Last season, Florida State was the team that sent UCLA home in the semifinals.
This year, the opposite happened.
No. 1 seed UCLA beach volleyball (39-3, 7-0 Pac-12) avenged the close duals against No. 4 seed Florida State (31-8, 6-2 CCSA) in the semifinal round of the NCAA tournament to take them to the championships for the first time in two years. After a 90 minute weather delay, the Bruins swept the Seminoles 3-0 to clinch the win Saturday.
“Going into this game, we wanted a lot of revenge from last year,” Denaburg said.
The Bruins struck first with the number four pair. Sophomore Jessie Smith and graduate Marlie Monserez swept their opponents in the first two sets to give the Bruins the first point.
Senior Lexy Denaburg and her partner, Maggie Boyd, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, began their first set on court with strong services. Many of their early points came from service errors on the other side. But after a big hit by Denaburg on the first set point, Boyd added to it with one of her own to take the first set.
Set two on court one was a back and forth brawl. Florida State tested Boyd and Denaburg, tying them four times and preventing the duo from taking the lead. But Boyd and Denaburg did not relent, defeating the Seminoles, 24-22.
Denaburg said after last year’s defeat in the tiebreaker, the Bruins have been waiting for this matchup all season.
“A lot of people on this team had that feeling that we lost last year, and it was ingrained in our heads and in our minds all year,” Denaburg said. “To be able to come back and play them in the semis. It’s just such a sweet feeling. And the job’s not done.”
The blue and gold just needed one more point to get their revenge. On court two, graduate Abby Van Winkle and junior Peri Brennan were one point away from making it to the championship round.
After Brennan served to the other side of the net, Van Winkle hit a cross-court shot to give the Bruins the last point that they needed.
In her first time playing in an NCAA tournament, Brennan said she still felt chills after clinching that last point.
“I’m just super grateful for the opportunity,” Brennan said. “I’m just trying to remind myself that it’s just volleyball, and we just have to play us in order to win this.”
Coach Stein Metzger echoed Brennan’s gratitude and said he’s pleased with the Bruins performance.
“At the end of the day, I’m just happy the team played well,” Metzger said. “When our team plays like this, we’re pretty unstoppable.”
The Bruins will return to the sand Sunday at noon eastern time with the chance to take the crown.
