University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Seven Bruins have earned MPSF All-Academic honors.
Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
Seven Bruins Named to MPSF Beach Volleyball All-Academic Team
May 26, 2026 | Beach Volleyball
LOS ANGELES โ A total of seven members of the NCAA Champion UCLA Beach Volleyball team were named to the MPSF All-Academic Team, the conference announced on Tuesday.
Five of the seven earned their second All-Academic honor in as many years - seniors Maggie Boyd and Kenzie Brower, redshirt junior Ensley Alden and redshirt sophomores Harper Cooper and Kaley Mathews. Sophomores Alexa Fernandez and Sally Perez received their first honors.
Boyd, a psychology major, wrapped up her UCLA career with a national championship and AVCA Player of the Year honors in 2026. She is just the seventh player in NCAA history to earn AVCA first-team All-America honors all four years. Boyd finishes with 125 individual victories, which ranks third in UCLA history. All of her wins came on court one. She holds the No. 2 and No. 4 spots on UCLA's career pairs victories list, totaling 64 with Sally Perez and 57 with Lexy Denaburg. On the academic front, Boyd earned second-team Academic All-America honors and the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award in 2025. She is a three-time academic all-conference honoree and a winner of the Athletic Director's Academic Excellence Award for maintaining Athletic Director's Honor Roll status every quarter at UCLA.ย
Brower earned NCAA All-Tournament honors in each of the last two years and finished with the eighth-most NCAA Tournament wins in UCLA history with nine. She went 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament this season and totaled 18 victories on the year. Brower, a psychobiology major, earned a total of 70 career victories, ranking 21st all-time at UCLA.
Alden earned AVCA second-team All-America honors, first-team All-MPSF acclaim and her second AVCA Top Flight Award in 2026. She finished the 2026 season with 31 wins and has 81 in her career, which ranks 17th all-time at UCLA. The Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics major is now a three-time academic all-conference honoree. ย
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Cooper, a psychology major, received second-team All-MPSF honors and was an AVCA Top Flight Award-winner at court 3 with Fernandez in 2026. She ranked third on the team with 32 wins and led all Bruin players with a .889 winning percentage, going 32-4 overall with five different partners. ย
Mathews, a sociology major, earned second-team All-MPSF honors and an AVCA Top Flight Award at court two with Alden. The pair went 20-7 on the year and won the first point in the 2026 NCAA Championship match. Mathews totaled 26 wins overall.ย
Fernandez, who is majoring in physiological science, received all-tournament honors at the MPSF and NCAA Tournaments with Cooper. The pair also won the AVCA Top Flight Award at Court 3 and was 20-4 overall. Fernandez won 26 matches in 2026.
Perez was named the MPSF Player of the Year this season after winning MPSF Freshman of the Year honors in 2025. She has played on Court 1 in each of the last two seasons with Boyd and has already totaled 65 wins in her career, ranking 23rd all-time at UCLA. She and Boyd rank as the No. 2 pair in UCLA history with 64 victories and won two MPSF Pair of the Year honors and two AVCA Top Flight Awards. Perez, a psychology major, is a two-time first-team All-American and All-MPSF honoree and was a finalist for the AVCA Player of the Year award.ย
Student-athletes who qualify for the award must have a 3.00 or better cumulative grade point average, be at least a sophomore academically, complete one full academic year at the institution prior to the season, and compete in 50 percent or more of the team's matches.ย
Five of the seven earned their second All-Academic honor in as many years - seniors Maggie Boyd and Kenzie Brower, redshirt junior Ensley Alden and redshirt sophomores Harper Cooper and Kaley Mathews. Sophomores Alexa Fernandez and Sally Perez received their first honors.
Boyd, a psychology major, wrapped up her UCLA career with a national championship and AVCA Player of the Year honors in 2026. She is just the seventh player in NCAA history to earn AVCA first-team All-America honors all four years. Boyd finishes with 125 individual victories, which ranks third in UCLA history. All of her wins came on court one. She holds the No. 2 and No. 4 spots on UCLA's career pairs victories list, totaling 64 with Sally Perez and 57 with Lexy Denaburg. On the academic front, Boyd earned second-team Academic All-America honors and the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award in 2025. She is a three-time academic all-conference honoree and a winner of the Athletic Director's Academic Excellence Award for maintaining Athletic Director's Honor Roll status every quarter at UCLA.ย
Brower earned NCAA All-Tournament honors in each of the last two years and finished with the eighth-most NCAA Tournament wins in UCLA history with nine. She went 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament this season and totaled 18 victories on the year. Brower, a psychobiology major, earned a total of 70 career victories, ranking 21st all-time at UCLA.
Alden earned AVCA second-team All-America honors, first-team All-MPSF acclaim and her second AVCA Top Flight Award in 2026. She finished the 2026 season with 31 wins and has 81 in her career, which ranks 17th all-time at UCLA. The Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics major is now a three-time academic all-conference honoree. ย
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Cooper, a psychology major, received second-team All-MPSF honors and was an AVCA Top Flight Award-winner at court 3 with Fernandez in 2026. She ranked third on the team with 32 wins and led all Bruin players with a .889 winning percentage, going 32-4 overall with five different partners. ย
Mathews, a sociology major, earned second-team All-MPSF honors and an AVCA Top Flight Award at court two with Alden. The pair went 20-7 on the year and won the first point in the 2026 NCAA Championship match. Mathews totaled 26 wins overall.ย
Fernandez, who is majoring in physiological science, received all-tournament honors at the MPSF and NCAA Tournaments with Cooper. The pair also won the AVCA Top Flight Award at Court 3 and was 20-4 overall. Fernandez won 26 matches in 2026.
Perez was named the MPSF Player of the Year this season after winning MPSF Freshman of the Year honors in 2025. She has played on Court 1 in each of the last two seasons with Boyd and has already totaled 65 wins in her career, ranking 23rd all-time at UCLA. She and Boyd rank as the No. 2 pair in UCLA history with 64 victories and won two MPSF Pair of the Year honors and two AVCA Top Flight Awards. Perez, a psychology major, is a two-time first-team All-American and All-MPSF honoree and was a finalist for the AVCA Player of the Year award.ย
Student-athletes who qualify for the award must have a 3.00 or better cumulative grade point average, be at least a sophomore academically, complete one full academic year at the institution prior to the season, and compete in 50 percent or more of the team's matches.ย
Players Mentioned
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