Only a week after defeating the Golden Bears to claim the Pac-12 title, the Bruins repeated history – taking down the same squad to advance to the semifinal of the NCAA championship.

No. 1 seed UCLA beach volleyball (39-3, 7-0 Pac-12) took down No. 8 seed California (29-10, 3-1), by a score of 3-1, in the NCAA quarterfinal in Gulf Shores, Alabama, on Saturday for the third time this season after sweeping the Golden Bears for the conference crown April 28. The game started off slow as the Golden Bears were out for revenge following their recent loss to the Bruins.

Three courts saw wins for UCLA during the first set with scores of 21-19 on courts 1, 4 and 5. Graduate student Marlie Monserez and sophomore Jessie Smith were knotted in a close battle against Golden Bears Lexi Mckeown and Ella Dreibholz for the second set.

The first point of the match was awarded to the Golden Bears after Cal swept senior Rileigh Powers and graduate student Haley Hallgren 14-21 and 16-21, making the climb to the semifinal more difficult for the Bruins.

Court five would grant the Bruins their first point on the leaderboard with senior Devon Newberry and graduate student Jaden Whitmarsh sealing the deal and sweeping the victory over Brooke Buchner and Alex Young in two sets by scores of 21-19 and 21-13.

UCLA added to its point total to bring the score to 2-1 after Monserez and Smith defeated Cal 21-19 and 21-18. The pair kept the pressure up by controlling their serves, and the block by Monserez ultimately clinched the win and allowed the Bruins to take the lead.

It was all down to one final point for UCLA to defeat Cal and advance to the semifinal.

The last two dual pairings would contend for a final Bruin point on courts one and two. Freshman Maggie Boyd and senior Lexy Denaburg were in a deadlock, with their opponents holding a set. What started as a serve from Denaburg with the score in the third set at 14-10 ended with Boyd delivering the dual point. This is Boyd’s first NCAA championship alongside Denaburg, who has already competed in two previous championships with UCLA. With Boyd’s point, the Bruins advanced to the semifinal.

The last time the Bruins faced off against the Golden Bears, there was only one difference in partnerships. Court one saw Denaburg paired with graduate student Kelli Greene-Agnew during the Pac-12 tournament but for the NCAA championship, Boyd returned as Denaburg’s dual partner.

The Bruins are set to compete in the semifinal at 11 a.m. against the winning squad from the quarterfinal contest between No. 5 seed LSU and No. 4 seed Florida State.