UCLA defeats USC to win NCAA beach volleyball championship

The UCLA women’s beach volleyball team won the school’s 117th NCAA championship on Sunday in Alabama, beating rival USC in the final.

The Bruins lost no matches during the two-day tournament.

The Bruins’ No. 4 and No. 5 teams opened the final with victories, meaning the Bruins only needed to win one of the final three matches to deliver a second consecutive championship for coach Stein Metzger.

Two homegrown women from Southern California, freshman Abby Van Winkle (Santa Margarita) and senior Zana Muno (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame), clinched the NCAA title with a two-set win as the No. 3 team for a 3-0 match victory.

USC was seeded No. 1 in the tournament after beating the Bruins to win the Pac-12 Conference championship.

Last year Muno played despite wearing a brace on an knee injury. She’s scheduled to become a pro beach player with two NCAA championships on her resume.

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Freshman Lindsey Sparks (Huntington Beach Edison) helped the No. 5 UCLA team triumph.

“I think this is a real special group,” Metzger said. “We had five seniors who built this program.”