NCAA volleyball is starting – and for the Bruins, things look a little different this time around.
UCLA women’s volleyball will begin its regular season with back-to-back battles against Long Beach State this weekend. The festivities begin at 7 p.m. Friday at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid in Long Beach, before moving to Pauley Pavilion on Saturday at 5 p.m. for the Bruins’ home opener.
The season-opening double header follows UCLA’s 3-2 loss against Pepperdine in an Aug. 15 exhibition match. It was an uneven ending for a squad that led the match in kills, hitting, blocks and digs.
Saturday’s game marks coach Matt Werle’s regular season debut with the Bruins. Werle, who spent his last season as Kansas’ associate head coach, has a coaching resume laden with accolades – including lifting the Grand Canyon volleyball program to become a NCAA contender – but he’s still searching for his first national championship.
“My wife asked me, ‘All these national championships. Does that scare you?’” Werle said. “I said, ‘No, that excites me. I want one, let’s go do this together.’”
The hurdle in Werle’s pursuit of a national championship is Long Beach State.
The Bruins took down Long Beach 3-2 during the LBSU tournament Sept 1, 2025. Long Beach’s season concluded with a loss to Cal Poly in the Big West tournament, and the squad failed to advance to the NCAA tournament.
UCLA has retained a key core of its starting athletes since its last matchup with Long Beach.
Junior libero Lola Schumacher, who was listed to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team alongside fellow Bruin fifth-year middle blocker Marianna Singletary, is set for her second season in Westwood.
She led the Big Ten in digs per set for the 2025 season at 4.38 and served as the core of UCLA’s backline with a .946 clip on 354 serve-receive attempts, also amassing 41 digs across two matches in the NCAA tournament.
Aside from personal accomplishments, including 2025 First Team All-Big Ten and First Team AVCA All-Pacific Region honors, Schumacher said she is looking for ways to uplift her teammates.
“Once I’m playing my game, how can I make Maggie (senior outside hitter Maggie Li) better,” Schumacher said. “How can I make Maggie score this ball? How can I have her trust me? … You can’t see trust in a game, but you can definitely see it within the people and the players.”
Li said she’s finding support from the new coaching staff.
“They’re bringing a lot of good, consistent energy for us, and that really means a lot to the team because when we’re in difficult moments, that’s the energy that we need,” Li said. “We’re not trying to do something that we don’t have control over. So having that consistent energy from the staff means a lot.”
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