Stein Metzger often uses the words “a team on the rise” to describe UCLA beach volleyball.
Over the weekend, the Bruins managed to echo the sentiments of their coach with their actions, reinforcing their identity against the top teams in the nation.
On paper, the No. 6 Bruins looked like a team on the outside looking in at Zuma Beach, facing a field of the top four teams in college beach volleyball, three of which are former national champions.
UCLA quickly erased any notion of that perception right from the get-go by going 2-0 on Saturday and ultimately leaving the tournament with a 2-2 record.
“We’ve come so far as a team, as far as from this year to last year,” said sophomore Elise Zappia. “We’ve got a bunch of new people and our skill level is much higher. And I think overall our team competitiveness is a lot better this season.”
The Bruins started strong Saturday morning with a 3-2 win over the 2013 national champions, the Long Beach State 49ers (0-4). The team’s second matchup of the day was again locked at two apiece with the difference between a win and loss against Hawai’i (1-3) falling on the shoulders of senior Julie Consani and junior Laurel Weaver.
After narrowly dropping a thriller of a first set that lasted 60 points, the duo managed to claw a 25-23 second-set win, setting up a third set with members of both teams watching intently from the sidelines.
The prolonged match finally ended with the image of excited Bruins rushing onto the court to hug their victorious teammates.
“It was such an amazing moment and such a fun way to start my last season,” Consani said.
It was redemption for the Bruins, who lost to the 49ers twice and the Rainbow Wahine once last season, but they were also the first program wins over these two beach volleyball powerhouses.
“It was definitely awesome having those two wins (Saturday), and kinda reinforced that ‘Hey, UCLA is still battling for being in the top ranks,'” said sophomore Reily Buechler.
Buechler, along with her partner freshman Zana Muno, were the only Bruin pair who went undefeated Saturday, and were highlights of a group of five successful UCLA beach volleyball debuts, who all managed to rise to the occasion and pull off crucial wins.
“I think we can attribute a lot of our improvement as a squad to their play,” Metzger said. “We brought in five really darn good freshmen and they’re making an impact already.”
UCLA’s hot streak came to a cooldown amid winds that topped 20 miles per hour on Sunday after losing 5-0 to both No. 1 USC (3-1) and No. 2 Pepperdine (4-0). But Metzger said those losses did not take away the significance of the improvements the Bruins have made leading up to the season.
“Even though the match score doesn’t reflect it, because we lost 5-0, we had a number of tight matches against both ‘SC and Pepperdine,” Metzger said. “And we haven’t found ourselves in those positions before.”
UCLA’s path to ascension continues Thursday morning, when it faces Cal State Northridge (1-0) and No. 5 Florida State (4-0).