Beach volleyball sweeps competition at Monterey Invitational
UCLA beach volleyball played five matches at the Monterey Invitational over the weekend. The Bruins didn’t drop a single game, going 25-0 with wins over Portland, San Jose State, San Francisco, Grand Canyon and Saint Mary’s. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Obed Ardon
March 19, 2017 11:43 p.m.
The No. 3 UCLA beach volleyball team ran through its competition at the Monterey Invitational over the weekend.
UCLA (11-2) displayed its ability to dominate its opponents, sweeping Portland (3-4) and San Jose State (5-3) on Friday, continuing its success Saturday with wins against both No. 13 Grand Canyon (10-3) and Saint Mary’s (6-3).
UCLA dominated despite the fact that coach Stein Metzger mixed his lineup around throughout the weekend and rested key players along the way.
“The team showed incredible poise and consistency for a young squad, especially as we rotated some partnerships,” Metzger said. “(This) allowed us to rest a few athletes and give our newer players some match experience.”
The Bruins were able to work new players in for match experience, while resting sophomore twins Nicole and Megan McNamara who will head north to their home country and compete in the 2017 FIVB U21 beach volleyball trials for Canada.
Junior Jasmine Hogan and freshman Remy Wilson from Newport Beach made their season debuts against Portland. The pair teamed up to go 3-0 on Friday without dropping a set. They also went 2-0 Sunday in exhibition play.
“My game continued to improve with each game under my belt and the nerves started to disappear,” Hogan said. “We hadn’t played with each other since the Hawaii tournament in November but thankfully (Wilson is) such a good player and so easy to play with.”
Hogan played her way into the official roster of the Bruins after originally coming in as a practice player. For Hogan, officially competing for the team is something she said she’s extremely proud of, but is remaining humble along the way.
‘It means the world having come in as a practice player,” Hogan said. “To be able to help the team officially compete and win alongside such amazing girls is a huge blessing and I couldn’t be more humbled by the experience.”
The Bruins will now prepare for their upcoming event, the Long Beach Mizuno Invitational, where the Bruins will battle tougher competition.
UCLA will face a pair of highly ranked teams in No. 14 California, which is undefeated, and No. 6 Long Beach State.
