Nicole Carol McNamara (born August 1, 1997) is a
Canadianbeach volleyball player. Along with her
twinsister,
Megan McNamara, Nicole has competed in many beach volleyball events around the world.[1] From the fall of 2015 until the spring of 2019, Megan competed collegiately for the
UCLA Bruins, 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.
In 2015, Nicole became a member of
UCLA Bruins beach volleyball team.[5] 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[6] and
NCAA tournaments,[7] and fourth-place ranking nationally. During the season, she and Megan were named Pac-12 Pair of the Week for the week of April 4,[8] to the All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman First Teams,[9] and to the
AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America Team.[10]
During the 2017 season, Nicole and Megan 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,[11] but was defeated in the NCAA tournament in its third match after falling to
Florida State in the Elimination Bracket.[12] During the season, she and Megan were named Pac-12 Pair of the Week for the weeks of March 14[13] and April 11.[14] As with her freshman year, Nicole earned both All-Pac-12 First Team[15] and AVCA All-American[16] honours. Additionally, Nicole was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team for beach volleyball following the season to honour her performance in the classroom for her sophomore year.[9]
During the 2018 season, Nicole and Megan 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 (
USC) 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.[17][18] Additionally, the McNamara twins were named Pac-12 Pair of the Year, and Nicole named Pac-12 Player of the Year in the week following completion of the championship.[19] Following the season, Nicole was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team to honour her performance in the classroom for her junior year.[9]
During the 2019 season, Nicole and Megan went 32-4 in dual matches, leading the UCLA Bruins to a 35-3 overall record and their second consecutive NCAA championship, beating
USC in the final match.[20] Additionally, they finished runner-up to USC at the Pac-12 championship.[21] 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.[22][23] Additionally, the McNamaras were named Pac-12 and AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week for the week of April 2.[24][25]
In May 2018, Nicole and Megan competed in their first
FIVB World Tour event, the
Bangkok 1 star, winning five matches and advancing to the semifinals[27] before eventually finishing in fourth place.[28][29][30][31] In early June 2018, the Nicole and Megan won the women's competition at the 2018
Volleyball CanadaNORCECA Open Beach Trials in
Toronto, earning the top ranking for Canada for subsequent competition in the
2018 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour.[32] Later in the month, they competed in their second FIVB World Tour event, the
Singapore Open 2 star, advancing through the qualifying rounds to pool play,[33] before barely missing out on the quarterfinal round due to point differentials. Nicole and Megan then competed at the Die Techniker Beach Tour event in
Nuremberg, earning a fifth place finish after a three-set loss to the tournament's fourth place finisher.[34] In mid-July 2018, the McNamaras competed at that year's
FISU World University Beach Volleyball Championship in
Munich,[35] winning the gold medal in the championship with a three set win against Spain.[36][37][38] Later in July, she and Megan also competed at FIVB 3 star tour events in both
Haiyang and
Tokyo. 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.[39][40][41]
As a result of winning the Canadian NORCECA Open Beach Trials in June, Nicole and Megan qualified to compete in NORCECA beach volleyball tour events later in the year. [42] Competing at the
Punta Cana (
Dominican Republic) tour stop in late September, they placed second to the American team of
Falyn Fonoimoana and Molly Turner.[43]