Bruins close to home shone the brightest in Atlanta.

At the GT Invitational, a pair of American Southeast locals led the way to UCLA women’s volleyball’s (2-0) five-set comeback victory over No. 14 Georgia Tech (1-1) on Friday, before sweeping Coastal Carolina (0-2) in three sets Sunday.

“I told the team today,” said coach Alfee Reft. “It’s a bigger thing for us to come back two days after an emotional game and handle business against a good Coastal Carolina.”

Freshman outside hitter Kiki Horne – a Raleigh, North Carolina, local – and junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette – a Hampton, Georgia, local – ranked first and second in kills, respectively, in each game at O’Keefe Gymnasium this weekend.

“A lot of my family just lives here,” Leverette said. “It was the first time some of my family has been able to see me play since I was little. … It just meant the world to me.”

In their game against the Yellow Jackets, the Bruins won the first set 25-20 but let their advantage slip away with 25-11 and 25-10 defeats in the latter two sets, respectively, leaving UCLA no room for errors.

But the Bruins rose to the occasion, coming back 25-19 in the fourth set and edging the Yellow Jackets 16-14 in the tiebreaker to begin their season with victory over a top-20 squad.

Horne delivered four of her team-leading 12 kills in the final two sets while Leverette recorded seven kills in the first and another in the fifth – finishing the day with 10 total spikes.

“It’s a good thing to have in the back of your mind,” Horne said. “Like, ‘Hey you’ve been in tough situations and made it out.’”

The Bruins’ match against the Chanticleers on Sunday proved far more decisive, maintaining control through three consecutive sets, 25-19, 25-14 and 25-15, respectively.

Horne and Leverette were, yet again, the only Bruins to rack up double-digit kills.

Across the pair of matches, freshman outside/opposite hitter Anastasija Ivkovic and redshirt freshman middle blocker Brooklyn Briscoe flashed their rising potential. Ivkovic powered UCLA during its must-win fourth set against Georgia Tech – notching three kills and two service aces while finishing the weekend with nine total kills.

After missing 2023 due to injury, Briscoe recorded eight kills across the Bruins’ two games in her collegiate debut.

“We’ve just been working all summer long on our connection and how we play together as a unit,” Leverette said. “The comfort we’ve built over the past couple months just allowed the freshmen to come in and show off on the court.”

On the veteran side of the ball, graduate student Audrey Pak proved most reliable. On Friday, UCLA’s starting setter recorded 31 assists and 20 digs – the latter a career-high. Pak followed up her performance with 25 assists and 10 digs Sunday.

“Our results are what they were,” Reft said. “It’s been huge to go 2-0 in our first weekend.”