UCLA Women's Volleyball - NCAA Championships (4)
2011
The Bruins saved their best volleyball of the season for the final three weeks of 2011, as UCLA won the program’s fourth NCAA Championship and seventh national title. The Bruins began the tournament at the John Wooden Center with a sweep of Maryland-Eastern Shore and a four-set win over San Diego. From there, UCLA took to the road and Lexington, Ky., and faced the daunting task of playing Penn State, a team which had won 26 straight NCAA Tournament matches. That run quickly ended, as the Bruins stopped the four-time defending champions’ reign with a sweep of the Nittany Lions. The following night, UCLA was again an underdog versus top-seeded Texas. The Bruins dropped the first set against the Longhorns, but came back to win the next three to advance to their first National Semifinal since 2006. Junior Rachael Kidder was named the Lexington Regional Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by senior Lauren Van Orden and sophomore Kelly Reeves. Awaiting the Bruins in San Antonio was Florida State in the National Semifinals. UCLA made quick work of the Seminoles with a sweep to move on to its first National Championship contest since 1994 against Illinois. The first two sets were close, with UCLA winning the first 25-23 and the Fighting Illini coming back to win the second by the same score. In the third, UCLA was down two set points, but scored four in a row to steal the set 26-24. In the fourth, it was all Bruins, as they never trailed to win the set 25-16 and claim the championship. Kidder, a first-team AVCA All-American who averaged 5.24 kills per set during the NCAA Tournament, was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Van Orden and freshman Zoe Nightingale. Second-year head coach Michael Sealy was also named AVCA National Coach of the Year.
1991
Trailing Long Beach State two games to none and down 13-12 in the third game of the national championship match at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA turned the momentum around and went on to win in five games (12-15, 13-15, 15-12, 15-6, 15-11) and capture its second consecutive title. Natalie Williams, an All-American selection and the Honda Award winner as the nation's top women's player, led the comeback and was named the tournament MVP. Annett Buckner was the nation's freshman of the year. UCLA finished the season 31-5.
1990
Coach Andy Banachowski's squad capped a nearly perfect season with a three-game sweep (15-9, 15-12, 15-7) of the University of the Pacific in the NCAA title match at the University of Maryland. Natalie Williams earned All-America honors and was named the player of the year. The Bruins finished 36-1 and won the Pac-10 title for the third consecutive year while running their conference winning streak to 55 matches.
1984
The Bruins rallied from an 11-2 deficit for a dramatic 15-13 victory over Stanford in the fifth and final game of the NCAA championship match (15-12, 7-15, 15-10, 9-15, 15-13) at Pauley Pavilion. Liz Masakayan got the decisive point with her 32nd kill on the night for UCLA, which finished the season 33-6. Masakayan earned first-team All-America honors and was named the winner of the Honda Award as the top player in women's collegiate volleyball.