Volleyball: Women's

There will be a new champion this year.

The streak is over.

For the first time since 2006, the Penn State women's volleyball team lost a match in the NCAA tournament, falling 3-0 to UCLA in the regional semifinals in Lexington, Ky.

Coach Russ Rose said he was disappointed by the loss, but wasn't ashamed of his team's effort.

"I’m a little disappointed with how we did some things tonight, but I’m not disappointed in the kids," Rose said. "I thought especially with the run this program has had over the last couple of years that it would be really shallow of us not to say anything but good things about how UCLA played."

Penn State hit .248 in the loss, and never seemed to find a groove.

The Bruins hit .310 in the victory over the four-time defending NCAA champions. Rachael Kidder had a match-high 15 kills for UCLA.

Ariel Scott had 11 kills and five errors on 37 swings in a losing effort and sophomore Deja McClendon had 10 kills.

Freshman outside hitter Aiyana Whitney led the team with 12 kills and hit .458.

Despite her solid performance, Whitney said the team was plagued by some of the same problems it has faced all season.

"I feel like we struggled a lot with things that we have consistently struggled with," Whitney said. "We weren’t able to make the adjustments we needed to make from the start. I am still proud to play with the girls. It didn’t go in our favor, but it happens."

UCLA will now face No. 1 seed Texas tomorrow night, with the winner advancing to the final four.