WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS : UCLA Knocks Out LSU to Reach Title Match

Facing the disquieting prospect of being eliminated in the NCAA semifinals for a third consecutive year, the top-ranked UCLA women’s volleyball team rode a balanced, if unspectacular performance into the final, ousting No. 17 Louisiana State Thursday night at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House, 15-13, 15-10, 15-6.

UCLA (35-1) will face Pacific in Saturday’s championship match at 4:30 p.m., PST. Pacific defeated Nebraska, 15-13, 11-15, 15-9, 15-12, in the other semifinal.

Of the Bruins’ victory, Coach Andy Banachowski said: “If I looked at that match in the morning, waking up, I would have gone right back to bed. It was not pretty, but it’s a gratifying win.”

The Bruins did not dominate LSU (34-7) until the decisive third game, during which UCLA handily outdistanced the tiring Tigers in hitting percentage by .519 to .132. Already trailing by two games, LSU could not muster the rally needed to overtake the top seed.

“I wasn’t intimidated, and the team wasn’t, but there was definitely tension,” LSU outside hitter Monique Adams said.

LSU Coach Scott Luster said: “We just could not sustain momentum. We lost our concentration at the end of the match. I think we did a credible job, though, against the No. 1 team.”

The towering Adams often rallied her teammates single-handedly, preventing a more complete rout with booming kills that halted UCLA scoring streaks in the first two games. The Tigers led at one time in the first game, 12-11, and stayed with the Bruins through each of the first two games.

“We were a little tentative,” UCLA outside hitter Samantha Shaver said.

This year’s Bruins, unlike their opponents, proved to be far from a one-star team, and it was a total effort that subdued LSU. Outside hitter Natalie Williams, with 12 kills, and middle backer Marissa Hatchett, with 14, led the charge, Hatchett providing three consecutive points to give UCLA a commanding 10-4 lead in the clinching third game.