No. 2 UCLA Hosts MPSF Midseason Rumble

Friday, March 6

Los Angeles, Calif.

11:00 AM (PT)

UCLA

Grand Canyon

Ensley Alden and Harper Cooper

Photo by: Kayla Holguin

No. 2 UCLA Hosts MPSF Midseason Rumble

March 05, 2026 | Beach Volleyball

Big Ten Plus

No. 2 UCLA (7-2) remains at home this week for the MPSF Midseason Rumble, welcoming No. 1 Stanford (9-1), No. 5 Texas (4-2), No. 16 Grand Canyon (5-3), No. 18 Washington (6-2) and Oregon (5-4) to Mapes Beach. The tournament will take place on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, with all matches streamed on Big Ten Plus. Admission is free.

Play begins on Friday with Grand Canyon facing Texas at 9am. UCLA's first match will be against GCU at 11am. Washington will take on Texas at 1pm before playing UCLA at 3pm. On Saturday, Texas faces Oregon and 9am and Stanford at 11am. UCLA begins play at 1pm vs. Oregon before finishing the tournament with a Top 2 matchup against Stanford at 3pm.

Live scores will be provided throughout the tournament on Statbroadcast. Direct links to the Bruin matches are available on the schedule page at UCLABruins.com.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Opponent: No. 16 Grand Canyon| LIVE STATS
Location: Mapes Beach | Los Angeles, Calif.
Date: Friday, March 6
Time: 11 a.m. PT
Series History: UCLA leads 8-0 | Streak: Won 8
Last Meeting: W 5-0 (March 8, 2025 – MPSF Midseason Rumble @ Mapes Beach)

Opponent: No. 18 Washington | LIVE STATS
Location: Mapes Beach | Los Angeles, Calif.
Date: Friday, March 6
Time: 3 p.m. PT
Series History: UCLA leads 15-0 | Streak: Won 15
Last Meeting: W 5-0 (April 4, 2025 – Best in the West @ Laguna Beach, Calif.)

Opponent: Oregon | LIVE STATS
Location: Mapes Beach | Los Angeles, Calif.
Date: Saturday, March 7
Time: 1:00 p.m. PT
Series History: UCLA leads 8-0 | Streak: Won 8
Last Meeting: W 5-0 (March 7, 2025 – MPSF Midseason Rumble @ Mapes Beach)

Opponent: No. 1 Stanford | LIVE STATS
Location: Mapes Beach | Los Angeles, Calif.
Date: Saturday, Feb. 28
Time: 3:00 p.m. PT
Series History: UCLA leads 25-5 | Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: L 2-3 (Feb. 20, 2026 – Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic – Honolulu, Hawaii)

LAST TIME OUT
UCLA went 4-0 at the Battle for LA at Mapes Beach Feb. 27-28, with wins against No. 3 Cal Poly (4-1), No. 11 Long Beach State (5-0), Boise State (4-1) and Pepperdine (5-0). Harper Cooper and Ava Williamson, who entered the week with a 5-0 record as a pair, had different partners over the weekend and maintained their unbeaten streak, each at 9-0 on the year. Senior Maggie Boyd earned her 100th career victory after she and Sally Perez posted a straight-set victory over Pepperdine.

BOYD HITS 100
With her win against Pepperdine, senior Maggie Boyd became the 11th Bruin to reach 100 career victories. She has 39 of her 100 wins with Perez, which ranks the duo tied for No. 5 in school history for career wins.

UCLA Career Victories
1. Lexy Denaburg (2020-24) - 133
2. Abby Van Winkle (2019-23) - 128
3. Izzy Carey (2016-19) - 123
4. Savvy Simo (2017-21) - 119
5. Lea Monkhouse (2019-22) - 117
6. Megan McNamara (2016-19) - 111
7. Jaden Whitmarsh (2019-24) - 110
8. Nicole McNamara (2016-19) - 109
9. Devon Newberry (2019-24) - 103
10. Elise Zappia (2015-18) - 102
11. Maggie Boyd (2023-25) - 100

NATIONAL, CONFERENCE PAIR OF WEEK
Sally Perez and Maggie Boyd both the AVCA/CBVB and the MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week after posting a 4-0 record at the Battle for LA. The Bruin duo earned victories on court 1 over pairs from No. 3 Cal Poly, No. 11 Long Beach State, Boise State and Pepperdine, clinching wins over Cal Poly on Friday against All-Americans Ella Connor and Erin Iskeep, 21-16, 19-21, 15-10, and also beating Long Beach State All-Americans Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah, 21-14, 21-16, on Saturday. The reigning MPSF pair of the year are now 8-1 on the season.

WILLIAMSON, COOPER REMAIN UNBEATEN
Two Bruins are unbeaten on the season with 9-0 records. Sophomore Harper Cooper is 3-0 on court 3 and 6-0 on court 4, while junior Ava Williamson is 1-0 on court 3 and 8-0 on court 4. Cooper and Williamson paired up to go 5-0 at the season-opening Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Hawaii but were paired with different partners the next week in the Battle for LA with similar results. Cooper went 3-0 with Ensley Alden on court 3 and did not drop a set before pairing with Jesse Dueck on court 4 against Pepperdine and earning a 21-14, 21-5 victory in under 30 minutes. Williamson played with Dueck on court 4 in the first three matches and also went 3-0 before moving to court 3 with Alden and picking up the clinching win over Pepperdine.

RETURNING STARTERS
The Bruins return seven of 10 starters from last year's team that advanced to the NCAA semifinals and finished with an overall record of 32-7. The 2025 MPSF Pair of the Year – Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez – are back after posting a 31-4 record together last season. They are both on the AVCA Beach Player of the Year Watch List. Boyd holds a career record of 100-18, while Perez is 39-5 in her brief career, all on court one with Boyd. Also returning are Kenzie Brower (26-11 in 2025, 52-26 career) from court three, Alexa Fernandez (23-20 career) and Kaley Mathews (22-11 career) from court four, and Harper Cooper (36-9 career) and Ensley Alden (21-11 in 2025, 58-18 career) from court five.

The Bruins lost the services of court two pair Peri Brennan and Natalie Myszkowski, along with Jessie Smith, who paired with Brower on court three at the NCAA Championships.

FRESH FACES
UCLA newcomers include junior transfer Ava Williamson, who was a second-team All-American in 2024 at Arizona State, and a freshman class that includes Junior Beach All-Americans Mallory LaBreche, Olivia Le Blanc and Alina Ryan, along with Jesse Dueck. Williamson and LaBreche have played in all nine matches this season. Williamson in 5-0 with Harper Cooper on court 4, 3-0 with Dueck on court 4 and 1-0 with Ensley Alden on court 3. LaBreche is 6-2 on court 5 and is 2-0 with Taylor Ford and 4-1 with Adelina Okazaki. LaBreche was also paired with Dueck against USC, and their match was abandoned as they were leading in the third set.

BRUIN COACHES
Entering her 13th year with the Bruins and third season as UCLA's head coach is Olympian, national champion and UCLA Athletics Hall of Famer Jenny Johnson Jordan. The 2025 MPSF Coach of the Year, Johnson Jordan sports an overall record of 74-16 (.822) as she continues her 2026 campaign after guiding the Bruins to a 32-7 record and NCAA semifinal appearance in 2025. She guided the Bruins to the NCAA Championship finals in her first year, ending the 2024 campaign with a 35-7 record and a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championship. As an assistant coach, she helped the Bruins win back-to-back NCAA titles in 2018 and 2019. Another Bruin national champion serves as an assistant coach. Kelly Reeves, the Bruins' first-ever beach volleyball All-American and a 2011 NCAA indoor volleyball champion, returns for her third season on staff. Former AVP Beach Volleyball star Theo Brunner is in his first year as an assistant coach.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remains at No. 2 for the second week in a row. The Bruins began the year as the preseason No. 1 after finishing the 2025 campaign No. 3. Since 2018, no team has been ranked No. 1 for more weeks than the Bruins (43). USC has spent 27 weeks at No. 1 in the last seven years while TCU (10), Pepperdine (4), LSU (4), Stanford (2) and Florida State (1) round out the list. Overall, the Trojans have been ranked No. 1 a total of 50 times in the AVCA Poll, followed by UCLA (43), Pepperdine (17), TCU (10), LSU (4), Stanford (3). Hawai'i (1), and Florida State (1).

LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA hosts the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach March 13 and 14. The Bruins play Arizona State and LSU on Day One and Texas and FIU on Day Two.