Year in review: Memorable moments of UCLA Athletics 2015-2016

Football – Nov. 28, 2015

The crosstown rivals were headed in seemingly opposite directions.

Starting the season 3-2, USC fired their second coach in three years, Steve Sarkisian. UCLA, led by freshman phenom quarterback Josh Rosen and coach Jim Mora, were ready to challenge powerhouses Stanford and Oregon for the Pac-12 title. But by their meeting in late November, both teams had racked up three conference losses and were tied for first in the Pac-12 South.

The Bruins trounced the Trojans in the previous season and were looking to secure a fourth-straight win. Halfway through the second quarter, UCLA led 14-10. Then, USC exploded. The Trojans held their crosstown rivals to seven points over the rest of the game and put up 40 of their own to reclaim the Victory Bell and book a rematch against Stanford in the Pac-12 championship game.

The Bruins? They were relegated to the Foster Farms Bowl and ended a once-promising season with a slew of missed opportunities and plenty of questions to answer.

Men’s basketball – Dec. 3, 2015

UCLA men’s basketball season started inauspiciously – Monmouth anyone? With an unimpressive resume heading into a matchup against then-No. 1 Kentucky, few, if any, thought the Bruins could even compete with the Wildcats, especially after what happened last season.

UCLA quickly fell behind 24-0 in the CBS Sports Classic, ending the half with only 7 points behind 3-37 shooting. This Bruin team proved naysayers and critics wrong, trailing the top team in the country for less than a minute. Led by much-improved sophomore Thomas Welsh, UCLA came away with the 87-77 win in front of a raucous and packed Pauley Pavilion.

Freshman Prince Ali punctuated the upset with a slam-dunk and an and-one over Kentucky big man Alex Poythress. The rest of the season was dismal and lackluster and Pauley Pavilion never quite filled up again, but for that one night, UCLA basketball fans had something to cheer for.

Women’s volleyball – Dec. 5, 2015

A second-round game suddenly got complicated.

After closing out the regular season with a five-set upset of No. 1 USC and nearly upsetting No. 6 Stanford days later, UCLA women’s volleyball was on the ropes against visiting Michigan. The Bruins led for most of the first two sets, but late comebacks by the Wolverines put the home team in a two-set deficit.

On the brink of elimination, UCLA needed to sweep the next three sets to secure an NCAA regional semifinal berth. Behind junior Claire Felix, who set a career high in kills, and 35 assists and 12 digs from freshman Zana Muno, the Bruins clawed back and won their fourth 3-2 match of the year. Muno hurdled over a Michigan player who went sprawling under the net to keep her team in the game and ultimately in the tournament.

Men’s water polo – Dec. 6, 2015

To put it simply, UCLA men’s water polo dominated.

Rarely challenged, the Bruins went 25-0 during the regular season, including an 11-6 thumping of USC on senior day. After dispatching California 12-11 in double overtime to win the MPSF championship, UCLA had a chance to win their second national championship since 2004. Their opponent? A Trojan team hungry to end a seven-game skid against the Bruins and reclaim the national title.

Facing a rare deficit down 3-1 in the first quarter, UCLA scored four unanswered goals and didn’t relinquish the lead. The Bruins capped off a perfect 30-0 season, extended the second longest win-streak in program history and lifted their second consecutive NCAA trophy and UCLA’s 113th overall.

Gymnastics – Feb. 5, 2016

There are over 17 million reasons why this was a memorable moment.

Senior Sophina DeJesus blew the world away with a gymnastics floor routine that incorporated the whip, nae-nae and dab. Oh, and tumbling as well. UCLA was trailing its Pac-12 rival Utah before the senior and her teammates mounted a comeback on their signature event. DeJesus helped secure not only the win behind her 9.925 but also overnight fame.

The Temecula, California, native appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and turned the spotlight onto women’s college gymnastics. Although DeJesus capped off her four-year career with All-American honors on uneven bars and guided the Bruins to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA championships, she left her mark on collegiate gymnastics with an unforgettable and viral performance.

Women’s basketball – Feb. 6, 2016

Kari Korver had missed her last twelve three-pointers. But with a Pac-12 championship berth on the line, the junior made the one that mattered. With seven seconds left in the Pac-12 semifinal, then-No. 12 UCLA trailed unranked California.

Kari, a cousin of NBA sharpshooter Kyle Korver, hit a fade-away three pointer and sent the game to overtime with the score at 61 apiece. Five minutes stood between the Bruins and their first conference final since 2013 when they fell 51-49 to the Stanford Cardinal. The Bruins ran away in overtime, outscoring the Golden Bears 12-6.

Although Oregon State, the regular season champion, outplayed UCLA in the title game, the Bruins earned a higher NCAA seed because of their tournament run. They carried that momentum into the NCAA Tournament where they finished in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999 because Kari Korver hit a clutch shot.

Baseball – March 6, 2016

Thirteen innings in and coach John Savage was still sitting at 399 wins. In the last game of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic, UCLA and USC baseball were deadlocked in a 3-3 tie.

The Bruins loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 14th and redshirt senior Christoph Bono stepped up to bat. His grounder barely slid under the glove of the Trojan shortstop, allowing two runners to score. With UCLA up 5-3, the bullpen finished off the game. After allowing three runs in the first two innings, the Bruin pitchers limited their crosstown rivals to just four hits over nine scoreless innings.

The win secured a 3-0 sweep on the weekend – a year after they went 0-3 – and gave Savage his 400th win as UCLA’s coach.

Softball – May 29, 2016

UCLA softball almost didn’t make it to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. After losing the first game of a best-of-three series to No. 5 Oregon, the No. 12 Bruins were trailing 1-0 in game two. Down to their last two outs in the bottom of the seventh, junior Gabrielle Maurice launched a solo home run over the wall to knot the score at one apiece.

The game then headed to extra innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, senior Mysha Sataraka led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Madeline Jelenicki stepped up to the plate with the game on the line and pulled through, blooping a walk-off single into left field. The Bruins proceeded to win game three to advance to the Women’s College World Series for the 26th time in school history.