Elaine Youngs (born February 14, 1970 in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

) is an American former professional volleyball player who competed both indoors and on the

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

. Youngs attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, 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 USA Volleyball (USAV) is a non-profit organization which is recognized as the national governing body of volleyball in the United States by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). It i ...

indoor team and played in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

where the women placed 7th. 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. In 1998 Youngs partnered with

Nancy Reno Nancy Reno (born December 24, 1965, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois) is a retired female beach volleyball player from the United States. She won the bronze medal at the 1997 World Championships in Los Angeles, California, partnering Karolyn Kirby. The ...

until Nancy retired from pro beach volleyball. In 2001 Youngs partnered with

Barbra Fontana Barbra Fontana (born September 8, 1965) is a professional beach volleyball player from the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily ...

, and from 2002 to 2004 partnered with

Holly McPeak Holly McPeak (born May 15, 1969 in Manhattan Beach, California) is a retired American indoor and beach volleyball player. McPeak was three-times an Olympian in beach volleyball. In the professional circuit, she garnered 72 career beach volleyba ...

, winning the Beach Volleyball bronze medal together in the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. She teamed with

Rachel Wacholder Rachel (Wacholder) Scott (born 1975) is a model and professional beach volleyball player who won eight beach volleyball championships with three partners. Scott was named Best Defensive Player 2005 and Most Improved Player on the AVP Tour in 200 ...

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 Nicole Christine Branagh (born January 31, 1979, in Orinda, California) is an American volleyball player. She has represented the United States in international competition as a member of both the indoor and beach national teams. With partner E ...

for the 2007 AVP season. On September 8, 2007 Youngs won the Goddess of the Beach tournament for the first time in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. Branagh and Youngs achieved 5th place in the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

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 The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) is the biggest and longest-running professional beach volleyball tour in the United States. Founded in 1983, the AVP is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The AVP operates as a 3-tiered ...

. In 2004 she teamed with

to win the bronze medal at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. In her career Youngs won 51 professional beach volleyball tournaments. On October 6, 2006 she was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. Youngs currently works as a realtor in

Durango, Colorado Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...

. During the winter, she enjoys "everything outdoors," including snowboarding, snowshoeing, hiking, camping and cross-country skiing.

References

External links

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Yahoo! Sports profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Youngs, Elaine 1970 births Living people American women's volleyball players American women's beach volleyball players Volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players of the United States Olympic medalists in beach volleyball Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics UCLA Bruins women's volleyball players UCLA Bruins women's basketball players Sportspeople from Orange, California Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games medalists in volleyball 20th-century American women 21st-century American women