Women's Soccer

UCLA advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament with a win over USC on Saturday night at Drake Stadium. The 1-0 result gave the Bruins a modicum of revenge after being ousted by the Trojans in last year's College Cup. You can read my write up of the match here and between that and the official site's wrap you should have all you need to know about the match. A couple notes about the match I'll throw in there. The crowd of 3,114 was the largest to ever see a tournament match in Southern California and part of that crowd were Bruin athletes from other sports including multiple basketball and football players. The Bruins now advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday when they will host Duke at Drake Stadium. Kick off is slated for 7:00 pm..

Men's Soccer

After getting hot down the stretch to win the Pac 10 and reach the NCAA tournament, the men's soccer team flamed out in the first round when they lost 1-0 to Cal Poly. The Bruins had their chances, but were thwarted by some quality defending, goal keeping and bad luck. A first round tournament exit must be looked at as a disappointing season in Westwood and it once again brings up the question of whether or not Salcedo is the man to lead this program. I will have a more detailed post on the program in the near future. Prior to Friday's disappointing loss, the Bruins got good news as Michael Stephens won Pac 10 Player of the Year, Salcedo won Pac 10 Coach of the Year and eight Bruins were All-Pac 10 honorees. Stephens and Brad Rusin were also honored by TopDrawerSoccer.com as they were named to the All-Season team. On Sunday, former Bruins were on top of the US soccer world as former player and coach Sigi Schmid, former player Mike Lapper and former player Frankie Hejduk won the MLS Cup with the Columbus Crew.

Men's Water Polo

The regular season drew to a close this weekend for the Bruins in disappointing fashion.#2 UCLA lost 5-2 to #5 Pepperdine to close the regular season ledger at 15-6 overall and 5-3 in MPSF play. Next up for the MPSF tournament which will decide their tournament fate. The Bruins will need to make it to the title game to stay in the discussion to advance to the 4 team tournament. The Bruins open the tournament on Friday versus #4 Cal at the Pepperdine hosted event. Should the Bruins win, they would play either #1 USC or #10 UC Irvine in the tournament semifinals.

Women's Volleyball

Will the heartbreak never end for the #9 Bruins? The victim of so many five set thrillers so far this season, UCLA was the victim again this weekend as they took both #7 Cal and #2 the distance before being defeated. On Friday the Bruins went five sets with Cal, but fell short 15-13 in the final set. It was the fourth consecutive time the Bruins and Bears went five sets and third consecutive time Cal came out on top. On Saturday the Cardinal were too much for the Bruins in the fifth set, winning it 15-11. UCLA has now lost six five set matches this season. While it may have been a tough week for the Bruins on the court, head coach Andy Banachowski got good news as he signed three to LOI's, including the National Junior Player of the Year. The Bruins (18-10, 8-9) close out the regular season this week when they host #24 Pepperdine on Tuesday and #10 USC on Friday. Friday's game will be televised on FSN Prime Ticket.

Women's Basketball

The Bruins split their two games this week, beating Pepperdine 66-55 on Tuesday and losing to #11 Maryland on Sunday in College Park. The Bruins had a productive week in recruiting this week as head coach Nikki Caldwell's first class appears to be shaping up nicely.Two women signed LOI's to play with the Bruins next season, one of whom is ranked by ESPNU as the country's #4 player. It looks like the program is on the way up under Coach Caldwell. Next up for the Bruins (2-1) is a trip to Cal Poly on Wednesday followed by a visit from Cal St. Northridge on Sunday.

Swimming and Diving

The swimmers were off for the week, but the divers competed in the Texas A&M Invitational this week and fared pretty well. Tess Schofiel had the hiighest finish of any Bruins when she finished fifth on tower. The swimmers and divers both take this week off as they prepare for the Texas Invitational on December 4, 5 and 6.

Cross Country

The women's season may be over, but the men still have one meet left and a rather large one at that. The Bruins compete at the NCAA Championships today in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Men's Volleyball

The Bruins competed in the SAC Tournament, an exhibition tournament, this weekend and came away with a 2-1 record. They beat Long Beach St. in their first match 3-1, beat UCSB 3-0 in their second match and then lost 3-1 to Cal St. Northridge, who won the tournament for the second consecutive year. This was the final exhibiton matches for the Bruin as they now prepare for the beginning of the season in January.

Men's Golf

The Bruins will compete in the Western Refining All-America Tournament in El Paso, Texas beginning today.

Calendar (all times pacific)
Monday, November 24
Men's Golf, Western Refining All-America Tournament, All Day- El Paso, TX
Men's Cross COuntry, NCAA Championships, All Day- Terre Haute, IN
Tuesday, November 25
Women's Volleyball vs. Pepprdine, 7:00 pm- Pauley Pavilion
Men's Golf, Western Refining All-America Tournament, All Day- El Paso, TX
Wednesday, November 26
Women's Basketball at Cal Poly, 7:00 pm- San Luis Obispo, CA
Friday, November 28
Men's Water Polo vs. Cal (MPSF Tournament), 3:00 pm- Malibu, CA
Women's Volleyball vs. USC, 3:00 pm- Pauley Pavilion, TV- FSN Prime Ticket
Saturday, November 29
Men's Water Polo vs. USC or UC Irvine, TBA- Malibu, CA
Sunday, November 30
Women's Basketball vs. Cal St. Northridge, 2:00 pm- Pauley Pavilion
Men's Water Polo, MPSF Tournament, TBA- Malibu, CA

Ticket information for all sports can be found here while facility information and directions for all sports can be found here. GO BRUINS!!!