<p>OMAHA, Nebraska - It was unlike anything anybody in the college volleyball world had ever seen. <br/>Before an NCAA-record 17,013 screaming fans at the Omaha Qwest Center, No. 1 Nebraska and No. 4 UCLA engaged in a battle of willpower in the national semifinals with neither team letting up until the final kill. <br/>But in the end, the Nebraska team and fans, controversial calls at pivotal moments and some key Bruin errors proved to be just too much for UCLA to overcome as the Bruins fell 3-1 (30-23, 28-30, 23-30, 28-30). <br/>The loss left the Bruins in despair and left UCLA still searching for that ever-elusive 100th national title. <br/>"We definitely wanted to go all the way," senior outside hitter Katie Carter said. "The thing that makes us so upset is that we know we could have played a lot better." <br/>Another factor playing against the Bruins was their inexperience being in front of big crowds. Pauley Pavilion, which typically plays host to a few hundred fans for volleyball games, drew less than 900 fans in each of UCLA's NCAA regional matches against UAB and Utah. <br/>But UCLA, who lost to Nebraska at the Qwest Center in last year's tournament and had just come off a dominating performance against Hawai'i on their home court, did not seem phased at the beginning of the match. <br/>The Bruins dominated the first game on Thursday and jumped off to a quick 5-1 lead in Game 2. <br/>But the Cornhuskers tightened up and rallied behind their fans and the rest of Game 2 was neck and neck until the end. With the Bruins down 29-28, sophomore setter Nellie Spicer was called for a controversial ball-handling error, and the Bruins lost Game 2 on what was the first of many calls that had a normally calm UCLA coach Andy Banachowski barking at the referees all night long. <br/>"Part of the game is overcoming adversity," coach Andy Banachowski said. "Whether it's a call or a hot streak by the opponent, you just have to weather the storm." <br/>The Game 2 loss proved to be a critical turning point in the match. The Cornhuskers used a 10-0 run to handily win Game 3 and seemed to have the match in hand with a 15-9 lead at the end of Game 4. <br/>But the Bruins battled back to tie the game at 22, and after a mini-push by Nebraska, fought off a match point to cut Nebraska's lead to 29-28. <br/>But after Nebraska?s Jordan Larson's powerful hit smacked to the floor for a kill, the Bruins were quickly left to face the fact that their season was over. <br/>"It's just a shock," said Carter, who had a tough end to her UCLA career with a team-high nine errors to just seven kills. "That?s all it is right now. A shock." <br/>The loss marks the end of the successful careers of Carter, senior middle blocker Nana Meriwether and senior Colby Lyman, who played through a plethora of injuries and was forced to a defensive role at the ends of both her junior and senior seasons - a role in which she succeeded. <br/>All three players, particularly Meriwether, who will find out Friday night if she is the National Player of the Year, are going to be very tough to replace. <br/>Both Carter and Meriwether broke down and cried at the postgame press conference as they reflected on their Bruin careers and a 2006 season that saw the Bruins reach the Final Four for the first time in 12 seasons. <br/>"This is the same team that I've been playing with for two years now. ... We're all super close," Meriwether said, fighting back tears. "These past few years, we?ve gone through so much. The coaches, they've been through so much, and they've inspired us to do great things. That's why we made it so far in this tournament. Playing with the girls - I'm going to really miss this sport." <br/>The Bruins still return a core of solid players led by junior outside hitter Ali Daley, first-team All-American Nellie Spicer and sophomore outside hitter Kaitlin Sather, who came into her own as the season wound down. <br/>"The seniors have really been an inspiration to all of us," Sather said. "For (Nellie and I), we have two more years to take care of our unfinished business." <br/>But it was hard for the Bruins to think about the future after their painful loss at the Qwest Center. <br/>"We can?t do anything without these girls," Spicer said about the three departing seniors. "We can?t do anything without them, so we're just going to have to start off once we get back from winter break." <br/><b>STILL GOING STRONG:</b> In his 40th year as coach of the UCLA women's volleyball team, Andy Banachowski hasn?t let up at all. On Wednesday, he was named the Tachikara/AVCA Division I National Coach of the Year for leading the Bruins to the Final Four. <br/>The award was Banachowski's second such honor - he also received the award in the 1989 season. <br/>Banachowski, who became the first NCAA Division I coach to hit the 1,000-win mark last season, doesn?t see an end to his coaching career anywhere in the near future. <br/>"The real inspiration for me to continue on are these girls right here - the players that I have that I work with every day in the gym," Banachowski said. "I enjoy coaching every single day. I plan to be around for awhile." <br/><b>QUICK HITS:</b> Nebraska is 37-3 against ranked opponents since the start of the 2004 season. ... Meriwether and Spicer were named AVCA first-team All-Americans while Carter earned third-team honors. ... Stanford dominated Washington in the nightcap, winning 3-0 (30-12, 30-25, 30-15). The Cardinal will face Nebraska for the national title Saturday.</p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;