Personal

Graduated from Minnesota with a degree in public relations/advertising... Spent a season as an assistant coach at Cal-State Fullerton. She began playing beach volleyball competitively in 2004... Nicole married her wife Jenn in 2013. The couple has two children, daughter Tegan (2013) and son Will (2016)

Career Highlights

Tied for fifth at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with Elaine Youngs, falling in the semifinals to the eventual bronze medalists from China
Member of the Women's National Team from 2001-03 and played for the Pan Am Games bronze medal in 2003
Nicole's career kill total at Minnesota was sixth in NCAA DI history, yet she played in fewer games than any of the top five
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DID YOU KNOW
Has partnered with six Olympians through her career
Returned to the FIVB World Tour in 2017 to partner with Kerri Walsh Jennings, their best finish being fourth in Olsztyn, Poland; played the FIVB World Championships with Emily Day
In 2015, won the 2015 AVP Chicago Open with Jennifer Kropp, her first AVP win since 2010
On the FIVB World Tour between 2011-15, best finish was fourth in 2012 with Lauren Fendrick in Thailand
Teamed with Angie Akers and competed in 14 FIVB World Tour events in 2011. Their best finishes were fifth places in Sanya, China and Stare Jablonki, Poland
In the final 2010 FIVB World Tour stop of the season, Nicole partnered with Kerri Walsh to win the Phuket Thailand Open. Nicole also partnered with Misty May-Treanor for nine FIVB World Tour events, finishing third in Stavanger, Norway and fourth and fifth place twice, respectively
With Elaine Youngs in 2009, finished was second in Klagenfurt, Austria, third in Gstaad, Switzerland and fourth in Brazilia, Brazil. Duo won nine AVP tournaments in 2009, including the Manhattan Open
Following the 2008 Olympic Games, Nicole partnered with fellow Olympian Kerri Walsh to win the FIVB beach tour event in Dubai. The pair went 6-0 and did not lose a set
Nicole and partner Elaine Youngs, who were ranked fifth, finished tied for fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games, falling in the quarterfinals (17-21, 13-21) to the fourth-ranked Chinese team of Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, which went on to win the bronze medal
Nicole and Elaine clinched the second U.S. women's beach volleyball Olympic spot at the FIVB World Tour Grand Slam event in Moscow on July 5. Although Branagh and Youngs won the silver medal, it actually secured enough points for the slot with a 21-17, 21-14 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Brazilians Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro
Nicole and Elaine played in eight FIVB events in 2008 prior to the Olympic Games and won one gold medal (Barcelona), one silver (Moscow) and two bronze (Seoul and Paris)
Between 2006-07 on the FIVB World Tour, Branagh finished with a silver and two bronze as best finishes, all with Elaine Youngs
At Minnesota, was a two-year Second Team All-American and Big 10 Player of the Year in 2000
First Team All-Conference her sophomore-senior years, honorable mention her freshman season

Olympic Experience

1-time Olympian;

Olympic Games Beijing 2008, 5th (Team - Women)

World Championship Experience

Most recent: 2017 – 17th (Team - Women)
Years of participation: Team - Women 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017;
Top finish: 5th – 2007 (Team - Women), 2009 (Team - Women)

Athlete Bio

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