UCLA
USC
No. 1 UCLA Hosts No. 3 USC, No. 5 LMU on Senior Day
April 19, 2023 | Beach Volleyball
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LOS ANGELESย -- No. 1 UCLA (30-2) closes out the 2023 regular season at home this week with No. 3 USC at 12:00 p.m. PT and No. 5 Loyola Marymount at 4:00 p.m. PT. The Bruins will celebrate their seniors and graduate students after the dual with LMU. LMU and USC will square off at 2:00 p.m. PT. All three duals will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network with Anne Marie Anderson and Holly McPeak calling all of the exciting action. UCLA will also provide live scoring for all three courts for all three duals (go to the team's schedule page for links or see below).
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Opponent:ย No. 3 USCย (24-2)ย |ย WATCHย |ย LIVE STATS
Location:ย Mapes Beachย |ย Los Angeles, Calif.
Date:ย Thursday, Apr. 20, 2023
Time:ย 12:00 p.m. PT
Series History:ย USC leads 22-15
Streak:ย Won 1
Last Meeting:ย W 3-2 (Apr. 15, 2023 - Center of Effort Challenge - Swanson Beach Volleyball Complexย - San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Opponent:ย No. 5 LMU (23-6)ย |ย WATCHย |ย LIVE STATS
Location:ย Mapes Beachย |ย Los Angeles, Calif.
Date:ย Thursday, Apr. 20, 2023
Time:ย 4:00 p.m. PT
Series History:ย UCLA leads 16-4
Streak:ย Won 1
Last Meeting:ย W 4-1 (Apr. 20, 2022ย at Mapes Beach - Los Angeles, Calif.)
THE OTHER DUAL THIS WEEK AT MAPESย BEACH
Thursday, Apr. 20, 2023
2:00 PM:ย No. 3 USC vs. No. 5 LMUย |ย WATCHย |ย LIVE STATS
LAST WEEK ON THE SAND
Then No. 3 UCLA won all four of its duals at the Center of Effort Challengeย at Cal Poly (Apr. 14-15). The Bruins opened with a 5-0 sweep of No. 19 Pepperdine and then defeated No. 1 TCU, 3-2, to end the first day of competition. Then UCLA opened day two with a 4-1 win over Cal Polyย before completing the undefeated weekend with a 3-2ย win over No. 2 USC to win the COEC title.
BIG WINS WEEKENDS
Last week the UCLA Bruins did something they had never done in the history of the program, beat the top two teams in the country in the same week. UCLA defeatedย previously unbeaten and then-top-rankedย TCU (29-0) on Friday (Apr. 14) andย No. 2 USC on Saturday (Apr. 15), snappingย a six-match skid to the Trojans. Other notable weekends for the Bruins came when UCLA took down top-ranked USC twice on the same day (May 1, 2021)ย to win its second Pac-12 Championship in 2021 and when it won the 2019 NCAA Championship as a two seed, defeating No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 LSU and No. 1 USC to claim a second straight NCAA crown. Another big weekend occurred in 2021 when then-fourth-ranked UCLA defeated No. 3 LSU and No. 2 Florida State twice each at Mapes Beach on the weekend of Apr. 3-4.
PAIRS A PLENTY
In a display of depth, UCLA has done more mixing and matching this season than any other previous season. UCLA has already had 26 different duos in 2023, compared to just 17 a year ago and just 16 in 2021. The Bruins had 18 different pairings in 2020. The Bruins only had 11 different duos in the NCAA Championship season of 2019 and only 10 in the Bruins' inaugural title year of 2018.
MOST PAIRINGS IN A SEASON: 1. 2023 (26 duos); 2. 2020 (18 duos); 3. 2022 (17 duos);ย 4. 2021 (16 duos);ย 5. 2016 and 2015ย (14 duos); 7. 2017 (13 duos); 8. 2019 (11 duos); 9. 2018 (10 duos).
CHECKING THE RECORD BOOK
Two current UCLA pairs are on pace in to be in the Top 5 on the UCLA single-season charts for winning percentage. Graduate student Haley Hallgren and senior Rileigh Powers are 27-1 on the year (.964), which would rank No. 1 all-time. The UCLA single-season record is held by Izzy Carey and Lindsey Sparks when they went 27-2 (mostly on court five) for a winning percentage of .931 in 2019. Megan and Nicole McNamara are in second place with a 30-4 mark (all on court one) for a .882 percentage in 2019. This season, graduate student Abby Van Winkle and junior Peri Brennan have gone 20-3 (on courts one and two) for a winning percentage of .870, which ranks fourth all-time, just behind Jordan Anderson and Izzy Carey, who went 21-3 (.875) on court five in 2017.
VAN WINKLE CLOSING IN ON UCLA RECORD
Graduate student Abby Van Winkle is closing in on a major milestone, the UCLA record for career victories. The 2022 All-American has 119 career victories to her credit entering this week's home games against No. 3 USC and No. 5 LMU. She is currently tied for second with Savvy Simo (2017-21) and needs just fiveย more wins to pass Izzy Carey (123, 2016-19).
1. Izzy Carey (123, 2016-19)
2. Savvy Simo (119, 2017-21)
ย ย Abby Van Winkle (119, 2019-23)
4. Megan McNamara (111, 2016-19)
5. Nicole McNamara (109, 2016-19)
Other current Bruins and their career totals in wins (Haley Hallgrenย - 113, Lexy Denaburgย - 93, Rileigh Powers - 89, Kelli Greene-Agnew - 86, Jaden Whitmarsh - 76, Devon Newberry - 62).
SIX BRUINS TO BE HONORED ON SENIOR DAY
UCLA graduate students Kelli Greene-Agnew, Haley Hallgren, Marlie Monserez, Pani Napoleon, Abby Van Winkle, and Jaden Whitmarshย will be honored at the conclusion of tomorrow's UCLA/LMU dual (around 6:00 p.m.) for "Senior Day." The class has a combined record of 489-171 (.741)ย in their collegiate beach careers, including going 275-71 (.795)ย at UCLA. Greene-Agnew is 86-48 (.642);ย Hallgren is 113-35 (.764); Monserez is 39-15 (.722); Napoleon is 56-24 (.700); Van Winkle is 119-33 (.783); andย Whitmarsh is 76-16 (.826).
UCLA AS NO. 1 AND VS. NO. 1
As the No. 1 team in the country, UCLA has gone 88-12 (.880) all-time, but justย 6-6 (.500) 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 goingย 16-1 in 2018, 31-3 in 2019, 7-2 in 2020, 13-3 in 2021, 12-2 in 2022, and 9-1 in 2023 as the nation's top-ranked team.
The UCLA Bruins are 9-16 (.360) 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 Pepperdine on March 30, 2016. Here's a breakdown of the Bruins against the No. 1 teams: Pepperdineย 2-3; TCU 1-0; USC 6-13.
MORE ON RANKINGS
Since 2018, no team has been ranked No. 1 for more weeks than the UCLA Bruins (28). USC has spent 18 weeks at No. 1 in the last six years while TCU (6), Pepperdine (4), LSU (4), andย Florida State (1) round out the list. Overall, the Trojans have been ranked No. 1 a total of 41 times in the AVCA Poll, followed by UCLA (28), Pepperdine (17), TCU (6), LSU (4), Hawai'i (1), and Florida State (1).
MONSEREZ, SMITHย NAMED PAC-12 PAIR OF THE WEEK
UCLA graduate studentย Marlie Monserezย (Windermere, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic HS/Florida) and sophomoreย Jessie Smithย (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel HS)ย have been named the Pac-12ย Pair of the Week as announced by the league office on Apr. 18.ย A relatively new pair for the Bruins (put together last week for the Pac-12 North Invitational), the duo went 4-0 on the weekend to helpย UCLA go undefeated at the Center of Effort Challenge on April 14-15.ย Monserez and Smith improved to 6-0 on the year (3-0 each on courts four and five). They helped the Bruins improve to 30-2 with a 3-2 win over No. 1 TCU (the only team to beat the Horned Frogs this season) and a 3-2 win over No. 2 USC in the title match of the Center of Effort Challenge at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif.ย While they won all four of their matches over the weekend, none were bigger than the straight-set win over the previously undefeated TCU pair of Rochelle Scott and Hailey Brockett on court five (the Horned Frogs' duo was 20-0 entering that match).ย This is the first weekly Pac-12 honor for both Monserez and Smith.
BRENNAN, VAN WINKLE NAMED PAC-12 PAIR OF THE WEEK
The honors keep rolling in for UCLA graduate studentย Abby Van Winkleย (San Clemente, Calif.) and juniorย Peri Brennanย (Laguna Beach, Calif.) as they wereย named the Pac-12ย Pair of the Week as announced by the league office on Mar. 21.ย Van Winkle and Brennan helped UCLA go undefeated at the March to May tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., over the weekend (5-0). UCLA improved to 18-1 on the year, the second best record in the country, with its ninth straight win while the Bruin duo remained undefeated on the year at 10-0 (9-0 on court two and 1-0 on court one).ย The tandem defeated four ranked teams this week, three of which were in the top 10, all on court two. The duo also clinched UCLA's 3-2 win over No. 4 Florida State, rallying for a 26-28, 21-16, 15-12 come-from-behind victory. Against UAB, the Bruin pair moved up to court one to sweep the Blazers in straight sets.ย All of UCLA's other wins this weekend were by a sweep (No. 20 South Carolina, 3-0, No. 6 LSU, 3-0, No. 10 Georgia State, 5-0, and UAB, 5-0).ย This is the first Pac-12 honor for Brennan and the fourth time for Van Winkleย (Feb. 25, 2020; Mar. 10, 2020, Mar. 8, 2022; Mar. 21, 2023).
BRUIN DUO NAMED AVCA/CBVB NATIONALย PAIR OF THE WEEK
UCLA graduate studentย Abby Van Winkleย (San Clemente, Calif.) and juniorย Peri Brennanย (Laguna Beach, Calif.) were named the AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week as announced by the AVCAย on Mar. 20.ย Abby Van Winkleย and Brennan helped UCLA go undefeated at the March to May tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., over the weekend (5-0). UCLA improved to 18-1 on the year with its ninth straight win while the Bruin duo remained undefeated on the year at 10-0.ย They defeated four ranked teams this week, three in the top 10, all on court two. The tandem also clinched UCLA's 3-2 win over No. 4 Florida State, rallying for a 26-28, 21-16, 15-12 victory. Against UAB, the duo moved up to court one to sweep the Blazers in straight sets.ย All of UCLA's other wins this weekend were by a sweep (No. 20 South Carolina, 3-0, No. 6 LSU, 3-0, No. 10 Georgia State, 5-0, and UAB, 5-0.ย This is the first national honor for Brennan and the second forย Abby Van Winkleย (Mar. 7, 2022).
BRUIN DUO NAMED AVCA/CBVB NATIONALย PAIR OF THE WEEK
UCLA freshmanย Maggie Boydย (Flower Mound, Texas) and seniorย Lexy Denaburgย (Merritt Island, Fla.) have been named the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week as announced by the league office on Mar. 14.ย The Bruin duo remained undefeated on court one with an 11-0 record and has yet to drop a single set.ย The pair beat three ranked teams over the weekend, defeating Cal Poly (RV), No. 6 Grand Canyon, No. 13 Florida Atlantic, and No. 16 Long Beach State.ย They also clinched the win over the Beach, helping UCLA go 4-0 in the Battle for Los Angeles, all 5-0 sweeps.ย UCLA is 13-1 on the year with 10 of those victories coming by 5-0 sweeps.ย This is the first weekly honor for Boyd and the third for Denaburgย (Mar. 31, 2021, Mar. 8, 2022).
RETURNING STARTERS
The Bruins return nine of 10 starters from last year's third-place teamย at the NCAA Championship that saw UCLA end the year with an overall record of 34-9. The Bruins' lone loss from the starting lineup was Lea Monkhouseย from court three (29-12 overall). UCLA also lost the services of reserve Maggie Walters (1-2 overall).ย The nine starters returning include:ย from court one, All-Americans Abby Van Winkle and Lexy Denaburg (30-11), from court two, Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry (28-7), from court three, 2022 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jessie Smith (27-11), from court four Marlie Monserez and Rileigh Powers (10-5), and from court five Natalie Myszkowski and Sophie Moore (28-7).ย UCLA will also regain the services of 2021 All-Pac-12 performerย Lindsey Sparks, who missed all of last season due to an injury, but started for the Bruins in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
RETURNING BRUINS LOOKING TO MAKE AN IMPACT
The Bruins also return a lot of talent waiting to make an impact with five additional players coming back from last year's team. This group includes Tessa Van Winkle (9-2 in 2022), Peri Brennan (3-0), Pani Napoleon (3-2), Katie Hashman (1-2), and Madeline Bonanni (0-0).
FRESH FACES
The Bruins also brought in several young players that will all debut in 2023. The class includes Jayla Shanks (Corona, Calif./Santiagoย HS), Kenzie Browerย (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central HS), and 2022 AVCA Junior Beach All-Americans Ensley Alden (Vista, Calif./San Marcos HS/Tamarack BVC), Maggie Boyd (Flower Mound, Texas/Madsand BVC), Macey Butler (Austin, Texas/Westlake HS/AJV Sand), and Ky Vaickus (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla HS/Wave VBC). Boyd was also named to the U.S. Beach U20 National Team in 2022.
TRANSFER PORTAL
UCLA gained the services of two new players in 2023 through the transfer portal. The duo consists of Oregon indoor and beach transfer Reagan Hopeย and Michigan indoor graduate transfer and former USC beach player Haley Hallgren. Hope was on the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball All-Freshman Team in 2022 with the Ducks and Hallgrenย was an NCAA Champion (2021) and DiG Magazine and Volleyball Magazine All-American (2019) while with the Trojans.
NO DUAL PARTICIPATION
For just the third time in program history (and third 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 does have three players with collegiate indoor experience in graduate transferย Marlie Monserezย (Florida), graduate transfer Haley Hallgren (Michigan), and sophomore transfer Reagan Hope (Oregon).
HALL OF FAME MENTORS
U.S. Olympian and UCLA Hall of Famer Stein Metzger is in his 11th season at the helm of the UCLA Beach Volleyball program in 2023. He sports an overall record of 259-57 (.820), He earned his 200th career victory last year with a 3-2 win at Mapes Beach over No. 7 GCU (Mar. 6, 2022). His 100th career victory came in a 4-1 win at No. 13 Stanford on April 8, 2018.ย Metzgerย was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018 and was also named theย USMC/AVCAย National Coach of the Year in both of those seasons. Metzger now has five NCAA Championships to his credit (three as a player in 1993, 1995 and 1996 and two as a coach in 2018 and 2019).
Entering her 10th year with the Bruins and third season as UCLA's Associate Head Coach, Jenny Johnson Jordan is also a U.S. Olympian and a recent UCLA Hall of Fame inductee (Oct. 5, 2018). Like Metzger, Jordan has also won NCAA titles as both a player (1991) and a coach (2018 and 2019). Jordan was inducted into the CBVA Hall of Fame (Nov. 3, 2018) and was named theย AVCA National Assistant Beach Coach of the Year on May 9, 2019.
FALLOWFIELD BACK ON UCLA COACHING STAFF
Sean Fallowfield enters his seventh season as a volunteer coach for the UCLA beach volleyball team in 2023. After three and a half seasons of working with the Bruins, Fallowfield left to coach the Italian Olympic Team in 2018.ย Upon his return from Italy, he served as the P1440 Huntington Beach Director of Development from 2019 until the COVID-pandemic shut everything down in the spring of 2020.ย UCLA Head Coach Stein Metzger brought Fallowfield back to help coach the team in coaching stints at the end of 2021, when the Bruins won the Pac-12 Championship, and then again during the 2022 season. For more of Fallowfield'sย extensive coaching experience,ย click here.
PAC-12ย BEACH VOLLEYBALL
In 2016, beach volleyball was added as the 23rd Pac-12-sponsored sport beginning in the 2015-16 academic year. Now with nineย member institutions (Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington)ย currently fielding beach volleyball teams, the Conference of Champions was the first major conference to sponsor beach volleyball as an official sport.ย As part of the addition, the Pac-12 will also sponsor a Beach Volleyball Championship for the seventh-straight season (should be eighth but the 2020 Championship was canceled due to COVID-19). This year, Stanford will serveย as the host April 26-28 at Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium.
NEW NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT COMING IN 2023
For the sixth straight season The NCAAยฎ National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship will be held May 5-7 at the Gulf Shores Public Beach and will be hosted by the city of Gulf Shores, Alabama and Orange Beach Sports Commission.ย The host institution for the beach volleyball championship will be the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The Division I Competition Oversight Committeeย approved a change to make the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship a 16-team, single-elimination event, starting in 2023.
Under the new format, eight first-round duals will be conducted on the first day (May 5) of the three-day event. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on the second day (May 6).ย The remaining two teams will play the championship contest on the final day of the tournament (May 7).
Last May, the Beach Volleyball Championship was played with a 16-team field for the first time. Eight single-elimination, first-round duals were played on the first day of the four-day event. The remaining eight teams then played the traditional double-elimination format over the final three days of the event.
After reviewing the 2022 championship and receiving feedback from the student-athletes and coaches, the NCAA Women's Beach Volleyball Committee recommended the 16-team, single-elimination format.ย While the format is a departure from what has traditionally been conducted at the championship, it places it in line with most NCAA championships.
Also, in 2023, the NCAA Women's Beach Volleyball Committee will select teams on a national basis rather than be required to select a certain number of teams from each geographic region.ย With the bracket expansion and the addition of automatic qualifiers, the committee determined that a national selection process should be implemented.
Tickets to the 2023 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship are on sale now exclusivelyย here.
DENABURG, VAN WINKLE NAMED 2022 AVCA ALL-AMERICANS
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its 10th annual AVCA Collegiate Beach All-America Teams and two Bruins made the list. UCLA's pair on court one,ย Lexy Denaburgย andย Abby Van Winkle, were both named to the first team a year ago.ย Denaburg and Van Winkle were the eighth and ninth first teamย All-Americans in program history. The duo went 26-10ย overall in 2022. It wasย Denaburg'sย second consecutive season earning first team All-American acclaim after being named to the first team in 2021 withย Savvy Simo. For Van Winkle, this was the first All-American honors of her career.
TWO BRUINS NAMED TO 2022 U.S. BEACH COLLEGIATE NATIONAL TEAM
Two UCLA Bruins were named to the 2022 U.S. Beach Collegiate National Team.ย The 17 student-athletes represent a total of 10 universities from around the country. Graduateย Abby Van Winkleย was named to the BCNT for the third time while senior Lexy Denaburgย was named to the BCNT for the second-straight year. Players were nominated to the team by their coaches and selected based on their collegiate rankings.
2022 PAC-12 SPRING ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
Redshirt sophomore Peri Brennan,ย Sophie Swettย (no longer on the roster), and seniorย Abby Van Winkle were named to the Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll. It was the third-straight year that Abby Van Winkle has earned Pac-12 All-Academic acclaim and the second-straight year for Brennan and Swett.ย Any student-athlete on his or her respective team roster with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or above, and who has served at least one year in residence at the institution, is eligible for recognition.
RECAPPING 2022
The UCLA Bruins went 34-9 a year ago and finished third at the NCAA Championship and second at the Pac-12 Championship. The Bruins defeated 18th-ranked Stetson (3-2), sixth-ranked LSU (3-0), 14th-ranked Georgia State (3-0) in the NCAA Championship before falling to top-ranked USC (3-0) in the winner's bracket semifinal. UCLA was eliminated by fifth-ranked Florida State (3-2) in the contender's bracket final. The Bruins had two players earn AVCA All-American acclaim including First-Team selections Lexy Denaburg and Abby Van Winkle. Jessie Smith was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and joined Lea Monkhouseย on the NCAA All-Tournament Team (court three).
POLLING THE BRUINS
UCLA moved up two spots to No. 1ย this week in the 2023ย AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Pollย (Apr. 18).
AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL POLLย (Apr. 18, 2023)
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Points | Record | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA (18) | 531 | 30-2 | 3 |
| 2 | TCU (9) | 521 | 31-1 | 1 |
| 3 | USC | 487 | 24-2 | 2 |
| 4 | Florida State | 459 | 29-6 | 4 |
| 5 | LMU | 417 | 23-6 | 6 |
| 6 | LSU | 411 | 24-10 | 5 |
| 7 | GCU | 374 | 20-5 | 7 |
| 8 | Hawai'i | 360 | 26-6 | 8 |
| 9 | California | 328 | 23-6 | 9 |
| 10 | Stanford | 285 | 22-10 | 10 |
| 11 | Long Beach State | 269 | 20-14 | 11 |
| 12 | FIU | 241 | 17-14 | 12 |
| 13 | Washington | 210 | 19-12 | 13 |
| 14 | Georgia State | 183 | 16-16 | 14 |
| 15 | FAU | 169 | 16-13 | 15 |
| 16 | South Carolina | 123 | 19-10 | 16 |
| 17 | Tulane | 89 | 20-8 | 17 |
| 18 | Stetson | 72 | 18-14 | 18 |
| 19 | Arizona | 70 | 19-9 | 20 |
| 20 | Pepperdine | 46 | 16-10 | 19 |
Others receiving votes:ย North Florida (15), Coastal Carolina (5), FGCU (2), and UT Martin (2).
Dropped Out:ย None
Next Poll:ย April 25
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