UCLA Claws Back to Close Out Best of the West in Laguna Beach

It wasn’t pretty at first, but No. 2 UCLA left Laguna Beach with exactly what they came for.

In the final day of the Best of the West Tournament, the Bruins found themselves down 2-0 against No. 4 USC before flipping the script entirely, winning three straight matches, two of them going the full three sets, to take the dual 3-2.

The turning point came from Harper Cooper and Alexa Fernandez on court 3, who got UCLA back on the board. Then Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez did what champions do: dropped the first set, then rallied to win the next two and level the match. Adelina Okazaki and Mallory LaBreche sealed the comeback with a tight three-set win of their own.

From there, UCLA was locked in. They closed the tournament by sweeping No. 10 Long Beach State 5-0, giving the Bruins a statement finish and moving them to 21-4 on the season.

For Long Beach State, it was a tough end to a competitive weekend — but at 18-10, the Beach have shown they belong in the conversation at the national level.

Laguna Beach delivered the setting. UCLA delivered the drama.