Rachael Kidder had 20 kills to lead the No. 9 UCLA Bruins Women's Volleyball team to a four-set victory over the No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday night in San Antonio, winning the NCAA championship. It was the first Women's Volleyball title for the Bruins since 1991. The title is the 108th NCAA title in UCLA school history.
It was the fourth NCAA championship and seventh national title for the Bruins in Women's Volleyball. Kidder won Most Outstanding Player for the tournament.
Bruins' head coach Michael Sealy said on the ESPN broadcast after the game he didn't have time for this all to sink in. "I am going to take a 72-hour nap. I still have to celebrate the Penn State and Texas wins. I haven't worked my way to this one yet," Sealy said.
UCLA won the first set 25-23 and Illinois returned the favor winning the second set by the same score. UCLA trailed 24-22 in the third set, but fought off two set points to take the third set 26-24. The Bruins rode that momentum to a 25-16 rout in the fourth and final set for the win and the championship.
Bruins National Title history
- 1972 (DGWS)*
- 1974 (AIAW)*
- 1975 (AIAW)*
- 1984: defeated Stanford in the final
- 1990: defeated Pacific in the final
- 1991: defeated Long Beach State in the final
- 2011: defeated Illinois in the final
*non-NCAA championships
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