McPeak officially takes her position amongst beach volleyball's finest on Oct. 30, when she'll be inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame.

According to McPeak, the induction into volleyball's pantheon came as a bit of a surprise to her, because the news did not come from an official source - just someone she knew. "It's sort of funny, but I think someone else mentioned to me that I had been chosen and said ‘congratulations!' I retired just a month prior so I was a little surprised it happened so quickly," she said. "I received the official letter one week later." McPeak's Olympic sports experience speaks for itself. She has represented the U.S. in beach volleyball on three occasions in 1996, women's beach volleyball inaugural Olympic Games. She earned a bronze medal and two fifth-place beach volleyball finishes. Her 72 career beach volleyball titles include international and domestic sports victories . Regardless of the how the numbers stacked up - the wins and MVP awards - McPeak remained in focus the next match.

"When you are training and competing full time as an athlete you never think of the accolades. My goal was to be the best that I can be," she continued. "I am proud of my career and all the blood, sweat and tears that went into it." For McPeak, now 40 years old, the winning began early in her career, as she led UCLA to the 1990 NCAA championship. All that beach volleyball winning has turned into quite a living. In 2002, McPeak became the first woman worldwide to surpass $1 million career earnings. After retiring in May of 2009, she had posted over $1.5 million in career earnings. As if her resume wasn't impressive enough already, she came out of retirement within only months, partnering with Kerri Walsh to finish the 2009 beach volleyball sports season. After all of her accomplishments, it's a little surprising that McPeak can stay as grounded as she is. We asked her to pinpoint the significance of her volleyball Hall of Fame induction, and she's quick to deflect.

"I just hope Ive inspired people to go after what they are passionate about," she said. "Nobody thought I could do well in beach volleyball, but I did. I focused and worked hard and became one of the best beach volleyball players in the world. I am a bit undersized, however I have a big heart and a good work ethic." Along with the 5-foot-7 McPeak, the Beach Volleyhall Class of 2009 includes three other players: Ana Moser of Brazil, Ivan Bugajenkov of Latvia, and Siegfried Schneider of Germany. Coach Nikolay Karpol of Russia and administrator Paul Libaud of France round out the class of six. The Beach Volleyhall's event will take place at Holyoke's Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House. The Volleyball Hall of Fame is located at 444 Dwight St. in Holyoke.