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In the end, it was the upset that might have been.

A fantastic effort early was thwarted by injury and No. 8 UCLA couldn’t sustain its momentum, losing to defending national champion No. 1 USC (24-30, 30-26, 30-17, 30-17) in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

One night earlier, the Bruins dug deep, literally and figuratively, in order to seal a win over No. 9 Nebraska (20-30, 30-27, 30-21, 30-23). UCLA had 105 digs in four games, 23 from freshman outside hitter Colby Lyman, 20 from junior libero Chrissie Zartman, and 19 from junior setter Krystal McFarland. The Bruins hit only .131 as a team, but that was enough to out-pace the Huskers, who could only manage to hit .108 against the constant digging of UCLA.

“That defensive effort was an inspiration for us to step up against USC. The team played their hearts out, but we just got overwhelmed,” coach Andy Banachowski said.

Their victory over the Huskers propelled UCLA (24-9) to an impressive performance against USC (33-0). The Bruins dominated the first game, hitting .342 as a team, an incredible total given the nature of their opponent. It marked the first time an opponent had taken a game off of the Trojans.

With the Bruins leading 24-23 in the second game, it appeared as though UCLA was inching closer to pulling off an upset of absolutely monumental proportions. USC had steamrolled past their first three opponents, and the Bruins posed the first and, perhaps, most lethal threat to their title defense.

But on a play at the net, Lyman, who had 5 kills and was hitting .364 at the time, went down with a sprained ankle.

“I think our confidence just got a lot of shaken,” junior outside hitter Brittany Ringel said. “It wasn’t physical, it was emotional. We were missing one of our go-to players out there.”

The exuberant freshman could only watch from the sidelines as USC regained their dominant form, winning the second game 30-26 and then completely out-playing the Bruins from there, rapidly putting to rest any thoughts of an upset.

“From then on that really deflated us quite a bit,” Banachowski said. “We just had some breakdowns in game three. And in game four we got off to such a terrible start. The dye was cast there before we were halfway through that halfway game.”

Indeed, in the fourth game, the Trojans pummeled the Bruins, staking themselves to a 12-0 lead before UCLA could even get a point on the board.

Ringel and Zartman were named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament team for their performances throughout the posteason. The rest of the squad was filled out by Trojans, with four USC players making the team.

The loss ended a successful season, and marked a vast improvement over the previous year. In 2002, the Bruins were unseeded and lost in the second round of the tournament. This year alone saw the Bruins defeat one Final Four participant (Minnesota) and took another one to five games (Hawai’i). Now, after coming a break or two away from making the Final Four, the team feels that it can be a national contender in 2004.

“As we get more mature we’ll be able to be on a level with USC, and with the other teams that are going to be in the final four. We were one match away from that this year,” Banachowski said.

“We’re going to be older and more experienced,” Ringel said. “Next year we’ll actually obtain it.”

The only loss from this current squad will be senior middle blocker Cira Wright, who had an outstanding postseason run of her own, including an eight-block performance in the first round. Although somewhat undersized for her position, Wright seemed to blossom in her last season as a Bruin.

“Cira has had a great senior year,” Banachowski said. “She’s always the underdog out there, but she comes up with big plays. It’ll be tough to replace what she’s done for us this year, but she’s set a great standard.”