UCLA women’s volleyball will bring home the school’s 108th national championship after beating Illinois in four sets on Saturday night.

It was a back and forth game between two very deep teams, but UCLA got the edge, winning the serve/receive battle and capitalizing on Illinois errors to win the championship.

The first set went to UCLA 25-23, while Illinois came from behind to win the second set 25-23. The second set was a low point for the Bruins, but they came back in impressive fashion.

The first set saw 12 ties as momentum swung from one side of the court to the other. UCLA went on a 7-1 run to take the lead away from Illinois, only to give up a 6-1 run to Illinois immediately afterward.

Rachael Kidder had 6 kills in the first set and scored on set point for the Bruins. Kidder cooled off in the second however, adding three kills for a total of nine.

Mariana Aquino and Zoe Nightingale were effective on the block in the first set, but Illinois found ways around the UCLA defense in the second set. 6-foot-6 freshman Liz McMahon was able to use her height to her advantage to the tune of six kills.

The second set saw runs of 4-0 by Illinois followed by a 4-1 run UCLA. UCLA saw a second set lead of 20-13 dwindle to one point and disappear, as Illinois fought their way back into the game and avoided going down 2-0.

The Illini went on a 12-3 run to close out the second set. Senior Colleen Ward and freshman Liz McMahon led the Illinois comeback, and senior Michelle Bartsch leads the Illini with 10 kills.

Junior Tabi Love helped out in the clutch as UCLA defended two Illinois set points to win the third set 26-24. The third set was a key turning point in the match, and UCLA never looked back from there. Nightingale finished with a career-high 11 blocks.

Illinois started the fourth set slowly, letting UCLA gain a 7-2 advantage that they wouldn’t recover from. UCLA never trailed in the fourth set and will return to Westwood national champions.

Compiled by Eric Peck, Bruin sports senior staff.