two of the program's best marks that the 2022 team broke throughout its incredible year on the sand, and 2022 is a year that will go down in the Stanford record books for years to come. 

Second Trip to NCAAs
For just the second time in program history, Stanford beach volleyball traveled to Gulf Shores, Ala. to compete in the 2022 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship. The Cardinal was one of eight at-large berths to the tournament that just this year expanded to a 16-team field.  The team earned the tournament's nine-seed and took on Florida Atlantic in the tournament's single-elimination first round.  

The Cardinal fell 3-0 to the Beach Owls in a tightly contested opening-round dual match. Stanford came back from three first-set defeats to keep the Cardinal in the dual. While the final score looked like a clean sweep, the Cardinal did not lose a single set by more than eight points and four of the match's five courts were pushed to three sets.

AVCA Top Flight Award
The Top Flight program, run by the AVCA and now in its fourth year, recognizes beach pairs who compete in at least 15 matches together at a specific flight and win at least 75% of their matches. Senior Charlie Ekstrom and junior Maddi Kriz were the Cardinal's honorees for the 2022 season, finishing the year with a 15-5 record as a duo.

AVCA All-Americans and End of Year Conference Honors
Led by sophomore Xolani Hodel's second consecutive All-Pac-12 first-team selection, the Cardinal collected five honors from the Pac-12 at the conclusion of the 2022 season. Senior Charlie Ekstrom, sophomore Kate Reilly, and junior Maddi Kriz each earned All-Pac-12 second-team nods and freshman Emma Morris was named to the All-Freshman team. The Cardinal's five postseason conference honorees tied for the most by the program in a single season, while the Cardinal's four 2022 All-Pac-12 team members were the most ever collected by the Stanford program. 

The AVCA announced its 10th annual Collegiate Beach All-America Teams at the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, with Ekstrom, Reilly and Hodel each earning second-team honors. 

One of two non-pair players on the AVCA second team, Ekstrom reached the 20-win mark for the Cardinal in 2022. The senior played with three partners this year—all at No. 1 or No. 2— and helped Stanford set a program record for victories in a single season.  Stanford's stellar sophomores of Reilly and Hodel combined to go 18-4 heading into the Pac-12 Tournament with 15 sweep wins. Competing primarily at No. 1, they helped Stanford go 12-4 to close out the regular season, a stretch that included wins over six opponents ranked in the top 20. The award marked the second-consecutive year Hodel has been an AVCA All-American.

Records That Fell
Throughout the 2022 season, Stanford saw multiple program records broken. 

  • Against Grand Canyon, April 24: No. 1 pair Xolani Hodel and Kate Reilly earned their 29th win as a pair and became the winningest pair in program history (as of May 2, the pair currently owns 30 wins). 
  • Against Saint Mary's, April 24: Sophomore Kate Reilly earned her 24th individual win of the 2022 season, a new program best for wins in a single season. 
  • Against Arizona State, April 27: 
    • Stanford earns its 24th program win, the most in a single season.
    • Sophomore Maya Harvey earns her 24th win of the 2022 season, matching Reilly's program record for single-season individual wins set on April 24, 2022. 
  • Eight members of the Cardinal's lineup held twenty-or-more individual wins throughout 2022, the most in program history and three more than any other previous season (5 in 2021).
  • Freshmen Emma Morris and Taylor Wilson each earned 21 wins in their first years with the Stanford programs, just the fifth and sixth freshmen in Cardinal history to collect 20+ wins in their inaugural seasons.

Records Waiting for the 2023 Season
With multiple program-best achievements reached throughout 2022, four members of the Cardinal will enter the 2023 season just a few wins away from shattering more program records.

  • Charlie Ekstrom- 1 win away from career 60 individual wins (would tie second-most individual wins in program history)
  • Maddi Kriz- 1 win away from 50 career individual wins (would tie for fifth-most in program history)
  • Xolani Hodel/Kate Reilly- finished the 2023 season 1 win away from 19 wins as a pair (would match Stanford's record for most wins in a single season by a pair)

 

Individual Accolades
Charlie Ekstrom
- All-Pac-12 Second Team
- AVCA All-America Second Team
- AVCA Top Flight Award
- Pac-12 Pair of the Week (March 29)
- Donald Kennedy Award
Xolani Hodel
- All-Pac-12 First Team
- AVCA All-America Second Team
- Pac-12 Pair of the Week (April 26)
Maddi Kriz
- All-Pac-12 Second Team
- AVCA Top Flight Award
- Pac-12 Pair of the Week (March 29)
Jordan McKinney
- Arthur F. Dauer Memorial Sports Performance Award
Emma Morris
- All-Pac-12 Freshman Team
Kate Reilly
- All-Pac-12 Second Team
- AVCA All-America Second Team
- Pac-12 Pair of the Week (April 26)

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