Third-seeded UCLA won the NCAA beach volleyball championship with a 3-0 victory over top-seeded Stanford Sunday at Gulf Shores, Alabama after losing in the semifinals last year and finals in 2023 and 2024.
The Bruins (34-6) won the first match to be decided with redshirt sophomore Kaley Mathews and redshirt junior Ensley Alden defeating juniors Brooke Rockwell and Ruby Sorra, 21-16, 21-11, on Court 2.
UCLA increased its lead to 2-0 when junior Ava Williamson and freshman Jesse Dueck completed a 21-17, 25-23 victory over sophomore Indigo Clarke and junior Clara Stowell on Court 4, winning on their fifth match point on a service ace by Williamson.
The Bruins ended the match when sophomore Sally Perez and senior Maggie Boyd defeated senior Kelly Belardi and sophomore Avery Jackson, 21-11, 21-19, on Court 1. Perez sent a spike into the sand on match point.
Boyd and Perez were selected for the All-Tournament Team along with UCLA teammates Harper Cooper and Alexa Fernandez and Kenzie Brower and Mallory LaBreche. Cooper and Fernandez were leading their match on Court 3, 21-19, 19-8, and Brower and LaBreche were ahead, 21-12, 18-15, on Court 5, when play was suspended after the Bruins clinched the match.
Clarke and Stowell were also selected for the all-tournament team.
The championship was UCLA’s third in beach volleyball and first since 2019. The victory gave the Bruins their 127th NCAA team championship, second behind Stanford’s 139. USC is third 116 and Texas fourth with 60.
UCLA’s 1995 softball championship was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions and is not included in the total.
Championships in the Football Bowl Subdivision and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which conducted championships through 1982, are not included.
The Cardinal completed its season 39-7. Stanford recorded its first national championship tournament quarterfinal victory, semifinal appearance, semifinal victory, and national championship dual match appearance. The 39 victories were seven more than the previous high.
The Bruins were 3-2 against the Cardinal on the season.
“It is sweet to win national championship No. 127 for the school, for this team, for this program,” said UCLA coach Jenny Johnson Jordan, the daughter of the late 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson.
“We are excited to celebrate a little bit more here, but we are more excited to go home and celebrate with everybody. It’s a really special one, especially for Maggie Boyd, who has been here four years, and who has been so close so many times. I remember last year after we lost saying next year we are going to have your back, and I’m so glad that we were able to do that today.”