The age of new head coach Matt Werle is here – and things are looking bright two games in.

UCLA women’s volleyball (2-0) defeated Long Beach State (0-2) in back-to-back matches Friday and Saturday at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid in Long Beach and Pauley Pavilion, respectively.

The Bruins narrowly lost their first set of the year, falling 27-25, before taking the next three sets unanswered by an average of over four points.

“We really struggled last year finishing sets and finishing matches, and I don’t think we should have been that tight late in some of these sets,” Werle said. “But the fact that we overcame some of that stuff, I’m really proud of, … so we’re trying to make sure that we can be tough late in sets, and that’s something they showed this week.”

A strong offensive presence powered Friday night’s performance, and fifth-year middle blocker Marianna Singletary spearheaded the effort. She led the team with 16 kills, roofing nine blocks – two of which were solo.

Three other Bruins reached double-digit kills as well. Senior outside hitter Maggie Li put up 11 kills and eight digs across the four sets. Freshman middle blocker Brooke Harwood made her collegiate debut, matching Li with 11 kills at a .450 clip, alongside five blocks, including one solo. Meanwhile, transfer sophomore outside hitter Ava Utterback tallied a double-double at 11 kills and 10 digs to mark the beginning of her career in the blue and gold.

Junior setter Kate Duffey orchestrated the attack – helping the team put together a .304 hitting percentage with 45 assists on Friday – while junior defensive specialist/libero Lola Schumacher – who tallied 13 digs and five assists – guided the back row.

“Having Lola on our team is such a blast for me, and I am really, really grateful to have her as my teammate and also as a human off the court,” Li said. “What makes her significant is not only by the way that she plays. She plays really scrappy (and is) really talented, but also off the court, she’s the person trying to bring everybody together to spread positive energy.”

The Bruins remained in control upon returning to Westwood on Saturday.

Taking the first set 25-21, the squad kept itself to just three errors while maintaining a strong offensive presence at 16 kills against Long Beach.

But the mascot came out as aggressors in the second set, pushing the Bruins to the brink. The Bruins eked out a 30-28 second-set win despite tripling their errors. Werle’s squad recaptured its early dominance in the third set, winning 25-16 and clinching the match 3-0.

Harwood maintained a .522 clip across three sets and tallied 13 kills to only one error. Singletary, who also only posted a single error, had nine kills on a .333 clip.

Schumacher matched her performance from the previous night with 13 digs and an additional four assists. Despite her strong performances, the libero credited her teammates for clinching the team’s victories over the weekend.

“I can keep my team in a game as long as we need, but at the end of the day, I can’t win a game for our team,” Schumacher said.

Duffey guided the offense with 36 assists, two kills and 12 digs, good for second-best on the team.

Despite Saturday night being the home opener, Pauley Pavilion was missing a large contingent of fans, many of whom are waiting for school to start before coming back.

“We’re missing the student body to have our backs,” Werle said. “We’re excited to have everybody back on campus, and hopefully we can give them something to be really excited about when they do arrive back.”