Marcio Sicoli coached to silver medal, and was one of five Pepperdine figures to have a hand in medal finishes
Pepperdine beach volleyball head coach Marcio Sicoli helped a Canadian beach volleyball duo garner the silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Paris on Aug. 9.
Sicoli, the Waves coach of seven years, coached Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes to their second-place finish in a field of 24 teams from around the globe that competed at Eiffel Tower Stadium.
The Canadian pair went 1-2 in match play before winning their match in the “Lucky Loser Round.” Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes then triumphed in three consecutive contests before falling 2-1 in the gold medal match to Brazil’sAna Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda “Duda” Santos Lisboa.
Sicoli took celebratory photos with Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes after the two claimed their silver medals (Coaches are not awarded medals by the International Olympic Committee). He was one of five Pepperdine-associated players and coaches at the Olympics to be connected to medal-winning triumphs. The others were women’s soccer player Lynn Williams, women’s soccer coach Twila Kilgore, men’s volleyball coach Marv Dunphy, and men’s water polo coach Jack Kocur.
Sicoli has now coached four different teams to win medals at the Olympics including Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bruno to the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, America’s Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor to a 7-0 record and their third straight gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, and Walsh Jennings and April Ross to a bronze medal for the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics.
Williams, a Pepperdine 2015 graduate and one of the best players in Waves women’s soccer history, was a member of the U.S. women’s soccer team that defeated Brazil 1-0 on Aug. 10 to win the gold medal. The striker, a substitute, played six minutes in the contest. She replaced Sophie Smith in the 84th minute of the match.
Williams, Pepperdine’s first All-American soccer player, won the bronze medal with the U.S. in the 2021 Olympics.
Additionally, the U.S. women’s soccer team’s assistant coach Kilgore served as a Waves women’s soccer team assistant coach and associate coach for 10 years beginning in 2004.
Dunphy, the Waves men’s volleyball head coach emeritus, was a consultant coach for the U.S. women’s volleyball team which claimed the silver medal on Aug. 11. The U.S. went 2-1 in pool play before defeating Poland and Brazil to advance to the gold medal match. The team was defeated by Italy 3-0 in the final match.
Dunphy has been a coach for either a U.S. women’s or men’s volleyball team in nine Olympics. He has been a consultant coach for the U.S. women’s volleyball team for three straight Summer Games. Dunphy was the head coach of the U.S. men’s team that captured gold at the 1988 Olympics. He was an coach for the 2000 men’s team that won gold in the 2008 Olympics and a consultant coach for the women’s squad that won gold at the Olympics in 2021. 
Also, former Waves men’s water polo coach and three-time All-American player Kocur was a video scout for the U.S. men’s water polo team that won the bronze medal on Aug. 11.
The U.S defeated Romania, Montenegro, and Croatia and fell to Italy and Greece in group play. The Americans beat Australia in penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals. Serbia beat the team in that matchup. However, the U.S. then downed Hungary 11-8 in the bronze medal match.
Kocur was a video scout for the team at the 2012 Olympics and an assistant coach at the 2016 Olympics.
Eight Waves coaches have been part of medal-winning program at the Olympics.