FACTOIDS
Full Name: Holly McPeak
Nickname: Holly
Birthday: May 15, 1969
Height: 5’7"
Hometown: Manhattan Beach, California
Sports: Volleyball
PROFILE
With one of the most toned bodies on the beach and the most impressive resumes of any female player in history, three-time Olympian Holly McPeak took home the USA's first-ever bronze medal in Athens at the 2004 Summer Olympics alongside former partner Elaine Youngs. She is one of just five women worldwide to have competed in all three Olympics in beach volleyball.
In 2004 she also captured her 68th career win, making her the winningest player on the women's side, a record previously held by Karolyn Kirby. She broke the record on her hometown sand at the 2004 Manhattan Beach Open. The 'leading lady' in Pro Beach Volleyball history, now with 72 wins, McPeak held the record until May 2007, and still commands the records for career tournaments played. McPeak is second in career prize money with over $1.5 million in earnings.
Already a true Pro Beach Volleyball legend, McPeak's first professional beach volleyball tournaments came in 1987, and no other player from then is still competing. Since winning her first title in 1993, she has been held to just three seasons, in which there was a domestic tour, without getting a victory. Since the AVP's reorganization in 2001, she has finished ranked in the top 10 all six years, with five seasons in the top five.
McPeak and Youngs captured four titles on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour throughout the 2004 season and McPeak was named AVP Best Defensive Player for three years in a row (2002-2004). Her first win with Youngs in 2002 happened in their first tournament together, duplicating the feat McPeak achieved with Lisa Arce in 2001.
McPeak ended the 2005 season with more digs than any other player (1,061) and ranked sixth in hitting percentage (.356). She again led the tour in digs in 2006 (6.30 per game).
A graduate of UCLA with a BA in English Literature, McPeak was named All PAC-10 and All-NCAA Team in 1990, and helped lead her team to the NCAA Championship. From 1987-89, she attended UC-Berkeley where she was voted NCAA Freshman of the Year.
McPeak was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California and currently resides there. She has a twin bother (Gary), and a sister (Katie).
