While UCLA was not one of the eight teams chosen to compete in the American Volleyball Coaches Association sand volleyball posteason tournament, the team still has reason to celebrate: its first winning season in team history.
The No. 8 Bruins (10-5) headed into the Aloha Invitational Friday knowing it would be their last time on the sand this season.
In the team portion of the Aloha Invitational on Saturday, UCLA faced off against No. 2 Hawai’i (17-1) in the first round. The Bruins fell to the Rainbow Warriors, but a third set comeback from fifth-year senior Madie Smith and her partner freshman Elise Zappia put UCLA on the board for a final score of 4-1.
“I think the Aloha Invitational was a great way to end the season,” said assistant coach Jenny Johnson Jordan. “We got to compete in Hawai’i and play some really good teams, and got the chance to have a great trip to Hawai’i as a team.”
In the contender’s round, UCLA added a third game to its winning streak against St. Mary’s (4-16) and finished in third place to take home a bronze in the team tournament.
Pairs play took place on Friday. While all seven UCLA pairs participated, none advanced past the quarterfinal round. However, this doesn’t mark the season’s end for junior Kamila Tan and senior Zoë Nightingale, as they will be the only UCLA pair traveling to Gulf Shores, Ala., to play in the AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championships pairs tournament next week.
Tan and Nightingale only paired up as a team midway through the season, but quickly became UCLA’s No. 1 team. The pair has only two full days at home before leaving Wednesday for Alabama.
“There are some bumps and bruises, but our personalities work really well together, so that helps a lot in having a new partner when we understand each other really well,” Tan said. “It would have been nice if we started playing together earlier, but we keep improving so steadily, it’s been a lot of fun playing together.”
For the rest of the team, this weekend marked the season closer, but for Smith, this weekend marked her career closer. She began competing with the Bruins both in sand volleyball and in women’s indoor volleyball in 2013, and has played on the sand volleyball team ever since.
For nearly her entire career at UCLA, Smith played with a torn labrum in her shoulder that few others knew about. More than a year after the official diagnosis, she finally has the time for surgery this Tuesday.
“I’ve just playing through it because I figured it was my last year,” Smith said. “I’ve been playing through this pain for some time now so there’s nothing else that can really go wrong with it.”
Smith said she will not be pursuing a career playing volleyball post-graduation, but still plans to be involved in coaching after recovering from surgery.
Despite the loss of a player, the team experienced many firsts this season. This season was the first season the team held its practices and games at home at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, the first time the team saw gameplay against St. Mary’s and the first winning season of team history. The team now welcomes a summer of rest and practice before embarking on its fourth season.
“It’s bittersweet,” Smith said. “It was a great year and great team and I’m just really happy I got to end it this way with these people.”