UCLA women’s volleyball team faces Illinois for NCAA title

It has been two decades since UCLA won an NCAA women’s volleyball title.

The Bruins get an opportunity to end the drought when they play Illinois in the national championship match Saturday in the Alamodome at San Antonio.

UCLA (29-6) won the last of its three championships in 1991. The Bruins are in the final for the first time since 1994, earning the berth by sweeping Florida State on Thursday.

“During our heyday there were only six good teams in the country, so to make it to the finals now is not as easy as it was back in the day,” UCLA Coach Michael Sealy said Friday. “Today, there is parity everywhere and there are great teams everywhere.

“There are so many kids coming up through the club level and not all of them can go to a UCLA, a Penn State or a Texas, so you will have a lot of athletic girls trickling down to other programs and become big-time players.”

Junior outside hitter Rachael Kidder, who played at Moorpark High, had 21 kills in UCLA’s semifinal victory. Senior setter Lauren Van Orden, who transferred to UCLA from San Diego State before last season, had 43 assists.

Southland volleyball fans were looking forward to a potential matchup between UCLA and USC for the championship, but Illinois spoiled that by defeating the Trojans in five games Thursday and earning its first title-match berth.

Illinois (32-4) is led by senior outside hitters Colleen Ward and Michelle Bartsch, who had 27 and 22 kills, respectively, against USC. Jennifer Beltran, a sophomore from Reseda who played at Los Angeles Marymount, is the Illini libero. She had 32 digs and five assists against USC.

“Across the board, we match up really well,” Van Orden said, “and it is going to be a great fight.”

gary.klein@latimes.com