Merritt Island’s Lexy Denaburg Wins Third Straight National Beach Volleyball Championship

By  //  July 16, 2018

Lexy Denaburg committed to UCLA in 2019

Merritt Island High’s Lexy Denaburg, right, and her beach volleyball teammate, Oviedo’s Rileigh Powers, show off their new medals and 2018 U18 AAU National Champions banner.

HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA – The reigning two-time Space Coast Daily Breakfast of Champions Volleyball Player of the Year Lexy Denaburg has added another championship to her the trophy case.

Denaburg, an incoming senior at Merritt Island High, along with her teammate, Oviedo High School senior-to-be Rileigh Powers, captured their straight Under 18 AAU National Junior Beach Volleyball Championship this weekend in Hermosa Beach, California.

The three-day event was a prelude to what many on the left coast can look forward to starting in the fall of 2019.

Denaburg and Powers have already committed to play beach volleyball beginning in 2019 for the mighty UCLA Bruins in Westwood, California, located about 50 miles north from where this weekends tournament took place.

Denaburg and Powers played 14 matches during the three-day tournament and recorded 14 wins. The duo was dominating to start the championship run as they didn’t allow more than 13-points per set during the first two days of competition.

Lexy Denaburg, left, and Rileigh Powers have won numerous tournaments together and will become members of a UCLA team that won the 2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship.
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The final day of play proved to be much tougher. Denaburg and Powers won four more matches but were forced to “dig” deep and come from behind late in three of the contests.

The ability to overcome adversity and win didn’t come easy as the girls defeated the best incoming college freshman beach volleyball players in the country as high schoolers.

The team Denaburg and Powers beat to capture the title – Abby Van Winkle and Piper Monk-Heidrich – will attend UCLA beginning next month for head coach Stein Metzger, whose team captured the 2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship by defeating Florida State last May.

Satellite Scorpions volleyball coach Darren Bolton has coached both Denaburg and Powers and was ecstatic about the duo’s win in Hermosa Beach.

“I’m truly blessed to get the opportunity to coach two amazing athletes like Lexy and Rileigh,” said Bolton, who led the charge to have beach volleyball sanctioned as an official high school sport in Brevard County.

“They have such passion for the game, and most of all, they are fierce competitors. Both have such drive and are an absolute pleasure to coach. Their future is so bright.”

Lexy’s mom, Connie Denaburg, isn’t just a parent that lends support from the stands. She was recently inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame for her dedication to coaching volleyball, and she’s been the director of the Cape Coast Volleyball Club for more than 16 years.

“There are so many things in sports you can teach, and they train hard, but one thing that just comes naturally to these girls is a determination to win,” said Denaburg.

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Lexy Denaburg and RileighPowers played 14 matches during the three-day Under 18 AAU National Junior Beach Volleyball Championship and recorded 14 wins. The duo was dominating to start the championship run as they didn’t allow more than 13-points per set during the first two days of competition.
Lexy Denaburg is an incoming senior at Merritt Island High, and over the past two years, has lead the Mustangs with an astounding 363 kills and 203 digs.  

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