UCLA Battles Back, but Falls to Wisconsin

The UCLA women’s volleyball team twice came back from deficits Saturday night, but in the end it wasn’t enough as Wisconsin held on for an exhausting 15-7, 5-15, 16-14, 14-16, 15-12 victory in the NCAA Mideast Region final at Madison, Wis.

Kristee Porter had 36 kills and Lauren Fendrick added 24 for the Bruins (25-8), who were looking for a spot in the Final Four at Richmond, Va., next week where they would have faced USC in a semifinal. The Trojans qualified with a victory over Florida in the Pacific Region final Friday.

Instead, Wisconsin (32-3) earned the spot after being led by Jenny Masstricht, who had 29 kills and 23 digs. Sherisa Livingston also had a team-high 31 kills for the Badgers.

UCLA’s only lead of the fifth game was at 3-2, but Wisconsin gradually began to pull away. The Badgers eventually stretched the margin to 12-9, but the Bruins scored the next three points to make it interesting before watching Wisconsin close it out.

In the Central Region final, Nebraska got 17 kills from Laura Pilakowski and had four other players in double figures as the Cornhuskers (32-0) swept Arizona, 15-7, 19-17, 15-11, at Lincoln, Neb. Arizona (28-5) was led by Marisa Delee’s 17 kills.

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Maja Gustin had 15 kills and an astonishing hitting percentage of .714 as Hawaii came from behind to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 8-15, 15-1, 15-10, 15-3, in the West Region final late Friday night at Honolulu.

Kim Willoughby, Jessica Sudduth, Lily Kahumoku and Veronica Lima each had 11 kills for Hawaii (31-1).

Courtney Guerra led UC Santa Barbara (26-8) with 14 kills, including six in the Game 1 victory.

NCAA Division I

Women’s Volleyball

REGIONALS

* Mideast winner: Wisconsin (32-3)

* Central winner: Nebraska (32-0)

* Pacific winner: USC (29-2)

* West winner: Hawaii (30-1)

FINAL FOUR

* Where: Richmond, Va.

* When: Semifinals, Thursday; Championship, Saturday