Elaine Youngs

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Elaine Youngs
Elaine Youngs (cropped).jpg
Youngs in 2010
Personal information
Full nameElaine Clara Marie Hermenia Youngs
NicknameE.Y.
Born (1970-02-14) February 14, 1970 (age 54)
Orange, California, U.S.
Hometown Lake Forest, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Beach volleyball information
YearsTeammate
2011
2010
2006–2009
2005–2006
2002–2004
2001
1999–2000
1998
1997		Rachel Scott
Misty May-Treanor
Nicole Branagh
Rachel Wacholder
Holly McPeak
Barbra Fontana
Liz Masakayan
Nancy Reno
Liz Masakayan
Indoor volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Number15 (national team)
Medal record
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Women's beach volleyball
Olympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Athens Beach
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1999 Marseille Beach
World Tour
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Stavanger Beach
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Marseille Beach
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Rhodes Beach
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Vitória Beach
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2004 Shanghai Beach
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2004 Stavanger Beach
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2008 Barcelona Beach
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2002 Maoming Beach
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2003 Berlin Beach
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Rhodes Beach
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2005 Klagenfurt Beach
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2007 Phuket Beach
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Moscow Beach
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2009 Klagenfurt Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2002 Montreal Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2002 Klagenfurt Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Gstaad Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Berlin Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Brazil Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Acapulco Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2007 St. Petersburg Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2007 Brazil Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Seoul Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Paris Beach
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2009 Gstaad Beach
Women's volleyball
Goodwill Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1994 Saint Petersburg Indoor

Elaine Youngs (born February 14, 1970, in Orange, California) is an American former professional volleyball player who competed both indoors and on the beach. [1]

Contents

Youngs attended UCLA, where as a freshman she started on a team that went undefeated through the regular season. They reached the semi-finals of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Texas. The following year the Bruins reached the semi-finals again, where they lost to a powerful squad from Nebraska. A knee injury caused her to miss the 1990 season. She was red-shirted, returning for the 1991 season to help the team to win the national title. The team reached the championship match again in 1992, losing to Stanford. Youngs led the Bruins to the Final Four in each of the four seasons that she played. She also earned All-American honors in each of those four years. Youngs also spent two seasons playing on the Bruins basketball team, averaging 5.7 points per game. She graduated in 1993 with a degree in history.

Youngs was on the USA Volleyball indoor team and won a silver medal at the 1994 Goodwill Games. [2] She also played in the 1996 Olympics, where the women placed seventh. [3]

Nicknamed "EY", Youngs beach career started in 1997, winning third place in her first pro beach volleyball tournament. In 1997 and then 1999–2000 Youngs partnered with Liz Masakayan who later became Youngs coach from 2004 through 2008. The duo missed going to the 2000 Sydney Olympics by 50 points. [4] In 1998 Youngs partnered with Nancy Reno until Nancy retired from pro beach volleyball. In 2001 Youngs partnered with Barbra Fontana, and from 2002 to 2004 partnered with Holly McPeak, winning the Beach Volleyball bronze medal together in the 2004 Athens Olympics. She teamed with Rachel Wacholder for the 2005 and much of the 2006 season. In August 2006, Wacholder left Youngs and partnered with Jennifer Kessy Boss and Youngs replaced Wacholder with Nicole Branagh for the 2007 AVP season. On September 8, 2007, Youngs won the Goddess of the Beach tournament for the first time in Las Vegas, Nevada. Branagh and Youngs achieved fifth place in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and continued playing together in the 2009 season. In 2010, Nicole Branagh partnered with Misty May-Treanor, replacing Kerri Walsh. Youngs retired from professional volleyball at the end of the 2010 season.

In 2002 Youngs was chosen as the MVP of the Association of Volleyball Professionals. In 2004 she teamed with Holly McPeak to win the bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens. In her career Youngs won 51 professional beach volleyball tournaments. On October 6, 2006, she was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. [5]

Personal life

Youngs currently works as a realtor in Durango, Colorado. [6] During the winter, she enjoys "everything outdoors," including snowboarding, snowshoeing, hiking, camping and cross-country skiing.

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References

  1. ↑ NBC Olympics athlete bio: Elaine Youngs Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Krastev, Todor. "Women Volleyball Goodwill Games 1994 Sankt Petersburg (RUS) - 07-.08 Winner Soviet Union". Todor66.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  3. ↑ Team USA Elaine Youngs BIO "". Updated 2009.
  4. ↑ AVP Elaine Youngs BIO (2009) " "AVP - the Players - Elaine Youngs". Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009." Beach Volleyball Database
  5. ↑ "Elaine Youngs Inducted Into UCLA Athletics Hall Of Fame". uclabruins.com. October 3, 2006. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Elaine "EY" Youngs". Porch Light Real Estate Group. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
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