WATCH: Lexy Denaburg’s Unmatched Dominance Earned Her Early Induction into Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame
By Space Coast Daily // April 22, 2025
Denaburg led Merritt Island to state titles in both indoor and beach volleyball
ABOVE VIDEO: Lexy Denaburg, who led the Merritt Island Mustangs to a state championship in both indoor and beach volleyball, and earned All-American honors in both, is the most dominant prep force in her sport in Brevard County history.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced that the 2025 induction ceremony will occur on Saturday, May 24, at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. This will be the first in-person induction since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460. CLICK HERE to see the 2025 Class of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.
2025 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA (Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame) – Like mother, like daughter, that’s the story of Connie and Lexy Denaburg.
Mom Connie, the director of the Cape Coast Volleyball Club, was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 for her dedication to the sport.
This year, it’s Lexy’s turn.
The Merritt Island resident has been gathering plenty of attention during her freshman year at UCLA.
UCLA Volleyball’s “First Floridians” Denaburg and Rileigh Powers, Denaburg’s teammate from Oviedo, helped the team snag its second consecutive NCAA beach volleyball championship.
In volleyballmag.com, UCLA coach Stein Metzger noted that Denaburg, Powers and fellow freshman Devon Newberry were “blue chip, All-American.”
Team Denaburg/Powers is indeed a mighty force for winning. When they played 14 matches during the three-day Under-18 AAU National Junior Beach Volleyball Championship, they won all of them.
Related Story:Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame: Connie Denaburg Among Foremost Brevard Volleyball Coaches, Mentors
A member of the 2018 Merritt Island High School state championship beach volleyball team, Lexy was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s High School Beach First Team All-American in 2019 and an Under Armour indoor volleyball All-American in 2018.
Denaburg was also a four-year letter winner for both indoor volleyball and soccer at Merritt Island High School, where she additionally earned two beach volleyball letters.
She was also named first-team All-State in 2016, 2017, and 2018, and earned All-Conference and All-District in volleyball every year from 2015 to 2018.
Denaburg plays beach volleyball at UCLA, where she was 10-3 as a freshman on court two, including 6-3 against ranked teams. As a sophomore, she went 28-8 on court one, all with Savvy Simo.
She played primarily with Abby Van Winkle as a junior and compiled a 30-11 match mark, all on court one.
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She’s great at volleyball and not bad at soccer, too. She was a two-time state champion in soccer in 2017 and 2018 and a finalist for the Class 4A Soccer Player of the Year award in 2018. Lexy lists her soccer state championship win as the greatest thrill in her sports career.
Her accomplishments have not gone unnoticed, as Space Coast Daily named Lexy the Volleyball Player of the Year for 2018 and the Female Athlete of the Year in 2019.
Lexy and her mom aren’t the only sports stars in the family.
Her father, Dan, excelled in football in college; her older sister, Karly, starred in soccer at North Greenville University. Younger brother Brady led the Mustangs to the finals of the FHSAA football championship game, and older brother Mason was a first-round draft pick for the Washington Nationals in the 2018 MLB Draft.
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THE 2025 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will occur at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne on Saturday, May 24. FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, or to make a reservation, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-615-8111.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME
The 2025 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony is presented by Tom and Suzie Wasdin
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA—The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced that the 2025 induction ceremony will occur on Saturday, May 24, at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. This will be the first in-person induction since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony, presented by Tom and Suzie Wasdin, will be held on the evening of May 24. The Meet-and-Greet will begin at 6 p.m., and the dinner and program will start at 7 p.m.
Tom and Suzie Wasdin are longtime Brevard County entrepreneurs, community supporters, and philanthropists. Tom, an NCAA Final Four basketball coach and Brevard Sports Ambassador, was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
The meet-and-greet will include an opportunity to talk with the area’s sports royalty. Dinner and the induction proceeding, which will include compelling video tributes to each inductee, will follow.
The Brevard County High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards will be held Saturday, May 24, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., also at Eastern Florida State College.
During the Breakfast of Champions, more than 40 awards will be presented to the best of the 2024-2025 male and female high school student-athletes in each sport. For sponsorship information, call 321-323-4460 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com.
Both the Breakfast of Champions and the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame events will be streamed live on Space Coast Daily TV.
Health First, Erdman Automotive, Eastern Florida State College, All Points, Clear Choice Health Care, Brevard Public Schools, Space Coast Office of Tourism, EDC of the Space Coast, 4Ever Young Merritt Island, and Savings Safari sponsor the 2025 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction event and the Brevard County High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards.
To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460.
INDUCTEES SELECTED IN FOUR CATEGORIES
Nominees are chosen in four categories: professional sports, college sports, high school sports, and amateur sports. Special honorary recognition is also bestowed upon individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to sports on the Space Coast.
SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2025
■ PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Jamel Dean, Football; Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Wrestling; Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Football; Randy Pobst, Auto racing; Juwaan Taylor, Football
■ COLLEGE CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Paulette King, Basketball, Dylan Lewis, Soccer; Steve Freeman, Soccer; Bryan Cook, Baseball
■ PREP CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Lexy Denaburg, Volleyball; Andi Sellers, Soccer; Kaira Simmons, Track & Field; Jayvan Boggs, Football
■ AMATEUR/RECREATION CATEGORY INDUCTEE: Alli Penovich, Free Diving; Peter Blount, Track & Field; Caylor Williams, Wrestling
■ COACHING CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Doug Butler, Cross Country and Track; Gerald Hodgin, Football; Jim Oler, Basketball; Don Smith, Basketball
• SPORTS OFFICIAL INDUCTEES: Ted Ruta
• SPORTS JOURNALISM INDUCTEES: Steve Vaughn
• SPORTS DEVELOPMENT INDUCTEE: Loren McClanahan
■ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT INDUCTEES: Larry Garrison, Clint Hurdle
■ SPORTS AMBASSADOR AWARD INDUCTEE: Rusty Buchanan
■ CHALLENGER AWARD INDUCTEE: Joshua Dillon
■ TEAM OF THE YEAR: Cocoa Tigers Football
■ LEGACY CHAMPIONS: Merritt Island Baseball, 1999-2000
■ SPECIAL TRIBUTE: Tim Wakefield
Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and has inducted over 200 of Brevard County’s most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports personalities. Eastern Florida State’s Titan Fieldhouse on the Melbourne Campus hosts the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Portraits of the Hall of Famers are displayed on the wall in the building’s main hallway, which runs parallel to the gym and outside the athletic department offices.
To make a reservation for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-323-4460.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Tim Wakefield talks about his induction into the first class of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and has so far inducted more than 200 of Brevard County’s most outstanding athletes, coaches and sports personalities.
