With the 2019 women’s volleyball season having started with exhibition matches, two former local Catholic high school stars have been named to the All-West Coast Conference pre-season first team.
Savannah Slattery, Loyola Marymount University senior outside hitter, and Shannon Scully, Pepperdine University junior outside hitter, were among those named to the pre-season All-WCC squad. Slattery is a 2016 graduate of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, while Scully graduated from Mater Dei in Santa Ana in 2017.
All named to the pre-season All-WCC Team were senior setter Tess Reid and junior outside hitter Megan Rice, like Slattery part of LMU’s 2018 team that reached the NCAA second round.
Slattery — a marketing major who played on the Lions’ WCC champion beach volleyball team last spring — is among several local Catholic school alums who will be playing in the WCC this year. One of them is her LMU teammate, sophomore defensive specialist Ella Boehle, formerly All-CIF and All-League at Notre Dame Academy in West Los Angeles.
Others (listed by school) include:
- University of San Diego: junior Hannah Patrick, a three-time All-League selection at Rosary Academy in Fullerton, and freshman Grace Frohling, an All-CIF and All-America player at Marymount in Westwood.
- University of Portland: sophomore Claire Forrest, a transfer from Seton Hall and previously All-State and league MVP at La Salle in Pasadena.
- Santa Clara University: sophomore Michelle Shaffer, an All-WCC Freshman Team choice in 2018, and All-CIF at La Reina in Thousand Oaks, and junior Gretchen Reinert, an All-WCC Academic team member in 2018, and a CIF-SS champion with Santa Margarita in 2016.
- Pepperdine University: the aforementioned Shannon Scully, an All-WCC honorable mention pick in 2018, and All-CIF and All-American at Mater Dei.
LMU downs Long Beach
In an Aug. 17 exhibition match at Gersten Pavilion, LMU defeated Long Beach State in straight sets, the Lions’ third win over the 49ers in their last five meetings dating to 2014 after Long Beach had won the first seven (starting in 1995).
On Aug. 24, the Lions take on the LMU Alumni in a noon match at Gertsen Pavilion bringing back stars from years past. The Lions’ 2019 season officially gets underway Aug. 30-31 with the University of Arizona Tournament at Tucson, with LMU scheduled to play Arizona, Samford and Appalachian State.
Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).
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