Her surname suggests being mischievous and comical, and to a degree, UCLA's Rachael Kidder admitted that she is a prankster.

But once she steps on a volleyball court, especially lately, the only joke that she has played has been on the opposition.

Kidder continued her torrid postseason pace by smacking a match-high 21 kills, sending UCLA past Florida State 25-16, 25-17, 25-21 on Thursday in a national semifinal match played before 10,525 fans at the Alamodome.

The Bruins (29-6) advanced to the national final for the eighth time and the first time since 2004. They will play Illinois at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

“People always talk about my last name, like, ‘You're such a kidder,'” said the junior outside hitter, who was named the MVP of the Lexington regional after the Bruins knocked off four-time defending national champion Penn State and top-seeded Texas. “That's what I get all the time. I'm not (a kidder) when I play volleyball. I'm serious.

“I think players' mindsets definitely change in the postseason because everyone knows it's crunch time. I mean, obviously, you can't lose. So, I think that just makes people more aggressive. You definitely have a lot more drive.”

That drive allowed the Bruins to steamroll past Florida State (28-7), which was in its first Final Four.

UCLA was in control from start to finish, using a powerful and efficient attack and tough defense to prevail. The Bruins had a .328 hitting percentage, 54 digs and eight blocks. They didn't trail at any point until losing the first point of the third set.

“Obviously, the match itself wasn't as we had hoped, and was a disappointing loss,” Florida State coach Chris Poole said. “At the same time, we had a lot of wins this year and had a great season overall. Somebody's got to lose at the end, unless you win the whole thing.”

UCLA put itself in that position thanks to Kidder's attacking, the setting of Lauren Van Orden (43 assists) and Lainey Gera's defense (17 digs).

“It really feels good to just know that we worked really hard all year, and we're pretty confident the whole time,” Kidder said. “Everything we did is starting to pay off.”

It paid off big on a night when UCLA seemed to always make the crucial plays when it needed to.

The Bruins used a 4-1 run in the third set after Florida State made it 20-18, earning the first of three match points.

In the second set, the Seminoles trailed 13-12 after one of Jekaterina Stepanova's team-best 11 kills, but UCLA responded with an 8-1 run to pull away for good.

Kidder had five kills to pace the rally.

“I thought when we had the intermission (between the second and third sets), we went in, talked about that we just need to keep working hard, and don't take it for granted,” sophomore Kelly Reeves said. “I think we worked really well as a team and just realized we can do this.

“I thought we did a really good job, and we were really patient. We took it one point at a time and just enjoyed every moment. So, that was good.”