Home is typically where the heart is.

This weekend, though, it was also the location of four consecutive victories for the Bruins.

In its first weekend back in Southern California after an away tournament, No. 2 UCLA beach volleyball (15-4, 1-0 Pac-12) started the weekend with a victory against No. 17 Grand Canyon (4-8) and followed that up with a win against No. 8 LSU (10-3) at Manhattan Beach on Friday at the East Meets West Invitational. UCLA continued the winning streak Saturday with victories against No. 4 Florida State (15-2) and No. 15 Georgia State (9-8, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference).

Across 20 total matches played by the Bruins, only two were lost – one to the Tigers and the other to the Seminoles.

The duo of junior Jessie Smith and redshirt freshman Kenzie Brower was one of the pairs that lost a match throughout the weekend, losing 2-1 after three sets to LSU pair Ella Larkin and Ellie Shank.

“I think losses provide us a really unique opportunity to learn from,” Smith said. “We talked to the coaches, and we learned a lot from that game.”

Smith and Brower proceeded to win both games on Saturday against Florida State and Georgia State. Within the two matches they played, the smallest margin they won by was six points, never needing to go to a third set.

“We came out here to work hard and fix everything that we didn’t do right yesterday (Friday), and it paid off,” Smith said.

The Bruins were able to close out their weekend with a 5-0 win against the Panthers Saturday afternoon.

The duo of sophomore Maggie Boyd and graduate student Lexy Denaburg sealed UCLA’s victory with a straight set win, holding Georgia State duo Angel Ferary and Bella Ferary to no more than 15 points within a set.

The pair of Boyd and Denaburg did not lose a match across all four games and won each match without having to go to a third set.

“I think losses teach us so much about us as a partnership. And when we lost to Stanford, we went home, and we worked on what we needed to work on,” Denaburg said. “But I think it’s also really important to learn from the wins too.”

Denaburg and Boyd’s last loss came on March 8 against Stanford, a match UCLA lost 3-2.

The duo has been playing together since last year, when they were often paired with each other.

“A lot of things are very similar from last year, like our intensity and how we treat each other on the court,” Denaburg said. “It’s just a little different – we both know each other so well by now, and we’re just trying to build off of last season and get better with every single game.”

The Bruins will face the Seminoles and Tigers once more in two weeks at the Death Volley Invitational.

Despite the rematches, coach Jenny Johnson Jordan said the team is preparing for the game like they would any other.

“We definitely try to treat every game the same, no matter what the rank is, no matter who the opponent is,” Johnson Jordan said.