The grid of Final Four finalised – 2011 NCAA Women’s Division 1 Tournament
The 2011 NCAA tournament is nearing its end as the Final Four teams have been decided this past Saturday, December 10. The Elite 8 of the tournament contested their skills at the regional finals and the best four teams clawed their way to the most influential
National Semi-finals of the tournament. The four teams, which booked their slots in the final four are as follows:
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – Bruins University of Southern California (USC) – Trojans University of Illinois Champaign – Fighting Illini Florida State University – Seminoles
UCLA Bruins
The Bruins were challenged by top-seeded Texas team in the regional final match on Saturday. The ninth-seeded Bruins displayed stellar action on the centre court and defeated the tough rivals in four sets. Bruins emerged as the successful team of Lexington
Regional and advanced to the national semi-final round, which is scheduled to take centre stage in San Antonio on December 15. It was a big achievement for Bruins to beat the top-seeded team of the tournament. The credit of the victory should definitely be
given to Rachael Kidder and Kelly Reeves, who contributed 16 and 14 kills, respectively. In the next run, Bruins will tie up against Florida State in the national semi-final match.
USC Trojans
The Trojans had to fight a great challenge in order to secure a spot in the national semi-finals. The USC women faced off Pepperdine Waves in a five-set thriller at the regional final in Honolulu. It was a close match, which featured many thrilling moments.
The Waves put up great effort to down the Trojans but could not achieve the desired results and dropped the decision. Trojans’ senior outside hitter Alex Jupiter was critical to her team’s success. She played amazingly well and settled for the award of most
outstanding player of the Honolulu Regional. Trojans will have to deal with a bigger challenge when they go against No.3 seed Illinois in the national semi-final match on coming Thursday.
Fighting Illini
The Illinois University team joined the final four of 2011 NCAA tournament by beating Florida Gators on home soil. The Fighting Illini dropped only one set and posted 3-1 win over Gator. The home team was equipped with great support of local fans but Illini
played without taking any pressure and proved to be better in every way. The Head Coach Kevin Hambly’s winning plan was perfectly executed and Illini overcame Gators.
Hambly said: "Florida was tough to stop, one of the best offensive teams we've faced. They presented a lot of challenges for us. I thought our girls made a lot of adjustments and did a better job of controlling things on defence at times; enough to give
us a chance to win."
Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles defeated 4th-seeded Iowa State in the regional final on Saturday and qualified for the Final Four. This is the first time in program history that FSU Seminoles will be playing at the national semi-finals. They will
take on UCLA in the next match.
Looking at the previous statistics of the teams, it is likely that UCLA and Fighting Illini will emerge as the successful teams of national semi-finals. Nevertheless, hard work will be the key to success. Let’s wish, may the best teams come on top.
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