In potentially her last time playing at Mapes Beach, graduate student Marlie Monserez ensured that the Bruins would end the regular season with a win.

With one set already to the Bruins and the second slotted at 20-16 in favor of UCLA, Monserez slammed the ball over the net, forcing their LMU counterparts to bobble the ball back and forth until it eventually touched the sand, granting the Bruins an advantage they wouldn’t forfeit for the rest of the afternoon

“They served me one more and I was like, ‘last ball,’” Monserez said. “I knew it was going to be the last one.”

Off the success of five pairs featuring five of the six graduate students honored for Senior Day, No. 1 UCLA beach volleyball (32-2) ended the regular season with another sweep two days after securing the top-ranked slot in the nation. The Bruins accomplished this feat by defeating No. 3 USC (26-3) by 4-1, and No. 5 LMU (23-8) by a score of 5-0.

Coach Stein Metzger emphasized the importance of the team’s recent victories within the context of the looming Pac-12 championships.

“We’ve got some momentum going into postseason,” Metzger said. “Confidence is building with the team, we’ve had a lot of movement with pairs throughout the year but we’ve got some great chemistry right now and things are looking good, the hope is that we maintain that into the Pac-12 championships.”

Prior to Thursday’s contests, the Bruins and the Trojans were knotted at one dual a piece in rivalry contests this season. USC handed UCLA its first loss of the season March 5 while the Bruins took down the then-No. 2 Trojans on March 15, along with then-No. 1 TCU, to secure their current top ranking.

But the early afternoon’s contests brought a second rivalry win for the Bruins.

Monserez and sophomore Jessie Smith – the reigning Pac-12 Pair of the Week – found early success Thursday, clinching their victory over the Trojans in two sets by scores of 21-16 and 21-17. Their wins were paired with victories across the board from three other graduating athletes, as the Trojans were only able to take home one match to the Bruins’ four.

“Those are really strong teams, obviously, and we want to send our seniors off with wins, especially against our rival,” Metzger said. “To be able to get those wins, it was a special day.”

The pair’s luck didn’t run out as the afternoon carried on.

The undefeated duo went on to clinch the first set for UCLA against LMU, highlighted by Monserez’s match point play.

The duo was not the only one to find a victory Thursday afternoon. Notably, graduate student Jaden Whitmarsh and senior Devon Newberry secured the dual victory over the Lions with a service ace from the latter.

“Obviously, it is special, it coming down to our court,” Whitmarsh said. “And clinching the dual feels really good.”

After the back-to-back victories, UCLA capped off its time in Mapes Beach this season by honoring six of its graduate student athletes, including Monserez and Abby Van Winkle. Thursday’s wins and festivities marked the close of the regular season for the Bruins, and with the Pac-12 championships around the corner, Metzger noted that he is confident in the chemistry of the pairs.

“We haven’t had a team with this kind of chemistry going into playoffs,” Metzger said. “Who knows what’s going to happen from here on out, but we’ve never had a team with this much chemistry in terms of all five of our pairs moving into playoffs, so that’s a positive side at the very least. We’re really enjoying playing together.”