Female Athlete of the Year: Rachel Garcia
Coral Smith, Daily Bruin senior staff
After her phenomenal 2019 season, one might have thought we had witnessed the greatest year of Rachel Garcia’s UCLA career.

After a delayed start because of the COVID-19 pandemic, UCLA Athletics had quite a year full of big moments. Ranging from adding national championship No. 119 to its trophy case to a revival of a long-storied program to a Michelle Obama tweet, Daily Bruin Sports takes a look at the very best moments of the 2020-2021 year in UCLA sports.

No. 2 seed UCLA softball (46-5, 19-2 Pac-12) will begin its sixth-straight Women’s College World Series appearance with a matchup against No. 10 seed Florida State (55-10, 19-5 ACC) on Thursday night.

This post was updated June 6 at 8:42 p.m.
The Bruins have sized up their competition – and they’re ready.
“We fear nobody,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez.

This post was updated May 27 at 10:23 p.m.
The Bruins’ road to Oklahoma City just got a little longer.
No. 2 seed UCLA softball (44-5, 19-2 Pac-12) dropped game one of its NCAA Super Regional series against Virginia Tech (37-13, 23-11 ACC) on Thursday evening, 7-2.

Despite an eventful beginning, a late-game rally decided the contest for the Bruins.
No. 2 seed UCLA softball (43-4, 19-2 Pac-12) secured a place in the final game of its NCAA regional on Saturday afternoon with a 5-4 victory over Fresno State (37-11, 20-4 Mountain West).

Timely hits secured the weekend series for the Bruins.
No. 2 UCLA softball (36-3, 15-2 Pac-12) swept its doubleheader against Stanford (29-17, 8-9) on Saturday, winning 9-0 and 3-1 in games one and two, respectively.

This post was updated May 5 at 11:15 p.m.
The Bruins’ season came to an end in dramatic fashion.
No. 3 seed UCLA women’s soccer (13-1-3, 9-1-1 Pac-12) was upset by No.

The Bruins are taking a short break from conference play with a trip to Long Beach.
No. 2 UCLA softball (32-3, 13-2 Pac-12) will face Long Beach State (26-6, 19-2 Big West) in a makeup doubleheader Wednesday.

For the fifth season in a row, the Bruins are headed to round three.
No. 3 seed UCLA women’s soccer (13-1-2, 9-1-1 Pac-12) will meet No.