UCLA Claims NCAA Title Over Illinois

Bill Kauffman
Associate Director, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
Email: bill.kauffman@usav.org

NCAA Video Highlights

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 17, 2011) – Rachael Kidder paced UCLA with 22.5 points as the Bruins defeated Illinois 25-23, 23-25, 26-24, 25-16 to capture the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

With the victory, UCLA (30-6) won its fourth NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and first since 1991. The Bruins are now third in all-time titles behind Stanford University (six) and Penn State University (five), which had won the previous four NCAA titles. UCLA made sure a new champion would be crowned in 2011 as the Bruins topped Penn State during the NCAA regional semifinals. Illinois (32-5) was playing in its first title match.

Kidder scored her 22.5 points with 20 kills on 71 attacks, three block assists and an ace. Tabi Love charted 14 kills on 34 attacks to go with three block assists in the victory. Zoe Nightingale contributed 11 blocks – one block solo and 10 block assists – to go with eight kills for 14 points. Lauren Van Orden tallied 53 assists, 17 digs, five block assists and four kills on eight errorless attacks. Kelly Reeves was credited with seven kills and 16 digs for UCLA. Lainey Gera turned in 19 digs, while Bojana Todorovic recorded 18 digs.

Michelle Bartsch led Illinois with 22 kills, 14 digs, two block solos and a block assist. Colleen Ward totaled 17 kills, 13 digs, two block assists and an ace. Liz McMahon provided the Fighting Illini seven kills, while Annie Lurhrsen set Illinois with 47 assists, 14 digs, six kills and three block assists. Jennifer Beltran tallied 26 digs and an ace.

UCLA held a 15-11.5 block advantage over Illinois, which committed 11 service errors to the Bruins’ zero. Both teams held similar hitting efficiencies as UCLA attacked at a .218 efficiency (64-25-179) to Illinois’ .215 (59-20-181). The Bruins also won the back-row battle with an 87-76 dig advantage. The Fighting Illini held a slim 4-2 margin in aces.

Both head coaches were coaching their first teams in a title match. UCLA Head Coach Mike Sealy, the AVCA Division I Coach of the Year and Bruin alum from the men's volleyball program, led his Bruins to the title despite being in just his second year at the helm of the storied program. UCLA assistant coach Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer is a member of the USA Volleyball Board of Directors. Kevin Hambly, a U.S. Women's National Team assistant coach from 2001-2004, has served as the Fighting Illini head coach for three years after a five-year tenure as the program’s assistant coach.

UCLA jumped to a 17-14 lead in the opening set following a 3-0 run by the Bruins. However, Illinois answered with its own 3-0 run to knot the score at 17-all. The Fighting Illini gained a 20-18 advantage following a Bartsch kill capping another 3-0 run. UCLA fought back with its own 3-0 run as Reeves slammed a kill after two Illinois attack errors. After the score was tied 23-all, Kidder ended the set with a kill at 25-23 after Nightingale and Reeves combined for a block to yield the set-point opportunity.

UCLA continued the momentum by bolting to an 8-3 advantage following consecutive Love kills. Illinois battled back to within two at 10-8 thanks to a 4-0 scoring run. UCLA put the pressure back on the Fighting Illini by taking a 20-13 advantage following consecutive Van Orden kills. Illinois quickly answered the challenge by scoring 11 of the next 13 points to take a 24-22 lead as Ward provided three kills, while Luhrsen and Bartsch contributed two kills each. After UCLA saved one set point with a service error, McMahon ended the set 25-23 with a kill.

Illinois edged out to a 7-4 lead in the third set and led 12-8 before UCLA used a 6-0 run with three block assists and a kill from Nightingale to take the lead at 14-12. Illinois leveled the score at 14-all, only to have UCLA take a 16-14 advantage on consecutive kills from Kidder and Love. Ward knotted the score at 17-all with back-to-back kills. Reeves pushed UCLA in front 21-19 with consecutive kills, only to have Bartsch answer with three consecutive kills followed by a UCLA attack error to push Illinois in front 23-21. UCLA saved two set points with back-to-back kills from Kidd and Love, then Love yielded UCLA a set point at 25-24. UCLA finished off the set at 26-24 on an Illinois attack error.

The momentum swing from Illinois losing two set points and the chance to go up 2-1 to a UCLA 2-1 set advantage carried over into the fourth set. The Bruins staked a 7-2 lead as Sara Sage and Kidder each scored two kills. UCLA tasted victory and pushed its advantage to 18-10 as Nightingale scored two kills around a Bruin ace. Illinois would get no closer as UCLA’s lead reached 11 points on a 4-0 run that included two Love kills. Sage finished off the set and match with a kill at 25-16, launching a wild celebration.

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