Beach Volleyball

SENIOR (2018)
WCC All-Academic Team ... finished her indoor and beach career with the maximum six conference all-academic selections ... played all 14 duals at the No. 1 position ... went 1-13 ... played alongside Hailey Lindberg nine times and Taylor Odom five times ... paired with Lindberg to claim a three-set dual against Portland in an elimination match at the WCC Beach Volleyball Championships (April 20).

JUNIOR (2017)
WCC All-Academic Team ... CoSIDA Academic All-District® 8 Women's At-Large Second Team ... went 7-8 in duals and 16-20 sets … teamed up with fellow junior Jensen Cunningham at No. 2 to form the team’s most successful pairing (7-7 in duals, 15-18 in sets) … also teamed up with Nikki Hess at No. 1 against Sacramento State in the Bronco home opener (March 8) … Mead/Cunningham recorded dual wins over Saint Mary’s, Cal, No. 8 Arizona, San Francisco (twice), San José State and Pacific … finished the season with four sweeps … posted back-to-back three-set victories over San Francisco and Pacific in elimination matches at the WCC Championship (April 21) to help the Broncos finish in fourth place.

SOPHOMORE (2016)
First Team All-WCC selection for the conference's inaugural season … WCC All-Academic Team … CoSIDA Academic All-America Nominee … went 9-7 overall competing exclusively at the No. 1 position with partner Sabrina Clayton … downed Portland’s Hannah Troutman and Morgan Robinson in straight sets (21-12, 21-19) in the first dual of the season on March 10 … beat USF’s No.1 pair on two different occasions - in Sacramento (March 12) and in Santa Cruz (April 2) … clinched the final points for SCU in the 3-2 win over USF in Santa Cruz … beat Pacific’s No. 1 pair in three sets on April 12 … contributed a point for SCU in the 4-1 win over Stanford … joined with Clayton, to once again down Portland’s No.1 duo in the WCC Championship, helping the Broncos to a 4-1 win.

FRESHMAN (2015)
Posted a 9-12 record on the season … competed at the No. 1 spot with Nikki Hess in the majority of matches, but closed out the season at the No. 2 spot with partner Sabrina Clayton … went 9-8 with Hess and 1-3 with Clayton …  clinched an SCU win with Hess in the dual against USF at the Stanford Invitational … beat Cal Poly in straight sets at the Santa Cruz tournament with Hess on March 28 …  earned a win versus Saint Mary’s with Clayton at the No. 2 position (April 17).

PRIOR TO SCU
(HIGH SCHOOL) 2013 WCAL Player of the Year and First Team ... 2013 San Jose Mercury News First Team and Co-Player of the Year ... 2013 finalist for PrepVolleyball National Player of the Year ... 2013 MaxPreps First Team All-American, Medium Schools and First-Team All State ... 2013 PrepVolleyball High School All-American ... 2013 Second Team PrepVolleyball Academic All-American ... 2013 PrepVolleyball Senior Ace (top 125) ... 2013 NCSAA Large School Co-National Player of the Year and All-American First Team ... 2013 Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions All Tournament Team ... 2012 Max Preps California All State, Division III ... 2012 MaxPreps Second Team All-American, medium schools ... 2012 All WCAL Second Team ... 2013 Team was nationally ranked No. 6 by MaxPreps ... 2013 WCAL Champions ... 2013 Division III Champions ... 2013 NorCal Champions ... 2013 California State Champions ... 2012 Team Division III CCS Champions ... 2012 California State Division III Semifinalist ... Senior Year Stats: 639 assists, 302 kills, 83 aces, 69 blocks and 310 digs ... Junior Year Stats: 606 assists, 249 kills, 83 aces, 49 blocks and 330 digs. (CLUB) Played for Stingray, Payes and City Beach indoor club teams and Main Beach Elite Sand team ... member of 2013 USA Beach National U19 A1 Team ... AAA rated beach volleyball player ... 2012 USA Junior Beach Tour 16U National Champions ... won 18 beach tournaments since starting sand game in 2011. 

PERSONAL: Parents are Hardwin and Tamara Mead ... has four older brothers, Lowell Paul, Brian and Austin ... Brian was a four-time All-America water polo player at Johns Hopkins and the Division III National Player of the Year ... she won the academic excellence award for top AP economics student ... three-time winner of math awards ... won biology, photography and Spanish awards ... named Outstanding Scholar Athlete in 2014 Class ... Spanish Honor Society ... graduated with high honors (top 5%) ... majoring in economics and maintains nearly a 4.0 GPA

WHY KIRSTEN CHOSE SANTA CLARA: I chose Santa Clara because it has the right combination of academics and athletics. I really like the coaches and the girls on the team. I also wanted to go to college in California, and I love the campus.