Beach Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season at USC Thursday

Thursday, April 16

Los Angeles, Calif.

12:00 PM (PT)

UCLA

USC

Alexa Fernandez

Photo by: Mac Brown

Beach Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season at USC Thursday

April 15, 2026 | Beach Volleyball

Watch on Big Ten Plus

No. 1 UCLA (26-4) completes its regular season on Thursday, April 16 at No. 3 USC (26-7). The dual will take place at Merle Norman Stadium at Noon and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus. This is the third consecutive week the Bruins have matched up with the Trojans; UCLA won both previous matches (at Best of the West and at the Center of Effort Challenge) by a 3-2 score. UCLA is 3-0 against USC this season, having also beaten the Trojans 3-1 on Feb. 21 in Hawaii.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Opponent: No. 3 USC
Location: Merle Norman Stadium
Date: Thursday, April 16
Time: 12:00 p.m. PT
Series History: USC leads 29-24 | Streak: Won 3
Last Meeting: W 3-2 (April 11, 2026 – Center of Effort Challenge @ San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

LAST TIME OUT
UCLA finished its home slate with a 13-0 record after beating CSU Bakersfield, 5-0, on Tuesday. The Bruins did not drop a set in the match. The Bruins started out with a pair of wins on courts 4 and 2, with Hannah Fleming and Alexa Fernandez earning a 21-16, 22-20 victory over Olivia Ostler and Emma Neville on court 4, and Kaley Mathews and Ensley Alden defeating Vivi Kaelin and Kendall Kaelin 21-19, 21-16 on court 2. Ava Williamson and Adelina Okazaki performed a 32-minute masterclass on court 3, beating Ella Ensign and Vianna Garcia 21-17, 21-17 to clinch the Bruins' win. On Senior Day, two Bruin seniors closed out the match, with senior Kenzie Brower and freshman Mallory LaBreche taking the fourth win of the day, 21-16, 21-11 over Havi Montano and Katey Milne on court 5. Senior Maggie Boyd scored the final point for UCLA with partner Sally Perez, defeating Erika Markentin and Olivia Silacci-Jensen 21-18, 21-12 on court 1.

NCAA RECORD HOME WIN STREAK EXTENDED
UCLA's 5-0 win over CSU Bakersfield on Tuesday, in its last home match of the season, extended the Bruins' NCAA record home winning streak to 37 matches. UCLA has not lost a home match since April 1, 2023 (3-2 to Florida State at the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach). The Bruins have not lost at Mapes Beach since March 31, 2022 (4-1 to TCU).

ALDEN/MATHEWS NAMED MPSF PAIR OF WEEK
UCLA's No. 2 pair of Ensley Alden and Kaley Mathews was selected the MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week after posting three wins to help the Bruins win the Center of Effort Beach Volleyball Challenge. Alden and Mathews earned victories over No. 9 California, No. 13 Arizona State and No. 4 USC. In the Championship match against USC, Alden and Mathews beat Ashley Pater and Sarah Wood 21-17, 21-18 to even the match at 1-1. The Bruins would go on to win in a thriller, 3-2, to take the title. With their three wins, plus Tuesday's win over CSU Bakersfield, Alden and Mathews improved their season record to 19-4. This was the first MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week award for Alden and Matthews and the second by a Bruin duo this year, as Sally Perez and Maggie Boyd also won the award on March 3. Alden won one previous conference pair of the week award in 2024 with Natalie Myszkowski.

BOYD KEEPS CLIMBING UCLA'S ALL-TIME WIN LIST
Senior Maggie Boyd has moved into sole possession of No. 5 on UCLA's career victories list with 118 wins. She is one away from tying Savvy Simo for fourth place. On Feb. 28, Boyd became the 11th Bruin to reach 100 career victories. She has 57 of her 118 wins with Perez, and the duo now ranks No. 3 in school history for career wins as a pair, tied with Boyd and Lexy Denaburg, who also totaled 57 from 2023-24.

UCLA Career Victories
1. Lexy Denaburg (2020-24) - 133
2. Abby Van Winkle (2019-23) - 128
3. Izzy Carey (2016-19) - 123
4. Savvy Simo (2017-21) - 119
5. Maggie Boyd (2023-pres.) – 118

UCLA Career Pairs Victories
1. Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara (2016-19) - 109
2. Sarah Sponcil/Lily Justine (2018-19) – 59
3t. Sally Perez/Maggie Boyd (2025-pres.) – 57
3t. Maggie Boyd/Lexy Denaburg (2023-24) – 57

TOP PERFORMERS
Sally Perez/Maggie Boyd have posted a 26-3 record on court 1, and Kaley Mathews/Ensley Alden are 19-4 overall, mainly on court 2. Harper Cooper/Alexa Fernandez are 13-3 overall, mostly on court 3. Four Bruins have reached the 25-win mark – Perez (27), Boyd (26), Alden (26) and Cooper (25). Three more Bruins have reached 20 wins - Ava Williamson (24), Mathews (21) and Mallory LaBreche (21). Fernandez is nearing 20 wins as well with 19.

BRUIN COACHES
Entering her 13th year with the Bruins and third season as UCLA's head coach is Olympian, national champion and UCLA Athletics Hall of Famer Jenny Johnson Jordan. The 2025 MPSF Coach of the Year, Johnson Jordan sports an overall record of 93-18 (.838) as she continues her 2026 campaign after leading the Bruins to a 32-7 record and NCAA semifinal appearance in 2025. She guided the Bruins to the NCAA Championship finals in her first year, ending the 2024 campaign with a 35-7 record and a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championship. As an assistant coach, she helped the Bruins win back-to-back NCAA titles in 2018 and 2019. Another Bruin national champion serves as an assistant coach. Kelly Reeves, the Bruins' first-ever beach volleyball All-American and a 2011 NCAA indoor volleyball champion, returns for her third season on staff. Former AVP Beach Volleyball star Theo Brunner is in his first year as an assistant coach.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is back on top of the AVCA poll and has been ranked No. 1 or 2 in every poll this year. Since 2018, no team has been ranked No. 1 for more weeks than the Bruins (47). USC has spent 27 weeks at No. 1 in the last seven years while TCU (10), Pepperdine (4), LSU (4), Stanford (4) and Florida State (1) round out the list. Overall, the Trojans have been ranked No. 1 a total of 50 times in the AVCA Poll, followed by UCLA (47), Pepperdine (17), TCU (10), Stanford (5), LSU (4), Hawai'i (1), and Florida State (1).

LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA will compete in the MPSF Tournament April 22-24 at Spiker Beach in Huntington Beach, Calif.