UCLA beach volleyball opens home schedule with wins over USC, Long Beach State

Abby Van Winkle said the 2021 NCAA title dual still rings in the Bruins’ minds.

“They really took something from us last year – and we still have regrets about that,” the junior said. “And we’re definitely salty.”

With a rematch of the championship final to kick off their 2022 home campaign, Van Winkle and No. 2 UCLA beach volleyball (7-0) nabbed a 3-2 victory over No. 1 USC (2-1) and a sweep against No. 14 Long Beach State (1-5) in day one of the Battle for LA at Mapes Beach on Saturday.

After Van Winkle and sophomore Lexy Denaburg dropped matches against pairs featuring USC’s Hailey Harward and Tina Graudina, respectively, in the last contest of the 2021 season, the Bruin duo teamed up for the first time ever on court one to face the two Trojans yet again.

“Lexy and I were just like, ‘We love this sport. We’re going to fricking take this game,’” Van Winkle said.

UCLA took a 2-1 lead over USC in the first dual of the day, leaving the contest’s outcome down to the performance of Van Winkle and Denaburg and court three’s pair of sophomore Devon Newberry and redshirt sophomore Jaden Whitmarsh.

As Newberry and Whitmarsh entered extra points in their second set, court one raced to match and dual point. Harward and Graudina forced another match point at 20-17, but the ensuing rally culminated in a cross-court kill from Van Winkle to seal the rematch win.

The Bruins’ resulting 3-2 finish included a third-set tiebreaker triumph from court four’s freshman pair of Natalie Myszkowski and Sophie Moore, the only UCLA duo that has won a match in every dual this season.

Coach Stein Metzger said his team’s victory over its crosstown rivals held extra significance.

“It’s kind of a litmus test for where we are with this young team, playing a team that has six graduate students,” Metzger said. “We had three true freshmen starting today, and the fact that we held our own and ended up beating them on home court was really special.”

With a 7-0 record on court four, Myszkowski and Moore have dropped one set all season long, a second-set defeat in their eventual 2-1 win against USC’s Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse.

Freshman Jessie Smith, who paired with graduate student Marlie Monserez on court five, rounded out UCLA’s trio of freshmen starters and picked up straight-set match victories against the Trojans and the Beach on Saturday.

Monserez, who also made her Bruin home debut alongside the team’s freshmen, said Smith’s versatility paid dividends on both offense and defense.

“I know whatever ball I put up, she can put it away, and she’s such a great passer and attacker,” Monserez said. “She makes it so fun.”

Like Monserez and Smith, all but one of UCLA’s starting pairs picked up straight set victories against Long Beach State for a clean sweep to close out the day.

The Bruins are scheduled to take on their crosstown rivals twice more this year, once at the Center of Effort Challenge and again to close the regular season at the Trojans’ stomping grounds.

“Certainly, we expect them to play better next time we play and we want to continue to improve what we do on our side,” Metzger said.

UCLA will close out the Battle for LA on Sunday with duals against No. 7 Grand Canyon and No. 11 Cal Poly.