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Nebraska’s Tracy Stalls (left) and Jennifer Saleaumua block a kill attempt by UCLA outside

In front of what was then the largest crowd in NCAA postseason history, the UCLA women’s volleyball team was unable to overcome the inconsistent play, injuries and inexperience that have plagued it this season to get a win over the best team in the nation.

Facing No. 1 seed Nebraska (32-1) before 14,489 raucous fans in Omaha on Friday, the No. 16 seeded Bruins (20-11) finished their season with a straight set loss to the Huskers, 28-30, 23-30, 16-30.

With this loss in the NCAA Regional semifinals, the Bruins failed to advance to the Regional Finals for only the second time in seven seasons.

“We came out and played a good game, but the youth and inexperience of our team did show itself as the match wore on,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said.

Even with seven freshmen and only one senior on the team, and with one of the team captains injured, the Bruins appeared headed for a major upset early in the match.

UCLA jumped out to a 7-4 lead in Game 1, and led by three points at four other times in the game. After leading 24-21, the Bruins let the Huskers back in the game, but were still primed to take Game 1 when they were serving with a 28-27 advantage.

In one of the longest rallies of the match, the Huskers eventually came out on top with a kill from Jordan Larson to tie it at 28-28. The rally seemed to drain the emotion from the Bruins, as they easily gave up the next two points.

“There was a little bit of a letdown after not being able to win Game 1,” Banachowski said. “The huge rally at 28-all was everything. Those are rallies we usually win, but we didn’t win this one, and Nebraska gained a tremendous amount of confidence.”

The Bruins stayed with the Huskers for all of Game 1, hitting .286 to Nebraska’s .262, but were unable to carry their strong play into the second game.

After leading for most of Game 1, UCLA showed its inconsistency and came out flat in Game 2, letting Nebraska run away with the lead.

Though the score was tied 14 times in Game 1, it was only tied twice for the rest of the match.

UCLA’s woes continued in Game 3, as the Huskers continued to improve and UCLA struggled to gain any points. The Bruins hit only .100 in Game 3, compared to the .464 clip Nebraska hit in cruising to its third sweep of the postseason.

“Nebraska is a really good team and they made the plays that we aren’t mature enough to do consistently,” Banachowski said. “They are extremely physical and well-balanced, and can attack successfully at every position.”

The Huskers were able to limit the Bruins with strong defense, as they racked up 10 blocks and 40 digs. But UCLA also made its share of mistakes, with nine service errors and nine serve reception errors.

Junior Nana Meriwether, who is fourth in the nation with 1.77 blocks per game and was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region first team, was limited to only one block for the entire match, her lowest total of the season.

“We were never able to utilize our strengths against Nebraska,” Banachowski said. “We had a tremendous breakdown of our passing ability, but it was a lot tougher to pass the ball in such a big arena. It was uncharacteristic for us to pass as poorly as we did.”

The crowd certainly may have been a factor in the match, as the Bruins averaged only 1,037 fans in their home matches this season.

The match broke the attendance record of 13,194 set in the 1998 NCAA Finals, but was eclipsed on Saturday by the 15,119 who witnessed Nebraska sweep Florida in the NCAA Regional finals.

“In Game 1, I thought it was a dream come true for any volleyball player to play in front of 14,000 fans,” setter Nellie Spicer said. “But after Game 1, we were all so disappointed.”

One high point for the Bruins was the play of the team’s only senior, Nancy Barba. She hit .375 with eight kills and four blocks in her last collegiate game.

“Nancy did herself proud,” UCLA assistant coach Kim Jagd said. “She really trained herself into a fabulous player and we’re really proud of her work in leading this team as a captain.”

In addition to the lack of many senior leaders on the team, the Bruins were also hurt by the absence of several other veteran players due to injury.

Junior captain Colby Lyman was unable to provide any support on the court as she was out with a right elbow injury, and sophomore Meghan Schoen suffered a season-ending injury to her ACL early in the season.

Despite the loss, the team, which returns 16 of its 17 players next season, still views the season as successful because of the improvements the young group of players have made.

“It has been a very successful season, given the number of young players we had and so many season-ending injuries to some of the more experienced players,” Banachowski said. “We really grew and improved as a team, and losing our last match will give us a lot of motivation in the offseason. We certainly have high hopes for the team next year, and are already excited about what we will be able to do.”