The newly formed sand volleyball team brought home its first win ever this weekend, a 4-1 victory over Loyola Marymount on Saturday.
On Sunday, the team got its first taste of tournament play. The bracket-style tournament at USC’s Merle Norman Stadium saw five Bruin pairs face teams from both the LMU Lions and the USC Trojans.
UCLA’s top two teams, No. 1 junior pairing, Meg Norton and Kelly Reeves, and the No. 2 squad of sophomore Zoë Nightingale and freshman Becca Strehlow, opened competition with wins over two LMU teams.
All Loyola Marymount pairings were eliminated by the semifinals, so the UCLA teams’ primary challenges in the tournament came from the familiar faces of the same USC volleyball players it saw in the indoor season.
The tournament proceeded as expected for UCLA, with no teams achieving an upset against higher-ranked opponents. UCLA’s top pair, Norton and Reeves, fell to USC’s top-ranked team in two close sets in the championship match.
With another weekend of experience under its belt, UCLA will host its first-ever home match Thursday when the team takes on fellow first-year squad Nebraska at the Annenberg Community Beach facility in Santa Monica.
Compiled by Liz Schneider, Bruin Sports senior staff.