NCAA WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL : UCLA Is a Big Hit in Eliminating New Mexico

An outstanding hitting performance propelled top-ranked UCLA past New Mexico, 15-8, 15-3, 15-6, in the second round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament Sunday at the Wooden Center.

The victory set up a rematch of last season’s NCAA final as the Bruins will play host to defending national champion Stanford in the West Regional semifinals Friday at 6 p.m.

The Bruins hit .442, their best of the season, to defeat the Lobos before about 1,000. Kim Krull, a freshman middle blocker, led UCLA with a career-high .722 hitting percentage. She had 14 kills and only one error.

“I was really trying to work hard on not hitting balls out of bounds, that was my goal,” Krull said. “Julie (Bremner, UCLA’s setter) and I were really connecting because the passes were good.”

Annett Buckner, a junior outside hitter, had 18 kills and 11 digs.

The Bruins (28-1), top-seeded in the West Regional, had a first-round bye, but showed no signs of nervousness in their first tournament match.

“I thought we might be a little bit on edge, but I think right from the very start the team showed they were ready to play and performed very well,” said UCLA Coach Andy Banachowski, recently voted the West Region coach of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn.

New Mexico (18-11), which defeated Santa Clara (22-10) in the first round, was overpowered by UCLA, which held a 12-2 1/2 advantage in blocking.

Robyn Wentworth, a sophomore middle blocker, led New Mexico with 13 kills. Laurel Luman, a senior middle blocker who led the Lobos with eight digs, was disappointed in her team’s performance.

“I think that we could have given them a better match than we did,” Luman said.

Few have been able to give UCLA a good match this season. UCLA, which won NCAA titles in 1984, ’90 and ‘91, won its sixth Pacific 10 Conference title in eight years with a record of 17-1.

Last season, Stanford defeated the Bruins, 15-8, 15-9, 6-15, 15-10, in the NCAA final at New Mexico, the Bruins’ only loss of the season.

Sixth-ranked Stanford (22-6) advanced to the regional semifinals by defeating USC (21-9) in the second round Saturday.

The UCLA-Stanford winner will play either Arizona (20-10) or Brigham Young (27-2) in the West Regional final Saturday at UCLA.

Regional champions will advance to the NCAA championships Dec. 16 and 18 at Madison, Wis.