The Bruin offense was finally clicking and the defense was steadily the top fielding unit in the nation.
After winning another Pac-10 title and plowing through the first few rounds of the NCAA Tournament, UCLA met the jaws of the Missouri Tigers. The Tigers pounded the Bruins and silenced their bats, which produced only seven runs during their three game set.
While another playoff run ended in another ugly bow-out, the expectation remains the same. Three All-Americans return, and the wait for number 12 continues.
The Bruins were unable to capitalize on that lead, and lost each of the three remaining singles matches, including Ohio State’s Justin Kronauge’s comeback victory over UCLA senior Harel Srugo.
The next day, the Trojans went on to defeat a worn out Ohio State team, and capture the national title.
Coming off a nationally televised 27-24 upset over Tennessee the week before, UCLA’s football team had already surpassed expectations.
With a week-two challenge at Brigham Young, the Bruins were ready to pull off another stunner.
Instead, the Cougars mopped the floor with the visitors, running up the score to a 59-0 final tally.
It would be the only time the Bruins were shut out on the season and a forgettable experience for offensive coordinator Norm Chow in his return to his alma mater.
But a slow start and an contentious foul call on All-American defender Erin Hardy doomed the Bruins. The Tar Heels’ Yael Averbuch converted the penalty kick, and despite playing a much better second half, UCLA fell 1-0 to the eventual national champion Tar Heels.
Six Bruin seniors left without a title in any of their four College Cup appearances.
Neuheisel’s first recruiting class as UCLA football coach is headlined by quarterback Richard Brehaut, tight end Morrell Presley, wide receiver Randall Carroll and offensive linemen Stanley Hasiak and Xavier Su’a-Filo. Watch for Presley and Carroll to make contributions on offense while Hasiak and Su’a-Filo look to improve an offensive line that struggled in 2008.
With 13 underclassmen and only three upperclassmen, the women’s gymnastics team relied on youth in their run to the NCAA championships. Assisted by three perfect 10s by freshman Vanessa Zamarippa, the entire women’s gymnastics season was punctuated with numerous remarkable performances. Despite falling short in the NCAA team championships, three Bruins made it to the individual championships. Senior Ariana Berlin tied for fifth on uneven bars. Zamarripa tied for sixth on the floor exercise and eighth on vault while redshirt sophomore Brittani McCullough finished eighth on floor.
However, the Bruins, then on a 13-match winning streak, jumped all over the Rebels from the start, winning the doubles point after the tandem of junior Haythem Abid and sophomore Nick Meister upset the No. 1 doubles duo in the country, Mississippi’s Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge.
The win propelled the Bruins into the national semifinals, and one step closer to the national title.
Yet in the second half, Craft looked nothing like the overwhelmed quarterback Bruin fans saw in the game’s first 30 minutes, as he led UCLA on a huge comeback, capped off by a nine-play, 70-yard scoring drive to put the Bruins up 24-21 with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After the Volunteers drove for a game-tying field goal to send the game to overtime, UCLA kicker Kai Forbath kicked a 42-yard field goal, sealing an improbable UCLA victory.
THE BEST
1. Women’s water polo wins their fifth straight National Championship:
2. Football upsets Tennessee on national television:
3. Men’s tennis upsets No. 2 Ole Miss:
4. The gymnastics team’s entire season:
5. Football signs No. 5 recruiting class:
6. Women’s basketball defeated Oregon with half-court buzzer-beater:
With her team desperately needing a win to stay in the playoff picture, UCLA sophomore guard Darxia Morris banked in a shot from just in front of the half-court line as time expired to give UCLA a critical 70-69 victory over the Ducks in Eugene, Ore.
The game was the Bruins’ second to last of the season, and Oregon came into the contest near the bottom of the conference standings with a 5-8 record. UCLA on the other hand was fighting for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, entering the game with an impressive 17-10 overall record, but an even 8-8 record in conference.
To be even remotely considered for an at-large bid, UCLA needed a victory over the lowly Ducks, who had already handed the Bruins an upset loss at Pauley earlier in the year.
7. Junior Abid takes down No. 1 Farah:
When the Bruins faced off against the Trojans on March 4, USC boasted the No. 1 tennis singles player in the country in junior Robert Farah.
Going up against Farah was UCLA junior Haythem Abid, who had struggled for the Bruins’ rotation for much of the early part of the season.
With Farah running through his opponents with ease, the Trojans were expecting a quick win out of him. However, this match proved otherwise.
Abid jumped all over Farah from the beginning, handily defeating the nation’s No. 1 in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Abid’s victory proved to be the difference in the match, which the Bruins won 4-3. UCLA’s victory ended up as the first of 14 consecutive wins.
8. Men’s volleyball’s victory over USC:
Facing a disappointing conference finish, the men’s volleyball team entered Pauley Pavilion on April 10 needing a victory. Their standing in the conference was grim and their playoff hopes were in jeopardy.
Coach Al Scates started all five of his seniors, who came out with an unprecedented energy in their first set victory. The Trojans fought back and the outcome of the match came down to the fifth set.
Reverting back to their normal lineup, UCLA faced numerous contentious calls in the fifth set. With a number of crucial points by junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia, the Bruins eventually took the match.
The win solidified the Bruins’ standing in the conference as a playoff contender.
9. Baseball’s Bauer throws a complete game one-hitter:
After slowly working his way into UCLA’s weekend rotation, freshman pitcher Trevor Bauer burst onto the scene on April 18. On that Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Bauer thoroughly baffled the Washington offense, tossing a one-hit complete game shutout to pace the Bruins to a 13-0 victory.
The right-hander set the tone early, retiring the first 13 batters he faced before issuing a walk with one out in the fifth. Bauer’s no-hit bid was broken up in the sixth inning, but he retired 11 of the next 12 to finish the game.
The stellar performance ““ in which Bauer did not allow a runner past first base and faced a total of just 28 batters ““ was his first of four complete games on the season.
The Pac-10 Freshman of the Year was efficient, throwing 112 pitches in a contest that lasted just two hours and 34 minutes.
10. Spicer records 6,000th career set:
In capping off her stunning volleyball career, senior Nellie Spicer already had a long list of accomplishments: four-time first-team All Pac-10, three-time first-team All American, second on the all-time sets list for the Bruins.
But Spicer had just one more thing to add to that list: 6,000 career sets.
On Dec. 12, entering the third round of the NCAA tournament, Spicer was 25 sets short of the landmark. Despite a heartbreaking loss for the Bruins, Spicer made exactly the 25 sets to reach the milestone.
The women’s volleyball captain had already established herself in UCLA history with a significant lead over the third highest person on the all-time sets list, but her 6,000th set certainly solidified her spot among the Bruin greats.
THE WORST
1. Softball falls to unranked Missouri in Super Regionals:
2. Women’s soccer team falls in the College Cup for a sixth straight year:
3. BYU romps UCLA football 59-0:
4. Men’s basketball is stunned by USC in Pac-10 Tournament:
5. Tennis gives up lead in Final Four:
6. Golf gives up lead in National Championship:
When UCLA seized a seven-stroke lead in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, riding the magnificent play of sophomore Maria Jose Uribe, who shot a blistering 66 (-6), the All-American and the Bruins seemed primed to capture both the individual and team national titles. But in the third round, UCLA failed to keep its position at the top of the team leaderboard when it fell to third behind Arizona State and USC; no Bruin scored below par in the round.
UCLA went on to finish second in the tournament, eight strokes behind the Sun Devils, while Uribe slipped to an eighth-place tie in her last collegiate tournament.
7. Men’s and women’s track falls to Trojans:
For the first time ever the men’s and women’s Trojan track teams beat the Bruins in the same season. The UCLA men fell 92-71 and the women went down 93-71 in the annual UCLA/USC Dual Meet.
The Trojans reveled in their home track as victors after a failed handoff by the Bruin men’s 4×400 relay team ended the meet dismally for UCLA.
A lack of depth was costly on both sides for UCLA as USC outgunned the visitors.
Bruins Rhonda Watkins and Nicole Leach posted double event wins, but those were not enough to keep up with USC.
The men swept both the 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m but could not overtake the Trojans who dominated the meet.
8. Men’s soccer falls in first round of NCAA Tournament:
High expectations surrounded the UCLA men’s soccer team heading into its first-round matchup against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Nov. 21. After all, the Bruins had just taken the Pac-10 Championship, and were undefeated in their previous eight games.
Yet the Mustangs, who the Bruins had defeated once just 13 days earlier, stunned the home team with a goal in the 28th minute. The Bruins never responded, and after the final whistle blew, a shocked Bruin squad saw the large Cal Poly contingent storm the field at Drake Stadium to celebrate the Mustangs’ first-ever postseason victory.
9. Men’s hoops falls in preseason tourney:
When the Bruins headed into Madison Square Garden, they were seemingly destined for a championship matchup against Duke in the 2K8 Sports Classic Final.
All they had to do was beat underdog Michigan.
Not so fast.
Facing a vexing zone defense, the Bruins couldn’t put up points against the Wolverines, falling 55-52. Senior guard Darren Collison and freshman guard Jrue Holiday each put up 13 points but it wasn’t enough. UCLA couldn’t stop DeShawn Sims or Manny Harris, who put up a combined 33 points and 10 boards.
It was a shocking loss for the heavy favorites who fell out of the Top 10 in the polls for the first time all season.
10. Volleyball missing players:
The men’s volleyball team emerged as preseason No. 1, but it quickly fell from being the top in the nation to struggling for a playoff berth because of a number of injuries and ineligible players.
Sophomores Wes Dunlap, the team’s top quick hitter of the previous season, and Tom Hastings, who penciled in to start at libero, were missing for most of the year and were sorely missed by the Bruins, who struggled all season at both positions.
The Bruins had numerous other players missing during the season, leading to a disappointing eighth-place conference finish.