Collegiate Beach Coach of the Year
STEIN METZGER, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
- By winning the 2026 award, Metzger becomes the first coach to become a three-time AVCA Collegiate Beach Coach of the Year.
- This season has continued 26-6 Texas’ rapid ascension to the upper echelon of the beach volleyball world under the third-year coach and resulted in a number of program firsts.
- The Longhorns enter the NCAA Championship on a roll after last week’s impressive run to the MPSF tournament championship—the school’s first postseason title. En route to hoisting the trophy, they knocked off top-ranked UCLA twice and beat No. 5 USC once.
- Those victories moved Metzger’s team up to No. 2 in the April 28 AVCA Poll, which is the highest rank in school history.
- He helped Katelyn Hashman and Brecht Piersma become first-team All-Americans in 2026, making them the program’s first-ever AVCA award winners.
- Before he came to Texas, he was at UCLA for 11 years, where he led the Bruins to a pair of NCAA titles (2018 and 2019) and picked up his first two AVCA Coach of the Year awards (2017 and 2018).
Bio information current as of April 30, 2026
Collegiate Beach Assistant Coach of the Year
BILLY ALLEN, STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- Allen and the Cardinal arrive in Gulf Shores as the top seed in the NCAA Championship after going 36-4 during the 2026 season.
- He’s helped the team reach new heights all year long, including breaking program records for victories (36, so far) and wins over ranked teams (25).
- When Stanford became No. 1 in the AVCA Beach Poll on Feb. 24, it was the first time the Cardinal had topped the rankings. They’ve held the top spot in the poll five of the 11 weeks this season.
- The third-year Stanford assistant worked with three players who earned 2026 AVCA All-American honors: first-team picks Kelly Belardi and Avery Jackson and second-teamer Ruby Sorra. A record four Cardinal players were All-Americans in 2025.
- This is the first AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year award for Allen, who serves as the Cardinal’s assistant coach and player development coordinator.
Bio information current as of April 30, 2026
AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH NATIONAL COACHES OF THE YEAR
2013: Nina Matthies, Pepperdine University
2014: Anna Collier, University of Southern California
2015: Rita Buck-Crockett, Florida International University
2016: Brooke Niles, Florida State University
2017: Stein Metzger, UCLA
2018: Stein Metzger, UCLA
2019: Anna Collier, University of Southern California
2021: Andrew Fuller, Stanford University
2022: Kristen Rohr, Grand Canyon University
2023: Hector Gutierrez, Texas Christian University
2024: Dain Blanton, University of Southern California
2025: John Mayer, Loyola Marymount University
2026: Stein Metzger, University of Texas
AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH NATIONAL ASSISTANT COACHES OF THE YEAR
2018: Marcio Sicoli, Pepperdine University
2019: Jenny Johnson Jordan, UCLA
2021: Majo Orellana, Texas Christian University
2022: Steve Grotowski, Florida Atlantic University
2023: Gustavo Rocha, University of Southern California
2024: Angela Rock, Cal Poly
2025: Jose Loiola, UCLA
2026: Billy Allen, Stanford University
