STANFORD, Calif. – Five Stanford Beach Volleyball team members were honored by the Pac-12 Conference Thursday as the conference announced the year-end beach volleyball awards. Junior Xolani Hodel earned her third consecutive All-Pac-12 first-team selection, while her partner senior Maddi Kriz recorded her first All-Pac-12 first-team honor. Fifth-year Charlie Ekstrom was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team and freshmen Kelly Belardi and Ashley Vincent were each selected to the All-Pac-12 Freshman team. The Cardinal's five postseason conference honorees tie for the most by the program in a single season, and Hodel and Kriz become Stanford's first-ever duo to both earn All-Pac-12 first-team honors in the same season.
Xolani Hodel • All-Pac-12 first team
Hodel's junior season continued her success in a Cardinal uniform, earning a 20-11 record in 2023 to mark her third straight season with 20 or more individual wins. She spent the season paired with Maddi Kriz, earning a 19-9 record as a pair including wins over No. 1 UCLA (twice), then-No. 4 USC, No. 5 LSU, No. 7 Grand Canyon, and No. 9 California.
Maddi Kriz • All-Pac-12 first team
Kriz earns her second consecutive honor from the conference, as she was a member of the All-Pac-12 Second Team last year. She spent the season paired primarily with Hodel, recording a 24-13 ledger. The Austin, Texas native, alongside partner Hodel, closed out the regular season as the final conference Pair of the Week after earning two top-10 upsets over No. 7 GCU and No. 9 California.
Charlie Ekstrom • All-Pac-12 second team
Ekstrom earned second-team honors from the conference for the fourth consecutive completed season (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). The Point Loma, San Diego native became the program's all-time wins leader early in the 2023 campaign and now sits with 82 career wins after a 23-16 fifth-year record. She paired up with both Maya Harvey and Kate Reilly throughout the season, totaling 14 wins when competing as a part of Stanford's No. 2 pair.
Kelly Belardi • All-Freshman Team
Belardi made a statement in her first season competing for the Cardinal Beach volleyball team, earning 27 wins as a part of the No. 4 pair with partner Ashley Vincent. The dual-sport athlete (also a member of the Stanford indoor volleyball team) has the second-most wins this season by a Stanford athlete, behind only her partner, Vincent.
Ashley Vincent • All-Freshman Team
Vincent stepped onto The Farm and instantly made an impact on the sand for Stanford. In just her first campaign with the Cardinal, Vincent set the all-time single-season wins record with a 31-7 ledger, including 27 wins with partner Belardi on court four. The Atlanta, Ga. native will spend the summer training with Hodel as a part of the USA Beach Volleyball Collegiate National Team.
