UCLA Begins NCAA Tournament Play Friday

Friday, May 1

Gulf Shores, Ala.

1:00 PM PT

UCLA

Tulane

Kenzie Brower has totaled six career wins in NCAA Tournament play

Photo by: Karina Toriz

UCLA Begins NCAA Tournament Play Friday

April 30, 2026 | Beach Volleyball

Game Notes (PDF)2026 NCAA Bracket

UCLA at NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships
Venue: Gulf Shores Beach (Gulf Shores, Ala.)
Dates: Friday-Sunday, May 1-3
TV: ESPN2 (Fri-Sat), ESPN (Sun)

NCAA Schedule
Fri., May 1, 3pm CT - 1st Rd. vs. Tulane
Sat., May 2, 12pm CT - 2nd Rd. vs. Cal Poly/Grand Canyon
Sat., May 2, 2:30pm CT - Semifinals
Sun., May 3, 11:30am CT - Championship

BRUINS SEEDED NO. 3 AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA (30-6) earned the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships, which will take place May 1-3 in Gulf Shores, Ala. The Bruins will open the tournament on Friday, May 1 against No. 14 seed Tulane (26-13) at 3pm CT/1pm PT. The match will be televised on ESPN2. The winner will advance to the second round to face No. 6 seed Cal Poly (30-8) or No. 11 seed Grand Canyon (19-15) on Saturday, May 2 at 12pm CT/10am PT.

A LOOK AT THE FIELD
The NCAA Tournament features eight automatic qualifiers and eight at-large selections. A total of six MPSF squads are in the 16-team field, including the Top 4 seeds, No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 USC. The Bruins are 17-5 this season against the field - 2-2 vs. No. 1 Stanford, 2-3 vs. No. 2 Texas, 4-0 vs. No. 4 USC, 3-0 vs. No. 6 Cal Poly, 1-0 vs. No. 7 LMU, 2-0 vs. No. 8 California, 2-0 vs. No. 9 Long Beach State, and 1-0 vs. No. 11 Grand Canyon.

UCLA'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
This is UCLA's 10th NCAA appearance in the 10 years of the Championship. The Bruins are 28-12 (.700) all-time in NCAA Tournament play and finished third a year ago. UCLA has won two national championships, winning in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019. The Bruins also have three runner-up finishes, most recently in 2024. UCLA ranks No. 2 all-time in NCAA Championships (2), victories (28) and highest winning percentage (.700) and is tied with USC and Florida State with the most NCAA Tournament appearances (10).

NCAA EXPERIENCED
Eight of UCLA's 10 expected starters have NCAA Tournament experience, none more than senior Maggie Boyd, who has played on court 1 every season since her freshman year of 2023. Boyd is 10-0 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 3-0 with current partner Sally Perez. Boyd tied the NCAA record in 2023 by totaling four victories in the Tournament with Lexy Denaburg. Kenzie Brower is 6-1 on court 3 over the last two seasons, playing with Jessie Smith. Alexa Fernandez and Kaley Mathews played together on court 4 last season to a 1-1 record. Haprer Cooper and Ensley Alden paired up on court 5 in 2025 and went 0-1. Alden also played in 2024 on court 5 with Natalie Myszkowski, going 1-0. Ava Williamson played on court 1 in one NCAA Tournament match in 2024 while at Arizona State. Additionally, Cassie Dodd played on court 1 for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2024 against the Bruins, losing to Boyd and Denaburg. Dodd holds the fourth-highest single-match attack percentage in NCAA Tournament history, hitting .938 in that match against the Bruins. Three Bruins have earned NCAA All-Tournament honors - Boyd in 2023, Alden in 2024 and Brower in 2025.

SCOUTING THE GREEN WAVE
Tulane earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Conference USA Tournament as the No. 5 seed. The Green Wave defeated top-seeded Florida Atlantic 3-0 in the final, their second 3-0 win over the Owls in as many days. Molly Trodd and Skylar Ensign were named the CUSA Pair of the Tournament. The 14th-seeded Green Wave enter the tournament with a 26-13 record. This will be the first meeting between UCLA and Tulsa since 2022. The Bruins are 4-0 all-time against the Green Wave.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA ranks No. 3 heading into the NCAA Championships, behind No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Texas. This is the first time this season the Bruins have not been ranked No. 1 or No. 2. Since 2018, no team has been ranked No. 1 for more weeks than the Bruins (48). USC has spent 27 weeks at No. 1 in the last seven years while TCU (10), Stanford (5), Pepperdine (4), LSU (4), 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 (48), Pepperdine (17), TCU (10), Stanford (6), LSU (4), Hawai'i (1), and Florida State (1).

In the TruVolley/CBVB rankings, the Bruins rank No. 1 as a team. Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez are the No. 2-ranked pair. Harper Cooper and Alexa Fernandez rank No. 8, and Ensley Alden and Kaley Mathews rank No. 10. UCLA and Cal Poly are the only teams with multiple pairs in the Top 10. UCLA is the only one with three.

RANKED WINS
UCLA is 25-7 this season over ranked teams, including 9-5 against teams in the Top 5 and 16-6 against teams in the Top 10. The Bruins earned a 4-1 victory over top-ranked Stanford on March 7, a 4-1 win over No. 3 Cal Poly on Feb. 27, a 4-1 victory at No. 3 USC on April 16 and, most recently, a 3-1 win over second-ranked and top-seeded Stanford in the MPSF semifinals.

BRUINS FINISH SECOND AT MPSF TOURNAMENT
UCLA came out of the contender's bracket to advance to the semifinal, where they beat top-seeded Stanford, but fell to third-seeded Texas in the final, 3-2. The Bruins won their first game of the tournament 3-1 over LSU but lost to Texas on day 2, 3-1, forcing an elimination game against Cal, which the Bruins won 3-0. Against the Cardinal in the semifinal, Stanford scored the first point with a straight-set win on court 2, but UCLA tied it up with a 21-14, 21-15 win on court 3 by Alexa Fernandez and Harper Cooper. Kenzie Brower and Mallory LaBreche rallied back after losing the first set on court 5, winning in three, 18-21, 21-12, 15-9 to put UCLA ahead 2-1. Sally Perez and Maggie Boyd won the match for the Bruins on court 1 with a gritty three-set win, advancing the Bruins to the final. The rematch with Texas for the Championship once again went the Longhorns' way, 3-2, despite early wins by Kaley Mathews and Ensley Alden on court 2 and Ava Williamson and Jesse Dueck on court 4. Fernandez/Cooper and Williamson/Dueck were named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team.

BOYD KEEPS CLIMBING UCLA'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST
Senior Maggie Boyd ranks No. 4 on UCLA's career victories list with 122 wins and is just one away from tying Izzy Carey (123 from 2016-19) for third place. On Feb. 28, Boyd became the 11th Bruin to reach 100 career victories. She has 61 of her 122 wins with Perez, and the duo now ranks No. 2 in school history for career wins as a pair. Boyd also holds the No. 4 spot, totaling 57 with Lexy Denaburg from 2023-24.

TOP PERFORMERS
Sally Perez/Maggie Boyd have posted a 30-5 record on court 1, and Kaley Mathews/Ensley Alden are 22-6 overall, mainly on court 2. Harper Cooper/Alexa Fernandez are 18-4 overall, mostly on court 3. Five Bruins have reached the 25-win mark – Perez (31), Boyd (30), Cooper (30), Alden (29) and Ava Williamson (26). Three more Bruins have reached 20 wins - Fernandez (24), Mathews (24) and Mallory LaBreche (23). Kenzie Brower and Jesse Dueck have 15 wins each.

FOUR BRUINS IN TOP 25 FOR CAREER WINS, THREE IN TOP 25 FOR SEASON WINS
Four current Bruin players are in UCLA's all-time Top 25 for career wins. Senior Maggie Boyd ranks No. 4 (122). Redshirt junior Ensley Alden is tied for No. 17 with 79, redshirt junior Kenzie Brower is No. 22 with 67, and sophomore Sally Perez is tied for No. 23 with 62 in under two seasons. Boyd and Perez have the second-most pairs victories in school history with 61. With 22 victories, Alden and Kaley Mathews are just one win away from reaching the Top 25. In the single-season individual victories category, Perez is tied for No. 21 with 31, while Boyd and Harper Cooper are tied for No. 25 with 30.

BOYD, PEREZ NAMED AVCA PLAYER OF YEAR FINALISTS
UCLA's Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez were selected as Finalists for the AVCA Beach Player of the Year. The Bruins duo have occupied Court 1 for the past two seasons. This year, they have posted a 30-5 record and are 61-9 all-time as a pair, ranking No. 2 all-time at UCLA in career pair victories. They won MPSF Pair of the Year honors in both 2026 and 2025, and in Fall of 2024 became the first Bruins ever to win the AVCA Pairs National Championship.

Boyd, a senior from Flower Mound, Texas, is just the fourth Bruin ever to earn first-team All-America honors four times in her career. She is also a four-time first-team all-conference selection. She was named the MPSF Player of the Year in 2025 and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2023. Boyd holds a career record of 122-22 and earlier this season became the 11th Bruin to achieve 100 career wins. She currently ranks No. 4 on UCLA's career victories chart and is also No. 2 on the career pairs victories list with Perez with 61 (and No. 4 with Lexy Denaburg with 57). Boyd is also a star in the classroom, earning second-team Academic All-America honors, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award and two conference all-academic honors. She has also been on the Director's Honor Roll 11 times in her career.

Perez, a sophomore from Apex, N.C., was named the 2026 MPSF Player of the Year and earned first-team AVCA All-America and All-MPSF honors for the second consecutive year. She leads the team in victories with 31, matching her 2025 total which ranks No. 21 on UCLA's single-season victories list. After less than two seasons, she already ranks in the program's Top 25 for career victories with 62, and she and Boyd rank No. 2 in career pairs victories with 61. Last season, she was the MPSF Freshman of the Year, and this fall, she won the FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championship with Stanford's Avery Jackson. The duo became just the second-ever American pair to win gold at the event. Perez, who is 31-5 this year and has a career record of 62-9, has been on the Director's Honor Roll every quarter at UCLA.

ALL-AMERICAN BRUINS
Senior Maggie Boyd and sophomore Sally Perez earned first-team AVCA All-America honors, while junior Ensley Alden received second-team acclaim. Boyd becomes just the fourth Bruin ever to earn first-team All-America honors by the AVCA, joining her former partner Lexy Denaburg and the first ones in NCAA history to ever do it, Megan and Nicole McNamara. Boyd has 30 victories this season, bringing her career wins total to 122, fourth-most in UCLA history. Perez earns her second consecutive first-team honor. She leads the team with 31 wins and is already No. 23 on UCLA's all-time list for career victories with 62. Alden earns her first career All-America nod. She has totaled 29 victories this season, and her 79 career wins rank No. 17 all-time at UCLA.

FIVE HONORED BY MPSF
UCLA sophomore Sally Perez was named the 2026 MPSF Beach Volleyball Player of the Year and honored alongside her partner Maggie Boyd as the 2026 MPSF Pair of the Year for the second consecutive year. Both Perez and Boyd earned first-team All-MPSF honors for the second year in a row and were joined by junior Ensley Alden, a first-time All-MPSF honoree. Junior Kaley Mathews and sophomore Harper Cooper received second-team All-MPSF acclaim.

TWO DUOS WIN MPSF PAIR OF WEEK IN 2026
UCLA's top two pairs have each won MPSF Pair of the Week honors in 2026. The No. 1 duo of Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez claimed their third career MPSF honor when they were selected Pair of Week March 3 following wins over Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Boise State and Pepperdine. They were also selected the AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week. The win over Pepperdine was Boyd's 100th career victory, and her conference pair of the week honor was the fifth of her career, tying the school record held by Peri Brennan, Megan McNamara, Nicole McNamara and Savvy Simo. The No. 2 pair of Ensley Alden and Kaley Mathews received their first MPSF Pair of the Week award on April 14 after they posted three wins to help UCLA win the Center of Effort Beach Volleyball Challenge. Alden and Mathews earned victories over No. 9 California, No. 13 Arizona State and No. 4 USC. The honor was the first ever for Mathews and the second for Alden, who previously won Pac-12 Pair of the Week in 2024 with Natalie Myszkowski.

COOPER SUCCESSFUL IN MULTIPLE PAIRINGS
Sophomore Harper Cooper has seen success with every player she has paired with this season, going 30-4 with five different partners. Cooper's most extensive play has been with Alexa Fernandez on court 3, where the pair is 17-4; they are also 1-0 on court 2. Cooper has gone unbeaten with Ensley Alden (3-0 on court 3), Ava Williamson (5-0 on court 4), Jesse Dueck (3-0 on court 4) and Kaley Mathews (1-0 on court 3). In 2025, she recorded a 22-9 record with three different partners.

SWEEPING SUCCESS
The Bruins have swept 16 opponents in their 30 victories this season (two were won 3-0 with two matches unfinished). Of the 16 sweeps, 13 have been against ranked teams, including five against teams in the Top 10 (No. 6 Texas Feb. 19, No. 8 Arizona State March 13, No. 5 Texas March 14, No. 10 Long Beach State Apr. 4, and No. 8 California Apr. 23).

CLOSE CONTESTS
UCLA has played nine matches that have been decided by 3-2 counts, winning four and losing five. The Bruins have all four of those wins in the month of April, winning 3-2 against Cal Poly and USC at both Best in the West and at the Center of Effort Challenge. UCLA's only losses have been 3-2 decisions, including road losses at Hawaii and at Texas, two at neutral sites against Stanford, and a MPSF championship loss to Texas.

RELATIVE RIVALRY
If UCLA and Cal Poly advance to face each other in the second round, only one thing is certain - a Dueck will move on to the semifinals. Freshman Jesse Dueck plays on court 4 for UCLA, and her cousin, graduate student Peyton Dueck, plays on court 5 for Cal Poly. Peyton also has UCLA ties, having played indoor volleyball for the Bruins from 2022-25 before taking a graduate transfer to play on the beach for Cal Poly. So far this season, Jesse's team has gotten the better of Peyton's, as the Bruins are 3-0 against the Mustangs. Jesse is 1-1 against Cal Poly this season, while Peyton is 0-3 against UCLA.

NCAA RECORD HOME WIN STREAK EXTENDED
UCLA's 5-0 win over CSU Bakersfield on April 14, in its last home match of the season, extended the Bruins' NCAA record home winning streak to 37 matches. UCLA has not lost a home match since April 1, 2023 (3-2 to Florida State at the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach). The Bruins have not lost at Mapes Beach since March 31, 2022 (4-1 to TCU).

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
The Bruins have had an excellent year academically. During the Fall quarter, the team recorded a 3.502 GPA, with 17 team members making the Director's Honor Roll and nine recording a 3.5 GPA or higher. In the Winter, during competition season, the team earned a 3.406 GPA, with 16 on the Director's Honor Roll and eight earning a 3.5 GPA or higher. Last year, a league-high eight Bruins earned Academic All-MPSF honors, while 17 were honored on the Academic All-Big Ten team. Maggie Boyd earned Academic All-America honors, becoming just the second UCLA beach volleyball player to do so.

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 97-20 (.829) as she continues her 2026 campaign after leading 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.