#2 UCLA vs #3 LMU 4-5-2025 BVB

Dear Readers~

    Welcome to the latest blog covering 2025 NCAA Division 1 Beach Volleyball. Today's blog will cover the game between #2 UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and #3 LMU (Loyola Marymount University) that took place on Saturday, April 5th in Laguna Beach, California, southeast of Anaheim and Long Beach. The tournament they played in was the Laguna Best of the West. Going into this game, LMU beat Cal Poly and North Florida but lost to Stetson while UCLA beat Hawaii and Washington but lost to Cal Poly. This matchup between each other was the final game of the tournament for each other. Going into the game, LMU was 25-4 while UCLA was 24-3. The last time the two played each other was in Hawaii at the start of the season where UCLA won 3-2. Will UCLA beat LMU again or will LMU redeem themselves and beat UCLA? Let's get started to find out who comes out on top in Laguna Beach, California.

    For those who don't know, NCAA and Professional Beach Volleyball have the winner determined a little differently. In both sports the pair who wins has to win 2 sets whether it be by winning both sets, first to 21 in this case, or by winning 2 of the 3 sets, with the first two sets playing to 21 and the third playing to 15, with all three requiring a lead of 2 points or more when the set is finished. In the pros once a pair win their two sets, they have won the game and move on in the bracket, but NCAA is a little different, just because you've won two of your sets doesn't always mean you've won the game. In order for your school to win in NCAA your school has to win at least 3 of the 5 games they have going on against the other school. By that I mean each time a school plays against each other, they have their top 5 pairs playing each other and in order to win your school has to have at least 3 of your pairs beating 3 pairs of your opponents. Now let's get into the game of LMU taking on UCLA in Southern California.

    The list of pairs will go in order of who finished first so starting us off is the 4's or the fourth best pair of each team. This game involved UCLA's Alexa Fernandez and Kaley Mathews taking on LMU's Isabelle Reffel and Magdalena Rabitsch. This game ended 21-17 and 21-15 both in favor of LMU and giving them a 1-0 lead over UCLA. The next game to finish was the 3's, or the third best pair of each team. This game had UCLA's Kenzie Brower and Jessica Smith taking on LMU's Anney Thorup and Lisa Luini. The first set ended at 21-19 in favor of LMU but UCLA redeemed themsevles by winning the second set 21-14 and causing a third set. The third set ended at 15-11, remember that the third set plays first to 15 with a two point lead, in favor of LMU and giving them a 2-0 lead over UCLA. The next game to finish was the 1's, or the top pair of each team. This game had Michelle Shaffer and Vilhelmiina Prihti for LMU take on Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez for UCLA. The first set ended 21-6 while the second one ended 21-18, both in favor of UCLA and making it now 2-1 with LMU still only one game away from winning. The next game to end was the 2's, or the second best pair on each team. This game had Chloe Hooker and Jaeya Brach for LMU taking on Peri Brennan and Natalie Myszkowski for UCLA. The first and second sets ended at 21-17 but one went in favor of UCLA and the other in favor of LMU, leading to a third set. The third set ended at 15-13 in favor of UCLA and tying the overall score at 2-2 meaning whoever won the next game won. This last game was between the 5's, or the fifth best pair on each team. This game had Ensley Alden and Harper cooper for UCLA taking on Tanon Rosenthal and Giuliana Poletti Corrales for LMU. Just like with the 2's, the first and second sets both ended at 21-17 but LMU took the first set while UCLA took the second and causing a third set. The third set would end at 16-14 (don't forget that the third set does end with first to 15 but you do need a minimum of a 2 point lead to win) in favor of LMU and giving them a 3-2 victory over UCLA. With UCLA having won their last meet up, it looks like LMU got their revenge.

Here is the coaches poll for week 6 of the 2025 NCAA Division 1 Beach Volleyball season. Don't forget to give the NCAA volleyball a follow on their Instagram to see how the rankings will change as we get closer to the national championships held in Orange Beach, Alabama: @ncaavolleyball

Here is UCLA's gameday post they put on their Instagram for the game in Laguna Beach. Don't forget to give them a follow as they try to get their way back up to that #1 spot: @uclabeachvb

Here is the gameday post LMU put on their Instagram for the games against both UCLA as well as Cal Poly. Don't forget to give them a follow on their Instagram to see if they can move from #2 to #1 as we get closer to the national championships the first weekend of May: @lmulionsbeach

the NCAA put this on their Instagram after LMU beat UCLA 3-2 there in Southern California

LMU put this on their Instagram after they beat UCLA

    The next tournament for both is the Center of Effort Challenge in San Luis Obispo, California, where California Polytechnic (Cal Poly for short) is located and will be hosting the tournament. Not only will they play each other two weekends in a row but their last game of this tournament in Laguna Beach was against each other and their first game of the tournament in San Luis Obispo will be against each other so you could say their last opponent and their next opponent is the same team. That concludes the game between LMU and UCLA in Laguna Beach, California so stay tuned for the next game to be covered. If there's a team, school, or certain matchup you'd like me to cover, let me know and until next time, Miller out

~J. Miller