No. 1 UCLA Ends Regular Season at No. 2 USC

LOS ANGELES -- No. 1 UCLA (28-4) heads crosstown to conclude the 2024 regular season with a pair of duals against top-10 teams. The Bruins will take on No. 9 LMU (22-11) on Thursday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m. and then No. 2 USC (27-4) at 12:30 p.m. at USC's Merle Norman Stadium. It marks the third meeting this season with the Lions (1-1) and the fourth against the Trojans (2-1). USC will provide a live stream of all three duals (USC and LMU will meet at 2:30 p.m.), and live stats as well (links provided below).

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Opponent: vs. No. 9 LMU (22-11) | WATCH | LIVE STATS
Location: Merle Norman Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024
Time: 10:00 a.m. PT
Series History: UCLA leads 20-6 | Streak: Won 1
Last Meeting: W 3-2 (April 12, 2024 - Center of Effort Challenge - Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex - San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Opponent: vs. No. 2 USC (27-4) | WATCH | LIVE STATS
Location: Merle Norman Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024
Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
Series History: USC leads 24-19 | Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: W 3-2 (April 13, 2024 - Center of Effort Challenge - Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex - San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

LAST WEEK'S LINE IN THE SAND
The Bruins went 4-0 in San Luis Obispo to claim the title at the Center of Effort Challenge for the second straight year (April 12-13). The Bruins opened the tournament with a 3-2 win over No. 10 LMU followed by a 3-2 win over No. 4 Florida State. Day two saw the Bruins post another 3-2 win at No. 6 Cal Poly and then a 3-2 win over No. 2 USC in the finals.

BRENNAN, NEWBERRY NAMED PAC-12 PAIR OF THE WEEK AGAIN
Senior Peri Brennan (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and graduate student Devon Newberry (Santa Monica, Calif.) of UCLA Beach Volleyball have been named the Pac-12 Pair of the Week as announced by the league office on April 16. This marks the fourth time Newberry has been named part of the Pac-12 Pair of the Week and the third for Brennan.

• Brennan and Newberry went 5-1 on the weekend, with four top-10 wins and their only loss coming in a close match against No. 6 Cal Poly (21-16, 22-20).
• The pair began the weekend with a three-set win over Long Beach State, securing a 15-21, 21-16, 15-11 victory.
• The pair won their remaining four match wins in straight sets against No. 2 USC (21-18, 21-19), No. 4 Florida State (21-19, 23-21), No. 10 LMU (21-13, 21-17) and CSUN (21-9, 21-9).
• In four of their five wins, the duo secured the Bruins' second point of the dual, with UCLA finishing the weekend with two 5-0 sweeps and four 3-2 victories. 
• The pair is 28-4 on the year, all on court two, and have won 13 of their last 14 matches.
• After her five weekend wins, Newberry has won 99 career matches to rank 10th in UCLA program history.
• This is the pair's second Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week honor this season.

ALDEN, MYSZKOWSKI NAMED AVCA/CBVB PAIR OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman Ensley Alden (Vista, Calif. / San Marcos HS) and junior Natalie Myszkowski (Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Mira Costa HS) have been named the AVCA/CBVB Collegiate Beach Pair of the Week as announced by the AVCA on April 1. It is the first AVCA/CBVB weekly national honor for both Alden and Myszkowski. Myszkowski and Alden demonstrated their dominance at the Death Volley Invitational, boasting an outstanding 4-0 record against ranked opponents on court 5. Without dropping a set in the marquee event, they recorded the first points of No. 2 UCLA's dual wins against No. 10 LSU and No. 4 TCU. Their season record stands at an impressive 20-1. The Bruin pair has won 18 matches in a row and are 20-1 on the year (all on court five). This week they defeated four ranked teams without dropping a set. In the 18-match winning streak, all 18 have come against ranked teams, with six coming against top-five teams and a total of 13 coming against teams in the top-10 nationally.

ALDEN, MYSZKOWSKI NAMED PAC-12 PAIR OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman Ensley Alden (Vista, Calif.) and junior Natalie Myszkowski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) of UCLA Beach Volleyball have been named the Pac-12 Pair of the Week as announced by the league office on April 2. This marks the first time either player has been named part of the Pac-12 Pair of the Week.

• Boasted a perfect 4-0 record at the Death Volley Invitational in Louisiana, helping the Bruins to four ranked team wins against No. 17 Florida Atlantic, No. 10 LSU, No. 5 Florida State and No. 4 TCU.
• Took down all four court-five opponents in straight sets, only allowing more than 17 points in three of the eight sets.
• The pair recorded the first point of the dual in the Bruins' wins against both No. 10 LSU (21-14, 21-17) and No. 4 TCU (21-18, 21-13), with their remaining wins against Florida State (22-20) and Florida Atlantic (21-17, 26-24) earning the second point of the dual.
• After only dropping one match all season for an overall record of 20-1, the duo's weekend wins brought their current win streak to 18 consecutive matches. 
• Each of their last 18 wins have come against ranked teams, with six coming against Top-5 teams and a total of 13 coming against Top-10 teams.

BRENNAN, NEWBERRY NAMED PAC-12 PAIR OF THE WEEK
Senior Peri Brennan (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and graduate student Devon Newberry (Santa Monica, Calif.) of UCLA Beach Volleyball were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Week as announced by the league office on March 19. This marks the third time Newberry has been named part of the Pac-12 Pair of the Week and the second for Brennan.

• After helping No. 2 UCLA to four ranked wins at the East Meets West Invitational over the weekend, the duo ran their season record to 17-2. 
• The pair is on a six-match win streak without dropping a set in the last six duals. 
• Newberry and Brennan held their weekend opponents to under 15 points in four of the eight sets. 
• Playing solely on court two, the duo took down No. 4 Florida State, No. 8 LSU, No. 15 Georgia State and No. 17 Grand Canyon to add four more wins to the Bruins' 14 ranked wins this season. 
• Newberry and Brennan contributed the first point of the dual in all four matches.
• This is the third career Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award for Devon Newberry (March 1, 2022; April 9, 2021), second career Pair of the Week award for Peri Brennan (March 21, 2023) and first of the season for the pair.

BOYD, DENABURG NAMED AVCA/CBVB PAIR OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Maggie Boyd (Flower Mound, Texas / Marcus HS) and graduate student Lexy Denaburg (Merritt Island, Fla. / Merritt Island HS) were named the AVCA/CBVB Collegiate Beach Pair of the Week as announced by the AVCA on March 3. It is the first AVCA/CBVB weekly national honor for Boyd and the second for Denaburg. Denaburg and Boyd were instrumental in UCLA's victories over four ranked teams during the Battle for LA at Mapes Beach (Mar. 1-2). On the first day, they went 2-0,  dominating No. 8 Cal's No. 1s in straight sets and sealing the deal with a hard-fought, three-set win over No. 18 Cal Poly's top pair, clinching the dual. Their momentum carried into the second day, when they picked up wins in the matches against No. 13 Washington and clinching the dual victory against No. 9 Long Beach State.

BOYD, DENABURG NAMED PAC-12 PAIR OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Maggie Boyd (Flower Mound, Texas) and graduate student Lexy Denaburg (Merritt Island, Fla.) of UCLA Beach Volleyball were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Week as announced by the league office on March 4. This marks the fourth time Denaburg has been named part of the Pac-12 Pair of the Week and the second for Boyd.

• The No. 1 Bruins' pair helped UCLA to a weekend sweep (4-0) over four ranked opponents. 
• The court one pair began the Battle for LA with a win in straight sets against No. 8 California's top pair (21-18, 21-12), going on to secure a dual-clinching win against No. 18 Cal Poly's No. 1 duo (13-21, 21-17, 15-12).
• Against No. 13 Washington, Boyd and Denaburg played to another three-set win (21-14, 16-21, 15-11), closing out the weekend with yet another dual-clinching performance against No. 9 Long Beach State.
• The Bruins are now 8-3, with all 11 duals coming against ranked opponents, while stretching its win streak to seven (five against top-10 opponents). 
• Named the AVCA Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week, the first in Boyd's career and second in Denaburg's.

BOYD, DENABURG NAMED UCLA STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK, PRESENTED BY READY
Sophomore Maggie Boyd and graduate student Lexy Denaburg of UCLA Beach Volleyball were selected the UCLA Student-Athletes of the Week, presented by Ready, for the week of Feb. 26-Mar. 3. The top-ranked Bruins' court one pair of Denaburg and Boyd helped UCLA go 4-0 at the Battle for LA with four wins over AVCA Top 20 teams this week (Mar. 1-2). The Bruins improved to 8-3 on the year, with all 11 duals coming against ranked opponents, while UCLA stretched its winning streak to seven (five against Top 10 foes). Denaburg and Boyd were also named the AVCA National Pair of the Week on Monday. The duo had two dual-clinching wins over #18 Cal Poly and #9 Long Beach State. At the Battle for LA in rainy conditions, the Bruins defeated No. 9 California, 4-1, No. 18 Cal Poly, 4-1, No. 13 Washington, 5-0, and No. 9 Long Beach State, 4-1.  Boyd and Denaburg secure their first-career UCLA student-athlete of the week awards.

RETURNING STARTERS
The Bruins return seven of 10 starters from last year's second-place team at the NCAA Championship that saw UCLA end the year with an overall record of 40-4 (tied for the most wins in UCLA, Pac-12, and NCAA history). The Bruins lost the services of Abby Van Winkle (35-7 overall, 128-34 career), Haley Hallgren (32-4 overall, 116-38 career), and Marlie Monserez (27-5 overall, 48-17 career). UCLA also lost the services of reserve Kelli Greene-Agnew (10-4 overall, 87-48 career). The seven starters returning include: from court one, All-Americans Lexy Denaburg (32-7 overall, 100-29 career) and Maggie Boyd (27-6 overall and career), from court two, Peri Brennan (34-5 overall, 37-5 career), from court three Rileigh Powers (31-4 overall, 92-28 career), from court four Jessie Smith (26-6 overall, 53-17 career), and from court five Jaden Whitmarsh (24-3 overall,85-16 career) and Devon Newberry (13-0 overall, 71-20 career).

RETURNING BRUINS LOOKING TO MAKE AN IMPACT
The Bruins also return two players that started most of the 2022 season in Sophie Moore (13-4 overall, 41-11 career), Natalie Myszkowski (11-2 overall, 39-9 career), and Tessa Van Winkle (21-9 overall, 30-11 career). There are five additional players coming back from last year's team and ready to compete for a spot in the Bruins' lineup. This group includes Madeline Bonanni (0-0), Kenzie Brower (0-0), Reagan Hope (0-0), Jayla Shanks (0-0), and Ky Vaickus (0-0).

FRESH FACES
The Bruins also brought in several young players that will all debut in 2024. The class includes Harper Cooper (Rowlett, Texas/Parish Episcopal), Hannah Fleming (Santa Cruz, Calif./Scotts Valley HS), Taylor Ford (Danville, Calif./Monte Vista HS), and Kaley Mathews (Marin County, Calif./Redwood HS).

NO DUAL PARTICIPATION
For the fourth time in program history (and fourth consecutive year), the UCLA beach volleyball program does not have a single player from the Bruins' indoor volleyball team currently playing on the roster. UCLA only has one player with collegiate indoor experience in junior transfer Reagan Hope (Oregon in 2021-22).

A NEW ERA BEGINS
Entering her 11th year with the Bruins and first season as UCLA's Head Coach, Jenny Johnson Jordan spent the previous three seasons as the Associate Head Coach at UCLA. She is currently 28-4 (.875) in her first season, getting her first victory as a head coach in a 5-0 sweep at No. 9 Hawai'i on Feb. 22, 2024. She also picked up her win over a No. 1 team and her first win over USC when the Bruins took down the Trojans, 4-1, to win the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic on Feb. 24, 2024. An Olympian, a National Champion, and a UCLA Hall of Famer (2018), Johnson Jordan won NCAA titles as both a player (1991 - indoor) and a coach (2018 and 2019 - beach). Jordan was inducted into the CBVA Hall of Fame (Nov. 3, 2018) and was named the AVCA National Assistant Beach Coach of the Year on May 9, 2019.

Johnson Jordan completed her staff during the off-season and brought back beach volleyball Hall of Famer (CBVA in 2014 and International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2017) and USA Beach Volleyball National Team head coach Jose Loiola as an assistant coach. Loiola was a volunteer assistant coach for the Bruins in 2021, helping guide UCLA to a Pac-12 Championship and NCAA runner-up finish. After Loiola's previous season with the Bruins, he went on to coach 2020 Olympian Tri Bourne and also served as head coach of the USA Volleyball squad that won gold at the 2021 U19 World Championships. In 2022, he coached Miles Partain and Andy Benesh to gold at the FIVB Challenger Dubai.  

She then completed her coaching staff with the Bruins' first-ever All-American in beach volleyball (2013), UCLA standout Kelly Reeves. In addition to her playing career, Reeves has developed a coaching career in all levels of the sport, including juniors, collegiate, USAV development, and amateurs. In 2022, Reeves helped the LMU Lions finish 4th at the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, the best finish in the program's history. That same year, Reeves was a recipient of the Thirty Under 30 Beach coaches award from the AVCA. Reeves is also a National Champion, helping the Bruins win the indoor title in 2011. She has played on the AVP since 2016 and has also competed on the NORCECA Tour and FIVB World Tour.

PAC-12 BEACH VOLLEYBALL, THE FINAL SEASON
In 2016, beach volleyball was added as the 23rd Pac-12-sponsored sport beginning in the 2015-16 academic year. With nine member institutions (Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington) currently fielding beach volleyball teams, the Conference of Champions was the first major conference to sponsor beach volleyball as an official sport. As part of the addition, the Pac-12 has also sponsored a Beach Volleyball Championship, which the Bruins won last year, and have won two of the last three and three of the last five. This year's final Pac-12 Championship will be hosted by Arizona State at the new Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility April 24-26.

PAC-12 CHAMPIONS (2023)
No. 1 UCLA (37-3) came all the way back through the contender's bracket with three straight 3-0 sweeps of No. 3 USC (28-5), No. 8 Stanford (28-12) and No. 9 California (28-9) on Friday (Apr. 28) to capture its third Pac-12 Conference Championship at Stanford's Beach Volleyball Stadium. UCLA earned its 21st-23rd sweep of the year, which ties for the most in program history, which was established by the NCAA Championship team of 2019. The Bruins opened with a 3-0 sweep of Utah on Apr. 26 and then dropped its first-ever dual to Stanford, 3-2, on Apr. 27. The Bruins advanced to the semifinals of the contender's bracket with a 3-0 sweep of Arizona on Apr. 27 before making their Championship run the following day. UCLA became just the second team to come from the contender's bracket to win a title (USC did it in 2017 against the Bruins).

PAC-12 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
The UCLA Bruins had two pairs named to the Pac-12 Championship All-Tournament Team in 2023. Both pairs went 5-0 during tournament play and they included Peri Brennan and Abby Van Winkle on court two and Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry on court five.

LEXY DENABURG IS MOVING ON UP
Last year, 2023 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Abby Van Winkle, became the UCLA all-time leader in career victories with a win over USC in the semifinals of the contender's bracket of the 2023 Pac-12 Championship. The two-time All-American (2022 and 2023) finished with 128 career victories to her credit. This year, graduate student and three-time All-American, Lexy Denaburg is going to challenge that mark as she currently sits in second place with 126 career wins on the Bruins' top court.
1. Abby Van Winkle (128, 2019-23)
2. Lexy Denaburg (126, 2020-24)
3. Izzy Carey (123, 2016-19)
4. Savvy Simo (119, 2017-21)
5. Lea Monkhouse (117, 2019-22)
6. Megan McNamara (111, 2016-19)
7. Nicole McNamara (109, 2016-19)
8. Jaden Whitmarsh (107, 2019-24)
9. Elise Zappia (102, 2015-18)
Other current Bruins and their career totals in wins (Devon Newberry - 99; Rileigh Powers - 95).

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RECORD BOOK
Lexy Denaburg is on pace to break the Bruins' all-time career wins mark, established last season by Abby Van Winkle at 128. Denaburg is currently in second place with 126 wins, and is in her final season with the Bruins in 2024. Denaburg had 32 wins a year ago and is 26-6 overall this season (all on court one).

UCLA AS NO. 1 AND VS. NO. 1
As the No. 1 team in the country, UCLA has gone 114-15 (.885) all-time, and is 8-7 (.533) against USC when the Bruins are No. 1. The first time UCLA was ranked No. 1 came in April of 2018 and since then, UCLA has been ranked No. 1 for multiple weeks every season, including going 16-1 in 2018, 31-3 in 2019, 7-2 in 2020, 13-3 in 2021, 12-2 in 2022, 19-3 in 2023, and 16-1 in 2024 as the nation's top-ranked team.

The UCLA Bruins are 10-17 (.370) all-time against the top-ranked teams in the country. UCLA began 0-5 against the nation's top-ranked programs (2013-16) before breaking through with its first-ever win over a No. 1 team in the 3-2 home win over then top-ranked Pepperdine on March 30, 2016. Here's a breakdown of the Bruins against the No. 1 teams: Pepperdine 2-3; TCU 1-0; USC 7-14.

The Bruins have been involved in No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups 24 times in program history with a 10-14 record (.417) in those meetings. Interestingly, UCLA is just 3-9 (.250) as the top-ranked team in those matchups but 7-5 (.583) as the underdog.

MORE ON RANKINGS
Since 2018, no team has been ranked No. 1 for more weeks than the UCLA Bruins (34). USC has spent 23 weeks at No. 1 in the last seven seasons while TCU (6), Pepperdine (4), LSU (4), and Florida State (1) round out the list. Overall, the Trojans have been ranked No. 1 a total of 45 times in the AVCA Poll, followed by UCLA (34), Pepperdine (17), TCU (6), LSU (4), Hawai'i (1), and Florida State (1).

POLLING THE BRUINS
UCLA remained steady at No. 1 in this week's 2024 AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Poll (April 16).

AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL POLL (April 16, 2024)
 

Others receiving votes: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (9), Tulane (8), Boise State (7), FGCU (3), North Alabama (2), North Florida (1) and Coastal Carolina (1)

Dropped Out: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Next Poll: April 23