With a return trip to the NCAA Final Four on the line, the women’s volleyball team put its best foot forward against Stanford on Saturday, after defeating Oregon on Friday night.
But even the Bruins’ finest performance in recent years against the Cardinal just wasn’t good enough to edge out the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
But the Bruins went down firing in the loss, and it left the coaches and players proud of their postseason rebound in the NCAA tournament.
“I’m happy that we got as far as we did,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “I’m disappointed, certainly, that we weren’t able to make it to the Final Four again, but Stanford was the No. 1 seed and (Pac-10) conference champion. It’s not a disgrace to lose to them.”
After beating Oregon in the Regional Semifinals 30-23, 30-19, 28-30, 30-24, and losing 30-28, 28-30, 26-30, 27-30 to Stanford, the Bruins end their 2007 season with a 23-11 overall record.
Coming into the Regional Final on Saturday, Stanford held a 2-0 season lead on the Bruins, sweeping them at home at Maples Pavilion in September and winning convincingly in four games at Pauley Pavilion in October.
But Saturday’s match was not in the least bit a repeat of the previous meetings.
The Bruins came out inspired, fighting with a fire that was missing at the end of Pac-10 play. Junior Kaitlin Sather put down 10 of her career-high 23 kills in the first set, helping to lead UCLA to its 30-28 victory.
“Kaitlin was a little sick this weekend so it was even more satisfying for us to see her do so well, being as physically drained as she was,” Banachowski said.
Not only did the Bruins receive tremendous individual efforts, but the entire team truly came together to put together its best performance of the season. Outside hitter Ali Daley, while only adding nine kills in the loss, played a scrappy defense and added two aces, and libero Jessica Fine and setter Nellie Spicer added 22 and 25 digs, respectively.
Sather, Spicer and middle blocker Rachell Johnson, who hit .423 against the Cardinal, were named to the Regional All-Tournament Team.
“It was a great performance by the team,” Banachowski said. “I think the team came together through the postseason. We really played well together and did all the things we talked about doing throughout the season. We just needed a few more breaks to go our way. It was disappointing, but I am very proud.”
The Bruins were outhit .309-.270, but the offensive outing was much improved from their season average of .221. Nothing could have gone better for the UCLA hitters Saturday, and barring a few contentious calls from the referees, one of which elicited a yellow card, the match was close enough that it certainly could have ended in the Bruins’ favor.
“It was a good finish for us this year,” Banachowski said. “I think this will set us up to do even better next year.”