Three Cal Poly Beach Volleyball athletes were selected on Monday to join the USA Collegiate Beach National Team.
Redshirt sophomore Ella Connor, sophomore Izzy Martinez and junior Piper Ferch, who played a big part in Cal Poly’s run to the Final Four this season are part of a 16-woman squad in the National Team Development Program.
This is Connor’s second time on the USA Collegiate National team, also playing in 2022. Ferch and Connor also made the 2022 Beach U20 National Team, winning gold on the NORCECA U23 Continental Tour.
“When we played it was awesome,” Ferch said. “Everybody has different perspectives but it’s cool that we all still play beach so we all can still figure out how to play together and in different ways.”
From June 18 through 19, the girls will compete in the Beach Senior National Team NORCECA Trials to earn a bid to upcoming NORCECA competitions.
For Martinez, this will be her first Team USA selection after she and Connor earned a First-Team All-American selection this season.
They confirmed their spots as a pair after earning second in the 2024 Beach University Championship Trials last month.
“It’s a really great group of girls, the coaches are amazing, and a lot of high-intensity practice and reps are always really good,” Martinez said.
According to Connor, two more pairs from Team USA will be selected after the training block to compete in the 2024 World University Beach Championships in September in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.