No. 2 UCLA’s women’s beach volleyball team secured two victories on Saturday at Mapes Beach, defeating Oregon 5-0 and top-ranked Stanford 4-1. With these results, the Bruins completed the MPSF Midseason Rumble with a perfect 4-0 record and improved their home record this season to 8-0.
UCLA (11-2) began the day by handing Oregon its second loss of the day. Harper Cooper and Jessie Dueck delivered UCLA’s first win, overcoming Sofia Taylor and Hanna Bjornson in straight sets. Kaley Mathews and Ensley Alden came from behind to take their first set against Gwen Fife and AJ Slojkowski before winning the second set decisively. Cassie Dodd and Adelina Okazaki clinched the overall match for UCLA with another straight-set victory, while Ava Williamson and Alexa Fernandez posted one of the quickest wins of the day in just 31 minutes. Sally Perez and Maggie Boyd finished off the sweep for UCLA without dropping a set.
Later in the afternoon, UCLA faced No. 1 Stanford after Stanford narrowly defeated Texas earlier in the day. Stanford took an early lead as Charlotta Bell and Logan Tusher beat Ava Williamson and Jesse Dueck, but UCLA responded by winning all four remaining matches. Mathews and Alden led the comeback with a strong performance on court two, followed by Cooper and Fernandez’s win on court three. Perez and Boyd avenged an earlier season loss against Kelly Belardi and Ruby Sorra to clinch victory for UCLA on court one. Kenzie Brower and Mallory LaBreche closed out the match shortly after.
The Bruins will next host the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach from March 13-14, where they are scheduled to play Arizona State, LSU, Texas, and FIU.
“UP NEXT: UCLA hosts the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach, Mar. 13-14. The Bruins play No. 8 Arizona State and No. 13 LSU on Day One and No. 5 Texas and No. 15 FIU on Day Two.”
