A recruiting dream book for Carmen
Class of 2028 · Hawaiʻi Davis, California
Dream big. Work hard. Stay humble.
Grab a snack and watch these in order. Together they're about 55 minutes — the closest thing to walking around Davis without a plane ticket.
Professionally made, follows real students through dorms, classes, clubs and the town — including a Division I student-athlete on balancing sport and school.
The Quad, the Memorial Union, residence halls, dining, and the famous Arboretum — the admissions office's own walkthrough.
The official team page — roster, results, match videos and the season schedule. This is the program you'd actually be joining.
Less polished, most real: dorm rooms, dining halls, bikes everywhere, late-night studying. The unfiltered version.
A top public research university in a real college town — 20 minutes from Sacramento, a couple hours from both the coast and the Sierra.
UC Davis sponsors Division I women's beach volleyball, playing on its own courts in Davis. Big West now — and beginning in 2027, joining the West Coast Conference as an affiliate alongside Pepperdine, LMU and Saint Mary's.
Head coach Ari Homayun is a University of Hawaiʻi alum — and the Rainbow Wahine's all-time leader in match wins, a four-time NCAA Championship player. She coached under Olympic gold medalist Todd Rogers at Cal Poly, then became the winningest coach in CSUN history before taking over at Davis in 2026. An island girl who built a program, now building one here.
The Aggies play home matches at the Davis Beach Volleyball Courts right on campus, and travel to programs like Cal Poly and Stanford. The roster pulls players from across California and beyond, studying everything from computer science to viticulture — proof you don't have to choose between the sand and a serious degree.
Life as a student-athlete is a rhythm. Here's a make-believe Tuesday in the fall.
"An island kid who plays year-round in the sun, travels to compete, and shows up humble — coaches notice that."
What to focus on over the next two years to give yourself the best shot:
No pressure, no rush — but when the reel's ready, two small steps put you on the staff's radar. Coaches love hearing from players who did their homework.
Dear Coach Homayun and staff, My name is Carmen Lo. I'm a Class of 2028 beach volleyball player from Hawaiʻi, and UC Davis is one of my dream schools. A few quick things about me: - Height / position: - Club / partner: - GPA: - Highlight reel (link): - Upcoming tournaments: I'd love to stay in touch and learn what you look for in a recruit. Thank you for your time! With aloha, Carmen Lo
The email button opens your mail app with a draft to Coach Homayun's staff — just fill in the blanks and hit send.
UC Davis is the flagship of this book — but the best recruits fall in love with a handful of programs. Here are five more worth dreaming about, each with a real beach team and an honest look at the fit.
Head coach Danny Alvarez — a longtime program insider who opened his 2026 debut by upsetting the No. 1 team in the country.
Head coach Todd Rogers — a 2008 Olympic gold medalist, now in his 11th year. (Fun tie: UC Davis's Coach Homayun once coached on his staff.)
Head coach Meagan Owusu — a Cal alum and one of only two Bears ever to reach two NCAA indoor Final Fours, now in her 10th season.
Head coach Mike Campbell — a three-time Big West Coach of the Year, now in his 12th season leading The Beach.
Head coach Stein Metzger — a Honolulu native and Olympic beach player, named 2026 national Coach of the Year in only the program's third season.
California Golden Bears · Berkeley, CA · MPSF
Elite sand. Elite degree.
A nonstop flight from home.
Start with the campus, hear the honest pros and cons from real students, then meet the beach team.
A walk through the founding campus of the whole UC system — Sproul Plaza, the Campanile, the libraries, the views.
Cal students answer the questions that matter — the good and the hard parts of going to the world's top public university.
The official team page — roster, results and schedule for a program that's a fixture in the national top 10.
The unfiltered version — classes, cafés, the hills, and late nights, filmed by an actual Berkeley student.
A world-famous public university in the heart of the Bay Area — big-time athletics and big-time academics under one roof.
Cal is a sustained force in beach: four straight NCAA Championship appearances and a top-12 national finish eight years running. In 2026 the Bears opened in the top 10 and beat both No. 4 Texas and the defending national champions.
Head coach Meagan Owusu is a Cal alum — one of only two Bears ever to reach two NCAA Final Fours as a player — and an AVCA "30 Under 30" honoree, now in her 10th season building this program into a perennial contender.
A student-athlete's day at Cal balances elite sport with famously demanding academics.
"The rare school where a national-title beach program and a world-class degree come in the same package — a nonstop flight from home."
For a Hawaiʻi player, Cal is the both-and pick: chase a national championship in the sand and earn one of the most respected degrees in the world, in a Bay Area with a strong Pacific Islander community and direct flights back to Honolulu. The honest trade-off — Berkeley's cool, foggy coast means more indoor training and less warm-sand time than home, and the academics demand real discipline. If you want to be pushed on the court and in the classroom, few places push harder.
Cal doesn't publish a coach email, so the play is to send your intro and film through the team's staff — or have your club coach make the connection.
Hi Coach Owusu and staff, I'm Carmen Lo, a Class of 2028 beach volleyball player from Hawaiʻi. Cal is a dream school for me — a national-caliber program and an incredible degree. A few quick things about me: - Height / position: - Club / partner: - GPA: - Highlight reel (link): - Upcoming tournaments: I'd love to stay in touch and learn what you look for in a recruit. Thank you so much! With aloha, Carmen Lo
Copy the note above into an email once you have the staff's contact from the team page — and always keep your reel link current.
The Beach · Long Beach, CA · Big West
They literally call it The Beach.
Year-round sand by the Pacific.
Tour the palm-lined campus, hear from the head coach, and see a real student's day minutes from the Pacific.
A walk through the sunny, palm-lined campus nicknamed "The Beach," minutes from the Southern California coast.
Hear the philosophy of the coach who's led The Beach to national-championship stages for over a decade.
The official team page — roster, results and schedule for one of the sport's most tradition-rich programs.
A student's honest documentary-style day at Cal State Long Beach — dorms, classes, campus, real talk.
A big, sunny public university three miles from the Pacific — where beach volleyball isn't a side sport, it's part of the identity.
A genuine national contender in the competitive Big West — NCAA runner-up in 2015, and home of the 2025 AVCA Beach Pairs national champions.
Head coach Mike Campbell is a three-time Big West Coach of the Year who has led The Beach to national-championship stages — including a runner-up finish in his very first season — and is signed on through 2030.
Sun, sand, and a short walk to the ocean — a student-athlete's Tuesday at The Beach.
"Year-round sand, the ocean minutes away, and a program where beach volleyball is the main event — the closest thing to home on the mainland."
SoCal's climate lets you train in the sand essentially year-round, the campus sits minutes from the Pacific, and the program is a real national contender pushing you against elite pairs every day. The honest trade-off: it's still the mainland — a full flight from home, a busy LA-adjacent metro rather than island quiet, and the real cost and distance of getting back to the islands during the season.
Long Beach takes recruits through an athletics questionnaire — fill it out, then follow up with your reel.
Hi Coach Campbell and staff, I'm Carmen Lo, a Class of 2028 beach volleyball player from Hawaiʻi. The Beach is a dream school for me — year-round sand and a program that competes for national titles. A few quick things about me: - Height / position: - Club / partner: - GPA: - Highlight reel (link): - Upcoming tournaments: I'd love to stay in touch and learn what you look for in a recruit. Thank you so much! With aloha, Carmen Lo
Copy the note above into your follow-up email — and always keep your reel link current.
BeachBows · Honolulu, Oʻahu · Big West
Stay home. Represent the islands.
Play your home matches on Waikiki sand.
See the Mānoa campus, watch the BeachBows play on Waikiki sand, and follow a real day as a UH student-athlete.
The admissions office's tour of the green Mānoa Valley campus — rainbows, rainforest, and Honolulu just downhill.
A full Big West playoff-finals match on the sand (fan-recorded) — this is the level Hawaiʻi plays at, at home.
The official team page — roster, results and the schedule for a program that hosts and beats the nation's best.
A real UH Mānoa Division I athlete walks through her day — training, class, and island life.
The flagship of the UH system, tucked into lush Mānoa Valley above Honolulu — big-school resources with an unmistakable aloha culture.
The BeachBows play home matches on Waikiki sand at Queen's Beach and regularly host — and beat — the best in the country. In 2026 they opened by upsetting preseason No. 1 UCLA and won the Heineken Queen's Cup.
Head coach Danny Alvarez took over in 2026 but has been part of the BeachBows for roughly a decade as an assistant — he knows this program, this island, and the path from Hawaiʻi sand to the college game.
Sunrise on the sand, class in the valley, and the ocean never far — a BeachBow's Tuesday.
"Stay home, represent the islands, and play your home matches on Waikiki sand at Queen's Beach — in front of family, for a program that beats the best."
For a Hawaiʻi kid, this is home, culture, and a genuinely national-caliber sand experience all at once. The honest trade-off: UH beach is a younger, smaller-budget program that plays most of its ranked schedule as a Big West affiliate and travels the mainland less than the California powers — which can mean fewer showcase moments and more geographic isolation for recruiting exposure. If you value home and a national-caliber home court over maximum mainland visibility, it's a powerful fit.
Good news — UH lists its coaches' emails publicly, so you can reach out directly. The button below opens a ready-to-edit draft.
Aloha Coach Alvarez and staff, I'm Carmen Lo, a Class of 2028 beach volleyball player from Hawaiʻi, and playing at home for the BeachBows on Waikiki sand is a dream of mine. A few quick things about me: - Height / position: - Club / partner: - GPA: - Highlight reel (link): - Upcoming tournaments: I'd love to stay in touch and learn what you look for in a recruit. Mahalo for your time! With aloha, Carmen Lo
The email button opens your mail app with a draft to Coach Alvarez's staff — just fill in the blanks and hit send.
Texas Longhorns · Austin, TX · MPSF
A Hawaiʻi-born Olympic coach —
and a homecoming to Honolulu every year.
Start with the full campus episode, watch the Longhorns play beach in Hawaiʻi, then see a real day in Austin.
A polished, full-length episode following real Longhorns through campus, academics, and life on the Forty Acres.
The official Longhorns beach team playing in Honolulu — the annual island trip that makes this chapter special.
The official team page — roster, results and schedule for a program that hit No. 2 in the country by year three.
A real student's vlog through classes, campus and Austin — the unfiltered version.
The flagship of the University of Texas system — huge, well-resourced, and set in Austin, one of the most fun college cities in the country.
Texas added varsity beach in 2022 and first competed in 2024. By 2026 the Longhorns won the MPSF title in their debut conference season and earned the No. 2 overall seed at the NCAA Championship — the highest in program history.
Head coach Stein Metzger is a Honolulu native, a three-time NCAA champion at UCLA, and a U.S. Olympian in beach volleyball (Athens 2004). In 2026 he was named national Coach of the Year — in just the program's second full season.
Big-school energy, purpose-built sand courts, and Austin after dark.
"A Hawaiʻi-born Olympian for a coach — and a team that flies home to Honolulu every February to open the season."
Coach Metzger grew up in Honolulu and reached the sport's summit as an Olympian and NCAA champion, so he coaches with an islands sensibility and understands the path from Hawaiʻi to the college game. The program opens each season at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Classic on Queen's Beach — an annual homecoming that puts you back on island sand in front of family. The honest trade-off: Austin is landlocked and thousands of miles from home — you'd trade island life for a big Texas city, hot summers, purpose-built sand courts, and one team flight home a year.
Texas routes recruits through a recruiting form on the team page — start there, then follow up with your reel.
Hi Coach Metzger and staff, I'm Carmen Lo, a Class of 2028 beach volleyball player from Hawaiʻi. I love what you're building at Texas — and the Honolulu connection means a lot to me. A few quick things about me: - Height / position: - Club / partner: - GPA: - Highlight reel (link): - Upcoming tournaments: I'd love to stay in touch and learn what you look for in a recruit. Thank you so much! With aloha, Carmen Lo
Look for the "Recruiting Form" link on the team page — and copy the note above into your follow-up.
Mustangs · San Luis Obispo, CA · Big West
Learn from an Olympic champion,
ten minutes from the Pacific.
Tour the campus, catch the beach team at the Big West Championships, and see a real SLO student day.
The official tour of the San Luis Obispo campus — "Learn by Doing," Central Coast weather, and the college town next door.
The Mustangs' own coverage of hosting the Big West beach championship on their home sand.
The official team page — roster, results and schedule for a program that reached three straight NCAA semifinals.
A student's honest day in San Luis Obispo — campus, downtown, and the beach nearby.
A mid-sized public polytechnic on California's Central Coast — hands-on academics, sunny weather, and the ocean ten minutes away.
The Mustangs have reached the NCAA semifinals three years running and won the 2026 Big West title — their fourth — hosting the championship on their own five-court complex.
Head coach Todd Rogers won beach volleyball gold at the 2008 Olympics (with Phil Dalhausser). Now in his 11th season, he's built Cal Poly into a fixture at the national semifinals — and Carmen would train under him every day.
Fog-burning mornings, hands-on classes, and a sunset drive to the beach.
"Train daily under an Olympic gold medalist, in a Central-Coast beach town with the ocean ten minutes away."
Cal Poly is a rare chance to learn from an actual Olympic champion on a program that's reached three straight NCAA semifinals and just won the Big West at home — the sand culture and the winning are both real, and the beach is minutes away. The honest trade-off: Cal Poly is academically selective, San Luis Obispo is a small college town rather than a city, and it's a full flight from the islands, with cooler, foggier coastal weather than home.
Cal Poly takes recruits through a questionnaire linked on the team page — start there, then follow up with your reel.
Hi Coach Rogers and staff, I'm Carmen Lo, a Class of 2028 beach volleyball player from Hawaiʻi. Getting to learn from an Olympic champion at a national-semifinal program is a dream. A few quick things about me: - Height / position: - Club / partner: - GPA: - Highlight reel (link): - Upcoming tournaments: I'd love to stay in touch and learn what you look for in a recruit. Thank you so much! With aloha, Carmen Lo
Find the recruit questionnaire on the team page — and copy the note above into your follow-up.