Sunday syllabus: NCAA title dreams end

Uclablogpixspicer_nelliea300 Two Bruin women’s teams concluded very successful seasons this weekend short of their goal: an NCAA Championship, losing both times to Pac-10 opponents.

Baseball:

>> Last week: Head Coach John Savage had his contract extended by two years to 2012, with additional bonus opportunities added for getting the Bruins to the College World Series.

>> Of note: Sophomore outfielder Gabe Cohen (.345, 10 HR, 36 RBI) was listed on the pre-season Wallace Watch List. The Brook Wallace award is given annually to the nation’s best collegiate baseball player.

Football:

>> Last week: Karl Dorrell was dismissed as head coach Monday and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker was named interim head coach.

>> This week: The Bruins have begun practice for the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl against BYU on Dec. 22. A search firm to assist with the coaching search should be finalized and interviews should begin soon.

Men’s Basketball:

>> Last week: The seventh-ranked Bruins (8-1) got all 11 scholarship players back into practice and UCLA came back from an 18-point, first-half deficit to defeat Davidson, 75-63 in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim.

>> This week: The team has most of the week off for finals and will resume play Saturday at Pauley Pavilion against Idaho State.

>> Of note: A limited number of upper-level tickets for conference games will go on sale Monday, Dec. 10, at 10 a.m. Check Ticketmaster.com for more details.

Men’s Soccer:

>> Last week: Four UCLA players received Pac-10 All-Academic honors: Senior defender Mike Zaher (3.44 in Political Science) earned first-team honors, sophomore midfielder/defender Chance Myers (3.33 in History) was selected to the second team, and senior defender Greg Folk and sophomore midfielder/defender Danny Suits received honorable mentions.

Women’s Basketball:

>> Last week: The Bruins dropped to 4-4 with their fourth loss in five games, this time to San Diego, 63-57 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the USD campus. Freshman Nina Earl led UCLA with 12 points, but the Bruins could not overcome 33.3% shooting and a 34-26 deficit in the first half.

>> This week: UCLA heads to Provo, Utah, to play BYU on Saturday at 3 p.m. Pacific time.

Women’s Soccer:

>> Last week: UCLA advanced to its fifth College Cup in a row, but came away empty again, losing in the national semifinals to eventual national champion USC, 2-1. The Bruins had a 1-0 lead at halftime on a spin-and-shoot goal from Lauren Cheney, but Amy Rodriguez scored twice for USC in the second half and the Bruins had no answer. UCLA, ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season, finished with a 20-2-2 record and lost to USC for the first time since 1998.

Women’s Volleyball:

>> Last week: The Bruins (23-10) advanced to the regional final at Stanford, defeating Oregon in four sets Friday, but losing to No. 1-seeded Stanford (31-2) in four sets Saturday. UCLA won the first game, 30-28, but lost three close games by scores of 28-30, 26-30 and 27-30 to fall short of the Final Four. Junior Kaitlin Sather had a career-high 23 kills in the Stanford match, and junior setter Nellie Spicer (pictured) was sensational with 59 assists.

>> Of note: UCLA will return five of its six starters from this season, including Sather, Spicer, junior hitter Ali Daley and freshmen Katie Mills and Dicey McGraw. Spicer was named to the All-Pacific Region first team for the third season in a row and six Bruins were named to the Pac-10's All-Academic team: senior Meghan Schoen and junior Sather and Jade Machado made the first team with senior Rachell Johnson and juniors Jessica Fine and Elise Carstensen on the second team.

Nellie Spicer photo courtesy UCLA.