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UCLA beach volleyball boasts 13-game win streak after Pac-12 North Invitational

Senior Peri Brennan leaps to make a kill. (Zimo Li/Daily Bruin)

By Lori Garavartanian

April 7, 2024 11:33 a.m.

April showers bring May flowers.

But for the Bruins, they are hoping April wins can bring momentum for a May national championship, coach Jenny Johnson-Jordan said.

“The best way to keep up momentum is to continue to have a high standard in everything we do,” she said.

In a weekend of undefeated play, No. 1 UCLA beach volleyball (22-4, 1-0 Pac-12) started with a win against No. 7 California (16-10) and followed it up with another against Utah (16-12, 0-6). It finished the weekend off with its third and final win against No. 18 Arizona (16-7, 3-3).

The Bruins lost two of 15 sets throughout all three games but had multiple pairs who did not lose any set across the invitational.

One of the duos was senior Peri Brennan and graduate student Devon Newberry, who both showed a marked improvement from the Death Volley Invitational, where they lost a match to Florida State’s Anna Long and Alli Hansen.

“We just focused on getting a really good warm up and staying connected with one another,” Brennan said. “We ended up being successful. She (Newberry) is such a fun person to play with. I feel like there’s no pressure with her.”

This is Brennan’s first year playing with Newberry, after being paired up with Abby Van Winkle, who graduated last season. Newberry and Brennan helped secure a win in the Bruins’ thirteenth road game in a row before their return to Mapes Beach.

Despite the three wins, UCLA dropped a set to both California and Arizona.

Graduate student Jaden Whitmarsh and senior Tessa Van Winkle lost their match to California to open the weekend. However, they went on to win their matches against both Utah and Arizona, despite two close sets against Arizona.

Whitmarsh said the team always learns from its losses.

“Cal played great, and we didn’t have our best game, but it was important to us to analyze and focus on the things we want to work on,” Whitmarsh said. “We picked a few things we wanted to work on improving for the next matches. I think that’s what we did in our following matches, which helped us get those wins.”

The Bruins are currently on a 13-game win streak with seven games standing between them and the start of the Pac-12 Championship.

“We welcome the pressure,” Johnson-Jordan said. “The pressure makes us better. Whether it’s because we’re number one or it’s because we’re UCLA, we’re always going to have a target on our back.”

UCLA will be back on the court Tuesday, traveling back home from Seattle to face Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge.

“Everybody wants to beat us, and we have to be ready and prepared every single match,” Johnson-Jordan said. “No matter who we play, they’re going to bring us their best.”

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Lori Garavartanian
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