<p>After 12 long years, the Bruins are finally back in the Final Four.
<br/>No. 4 UCLA (33-3) won resoundingly on Saturday night against No. 11 Hawai?i (29-6) by a score of 3-0 (30-16, 30-23, 30-23), knocking the Rainbow Wahine out of the women?s volleyball NCAA tournament on Hawai?i?s home court in Honolulu, advancing to the Final Four in Omaha, Neb., and earn a shot at bringing home UCLA?s 100th NCAA title.
<br/>The past 12 years have been full of very good UCLA teams that just couldn?t take the one last step to reach the Final Four. On Saturday, the Bruins finally reached what had previously been unattainable.
<br/>?We?ve been knocking on the door for a long time and this is the group that finally could get the door open,? UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. ?And they did it in fine style.?
<br/>The Bruins, who have lost six NCAA quarterfinal matches in the past 12 years, used two determined efforts to destroy their competition in Honolulu.
<br/>On Thursday, the Bruins faced No. 13 Oklahoma, a team that went 28-5 during the year in a tough Big 12 Conference.
<br/>But the Bruins quickly dashed the Sooners? hopes of an upset and went on to win 3-0 (30-22, 30-16, 30-26) behind a sensational performance by senior middle blocker Nana Meriwether.
<br/>The national Player of the Year candidate had 17 kills and went errorless, hitting .708 and contributing eight block assists to the Bruin win.
<br/>The win against Oklahoma would have set up a potential showdown with No. 5 USC in the quarterfinals, but Hawai?i stunned the Trojans earlier in the day, posting a five-game victory.
<br/>That meant the Bruins had to beat Hawai?i on its home court, a task which the Bruins had already completed earlier in the year.
<br/>Even though a lot has happened to both teams since the Bruins? sweep of Hawai?i back on Sept. 3, Saturday?s match bore a striking resemblance to the match in Honolulu three months ago.
<br/>UCLA jumped all over the Rainbow Wahine early in the match, and there was nothing Hawai?i could do to recover.
<br/>?We lost to a better team,? Hawai?i coach Dave Shoji said after the match. ?We couldn?t find any weakness. Their overall game was just unbelievable.?
<br/>Meriwether had another strong performance against Hawai?i, nailing 13 kills, while sophomore setter Nellie Spicer had seven kills, hit .429 and had 43 assists.
<br/>But the big spark for the Bruins against Hawai?i was sophomore outside hitter Kaitlin Sather. Sather, whose playing time has taken a slight hit this year, was virtually unstoppable for UCLA, recording 13 kills in 21 attacks while hitting a season high .571.
<br/>?We came out firing tonight,? Banachowski said after the game.
<br/>?We served tough, our offense was clicking. It?s not the best we can play yet, but I?ll take the first game anytime.?
<br/><b>TOUGH ROAD AHEAD:</b> If the Bruins are to bring home UCLA?s 100th national title, they will have to overcome some very tough odds.
<br/>The three teams in the Final Four are the last three teams to beat the Bruins: No. 2 Stanford, No. 6 Washington and No. 1 Nebraska, whom UCLA faces on Thursday at 4 p.m. PST at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.
<br/>The Qwest Center venue and the Nebraska team are both all-too familiar to the Bruins. Last season, UCLA was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16 by the Cornhuskers in front of a then-NCAA record 14,489 fans, many of whom made the trip from Lincoln to cheer on the ?Huskers.
<br/>Nebraska (31-1) has lost just one match this year, but struggled to get by Minnesota in the Elite Eight. The Cornhuskers ended up defeating the Golden Gophers in five games and will enjoy a home-state advantage in the Final Four.
<br/>Should the Bruins somehow stun the ?Huskers in a hostile environment, they would then have to either face Stanford, whom they?ve lost to twice already this season, or Washington, with whom they have split two matches
<br/><b>QUICK HITS:</b> The Bruins have won all 12 of their games in the NCAA Tournament, sweeping all of their opponents. ... The last time the Bruins made it to the Final Four in 1994, they won the NCAA title. ... A possibility of a rematch of last year?s title game exists if Nebraska defeats UCLA and Washington defeats Stanford. The Huskies defeated the Cornhuskers 3-0 to win the national title last season.</p><br><br><a href='http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39275&#039; target='_blank'>http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39275&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br>