During her junior year in the fall of 1985 the Mustangs went undefeated en route to winning the state championship, finishing the season with a record of 29–0.

In 1986 Mira Costa again went undefeated through the regular season and reached the championship match before losing in the finals to the Hueneme High School Vikings.

[2] Mira Costa head coach Dae Lea Aldrich, who had led the Mustangs to three state championships, two No.

1 national rankings, eight CIF titles and two state finals over a ten-year period, offered the following on McPeak: "She's a workaholic.

"[3] Among McPeak's top choices were scholarship offers from the UCLA Bruins and the Golden Bears of the University of California, Berkeley.

[2] The coaching change was problematic for the intense McPeak, who found DeGroot unwilling or unable to push the team.

Commenting at the time, fellow Bear teammate Lisa Arce, who had played with McPeak at both Mira Costa High and Berkeley, said "Holly is definitely a competitor.

"[2] McPeak continued playing at Cal under DeGroot, leading the Golden Bears to two more playoff berths, making it three tournament appearances in three years.

McPeak spoke with UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski, who noted she was in a special circumstance as her scholarship school had banned her from further participation.

To win the appeal, McPeak's case had to be approved by faculty athletic representatives from each of the league's 10 institutions.

With Banachowski's help, McPeak succeeded in gaining the support of the athletic representatives from all 10 conference schools, including those from the University of California at Berkeley.

[2] Said Banachowski "We were very good last year with Jennifer, but we finally made the decision to go with Holly because she added a lot more quickness.

"[2] The following year McPeak served as an assistant coach for Banachowski, whose Bruins repeated as national champions.

[5] McPeak grew up at Marine street, and followed local beach doubles teams such as Jim Menges and Matt Gage, Mike Dodd and Tim Hovland, and later players like Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith.

[6] After graduating high school in 1987, McPeak made her pro beach volleyball debut at the age of 18, partnering with Jill Horning at the WPVA "Miller Lite Open" in Santa Monica.

The team scored a ninth-place finish, an accomplishment the young rookies repeated later that summer in the pair's second professional tournament.

[7] Following McPeak's freshman year at Cal she and Horning partnered again for two more pro beach volleyball tournaments, again finishing ninth each time.

This was right behind the American team of Barbra Fontana and Linda Hanley, which lost the bronze-medal game and finished fourth.

The pair won through the first two rounds, but then lost 16–14 in a hard-fought quarter-final match against Sandra Pires and Adriana Samuel of Brazil.

[12] McPeak played her final match with partner Kerri Walsh, retiring for good on May 6, 2009, one week shy of her 40th birthday.

She was seven times voted the best defensive player in beach volleyball (WPVA 1995, 1996, 1997; BVA 2000, AVP 2002, 2003, 2004), and won titles with seven different partners.

[13] Reflecting on her career, she recalls coming to a point where she realized she was capable of winning with any partner and with that realization came an increase in her confidence.