NCAA VOLLEYBALL / WEST REGION : UCLA Beats Stanford, Will Face BYU in Final

When teams play each other as often as the Stanford and UCLA women’s volleyball squads, familiarity can be like a double-edged sword, sometimes working for you, sometimes working against you.

Familiarity favored the Bruins on Friday, as they defeated the Cardinal, 15-11, 12-15, 15-5, 15-10, in the NCAA West Region semifinals before 1,360 at UCLA’s Wooden Center.

UCLA advances to the West Region final at 7 tonight at the Wooden Center against No. 4 Brigham Young, which defeated No. 16 Arizona, 15-8, 11-15, 15-9, 15-8, in the other semifinal.

After edging Stanford twice during the regular season, each time in a fifth, rally-scoring game, UCLA had Stanford’s game plan figured.

The top-ranked Bruins (30-1) prevented the sixth-ranked Cardinal (22-7) from mounting an attack in the middle and had 19 team blocks to Stanford’s 10.

Irene Renteria, a senior middle blocker, led UCLA with a career-high 15 block assists and one block solo.

Annett Buckner, a junior outside hitter, had 20 kills and 10 block assists for the Bruins.

“(Familiarity) was a big factor,” Buckner said. “Teams tend to do the same things over and over.”

UCLA and Stanford typically meet three times a year, twice during the regular season and once during the NCAA tournament. This is the first time since 1983 that UCLA won all three matches.

Last season, Stanford was the team that gained the upper hand. The Bruins were undefeated until the Cardinal defeated them in the NCAA final.

Each team lost five senior starters from last season. So, revenge for last season’s national championship loss was not a big factor for the Bruins.

“I wasn’t coming into the game thinking about paybacks because, personally, I don’t play very well on emotion,” said Julie Bremner, UCLA’s senior setter and the only returning starter.

But after the match, the Bruins were relieved at having eliminated their rivals--”For about five seconds,” Bremner said, “and then we started getting anxious about the (next match).”

Regional champions advance to the NCAA final four at Madison Wis., Dec. 16 and 18.