Hope for a national title seems to have only glimmered brighter for the Bruins after this weekend.

Because through a weekend of multiple ranked victories, No. 2 UCLA beach volleyball (28-4) traveled to San Luis Obispo, California, to compete in the Center of Effort Challenge, maintaining an undefeated slate against No. 4 LMU (28-6), No. 12 Arizona State (18-12), No. 1 TCU (21-5) and No. 5 Stanford (23-8).

“I was very happy with the weekend,” said coach Jenny Johnson Jordan. “It’s a very, very competitive tournament, and we were definitely battle tested, for sure, in every match.”

The Bruins began the weekend against the Lions Friday afternoon after falling to them 3-2 just a week before.

Redshirt sophomore Ensley Alden and redshirt freshman Harper Cooper delivered the final blow on court five, snapping a 2-2 tie to secure a narrow 3-2 victory that flipped last week’s decision.

In the evening, UCLA got the job done swiftly with a 5-0 sweep of Arizona State, fueled by strong showings from ones pair junior Maggie Boyd and freshman Sally Perez as well as threes pair redshirt sophomore Kenzie Brower and senior Jessie Smith.

“Coming back from Laguna (last weekend) and some tough losses as a team,” Perez said. “Really punching first on all four of our games was crucial, and I’m just really proud of all of our fight this weekend.”

Brower and Smith, who sealed the win against the Sun Devils, would play a similar role in securing two close wins Saturday, when the Bruins faced the only team ahead of them in the rankings — the top-ranked Horned Frogs — for the third time this season.

“We lost to them at LSU a few weeks back, and we were prepared for another battle this morning, and that’s exactly what it was,” Jordan said.

What began as a sluggish start turned into a thrilling comeback for UCLA, sealed by Brower and Smith’s rally against TCU’s threes pair of Denie Konstantinova and Maria Gonzalez. The Bruins now boast a 2-1 edge over the Horned Frogs this season and improved to 7-3 in the team’s history.

For the team, resilience was imperative through consecutive down-to-the-wire games Saturday.

“We all started a little bit slow, but about halfway through all of our matches, I could kind of feel the energy pickup and something shift, where we all gave one last big push,” Perez said. “And I think that really made the difference.”

After finding out late Saturday afternoon they’d be battling fellow unbeaten Stanford in the playoff match, the Bruins prepared to face a team they had already taken down twice this season.

And once again, it boiled down to Brower and Smith. In another match that came down to the Brower and Smith pair, the duo sealed the win for the Bruins again, finishing the tournament undefeated.

But make no mistake – the pair delivered the final blow to keep UCLA perfect in San Luis Obispo, California.

“Those are always high-pressure situations, but they’re so fun, and when the whole team comes over and supports, it’s genuinely just such a unique feeling and experience,” Brower said.