Six Waves Earn AVCA Top Flight Honors

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Six Waves from the Pepperdine beach volleyball team earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top Flight honors this season.
 
Emma Eden and Ella Foti earned the award on court three, Madison Oriskovich and Gabriella Perez received the honor on court two and Kate Clermont and McKenna Thomas earned the award in slot No. 1.
 
The Top Flight program, now in its seventh year, recognizes beach pairs who compete in at least 15 matches together at a specific flight and win at least 75% of their matches. This year, 88 pairs representing 45 schools—from all three NCAA divisions, NAIA, and Two-Year Colleges—have earned Top Flight status.
 
Eden (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Foti (Madison, Wis.) collected a 23-7 record this season playing in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. The duo earned the award in slot No. 3, collecting a 19-6 record on that court. This is the first honor of its kind for both these Waves. Eden and Foti picked up two wins against top-ranked teams this season, defeating then-ranked No. 1 UCLA’s third pair in addition to picking up a victory over then-ranked #1 TCU’s second pair. Eden and Foti also beat then-ranked #10 Long Beach State’s No. 2 pair in Malibu during the opening weekend.
 
This past week, Eden was named the co-WCC Freshman of the Year, becoming the fourth Wave in program history to earn the award. She also made the All-WCC first team and the WCC All-Freshman Team.
 
Oriskovich (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Perez (Loomis, Calif.) collected an 18-7 record together on court two. Not only did they record 18 wins together, but the Waves duo rattled off 14 consecutive wins from March 22-April 24, going an entire month without losing a match. Oriskovich made the All-WCC first team in 2024 and the All-WCC second team in 2023, while Perez garnered an All-WCC second team selection last year. This is the first time either of these Waves have received an AVCA Top Flight honor.
 
On court one, Clermont (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) and Thomas (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) posted a 24-9 record, including a win over then-ranked #12 Arizona State’s No. 1 pair as they earned AVCA Top Flight status for the second time in each of their careers. The Waves duo also posted a perfect 3-0 record at the WCC Tournament, defeating Pacific, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara.
 
Not only did Clermont and Thomas pick up 24 wins in the No. 1 slot this year, but they finished decorated careers with the second most wins by a Waves pair in program history, ending with 58 victories on the No. 1 court.  Additionally, Clermont and Thomas both made the All-WCC first team for the third consecutive year after their senior campaigns.

Prior to this season, the Waves have had six athletes receive Top Flight status. In 2022, Melanie Paul and Madison Shields earned the award on court one, while Simone Priebe and McKenna Thomas received the honor on court two. Kate Clermont and Savannah Standage collected the award in 2023 in slot No. 2.

 

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