UCLA Teams Looking Championship Worthy

by Ryan Rosenblatt on May 11, 2008 9:42 PM PDT

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

So as we wind down the athletic year ,a few UCLA teams are either in the postseason or making their final runs to the postseason. Let's take a look at how they did this weekend and what to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Women's Water Polo- This has been all over BN so I'm sure by now you know that our fantastic team completed their undefeated season by beating USC in the national title game. It was the program's fourth consecutive national championship and I think it's fair to start throwing Adam Krikorian's name in there with some of the best in the NCAA, regardless of the sport.

Women's Golf- The top seeded Bruins went to Austin, Texas and blew away the competition to advance to the NCAA Championships. The Bruins shot -3 for the regional, while second place Purdue finished a full ten shots back. Freshman Maria Jose Uribe led the Bruins, shooting -8 for the regional and tying for first place. Junior Tiffany Joh finished fourth, going -5 for the regional and -4 on the final day, which was the best of any golfer. This is head coach Carrie Forsyth's fourth regional title. The Bruins will now head to New Mexico for the NCAA Championships, beginning May 20.

Men's Tennis- The third seeded Bruins kicked off postseason play on Saturday with a 4-0 victory over Eastern Washington, then beat Wisconsin 4-0 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. UCLA's two NCAA tournament victories improved their record to 14-0 at home, the second consecutive season the Bruins were perfect at home. The Bruins' Round of 16 match will be against fourteenth seeded Florida St. on Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Women's Tennis- Just like the men, the women also advanced to the Round of 16. The seventh seeded women also swept both their matches 4-0, first defeating Buffalo in the first round, then defeating Denver in the second round. The Bruins will travel to Tulsa as well for the NCAA Championships where they will face none other than USC in the Round of 16 on Thursday. The Bruins and Trojans faced off twice this season and UCLA won both match-ups. They won the first match at USC 6-1, then won the second match at home 5-2.

Softball- The softball team headed north for their final game of the regular season and went 2-1 on the weekend. They opened up the weekend with a 3-1 win at Oregon, dropped a game Friday to Oregon St. 5-3, but bounced back to beat the Beavers 5-1 on Saturday. The success this weekend and throughout the season earned the Bruins the #2 national seed for the NCAA tournament. UCLA will host their regional and a super-regional should they advance. In UCLA's regional is Nevada, Purdue and Cal St. Fullerton. The Bruins play Fullerton in their first game, but don't expect a win easily. The Titans beat the Bruins in the only game between the two this season. I'm not going to go into any more detail here because I'm hoping Daynuh can give us a thorough preview of the regional. The only thing I ask of the rest of you is to head out to Easton Stadium next weekend to support our Bruins and create a great home field advantage.

Baseball- UCLA saw their postseason hopes dashed on Sunday when they lost to Oregon St. 8-7. UCLA had a 7-4 lead in the eighth when they gave up a two out grandslam that all but ended their regional hopes. This was one of the more disappointing seasons a team can have, going from preseason #1 to out of the postseason. UCLA had eight games left, all against very good teams and will likely need seven wins to get on the bubble. I'll have a season wrap-up after their final game in two weeks, but as a little preview...look for me to take some shots at the coaching staff and question the direction of the program.

Men's Golf- They had the weekend off, but Thursday they will kick off their postseason when they travel to Washington for the West regional. The Bruins are the second seed in the West regional and need only to finish in the top eight to advance to the NCAA Championships.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Ok so our baseball team still has a chance

Common sense dictated that we needed a series win in Corvallis, but now that I’ve looked at results from around the nation, it seems all the bubble teams struggled this weekend. This means UCLA still has a shot at a regional and won;t need to go 7-1. 6-2 should be good enough to get the Bruins into a regional and 5-3 will do it as long as they win both of their remaining weekend series (home to Washington St., at Cal).

by Ryan Rosenblatt on May 11, 2008 11:06 PM PDT reply actions

good news there at least

thanks for that recap of everything, looks like we have a real shot at 102 in the near future..

O.A.

by Ollie on May 11, 2008 11:37 PM PDT up reply actions

More than 102

Sure, I’d love to see 102 (and 103 and so on), and I think a NCAA title should always be the goal of any team, but I think it’s great news that water polo, tennis, and golf are becoming perennial top teams in the NCAA. I’d love to see the volleyball teams get back to that level, too.

But I just don’t want to be seen as a championship-or-failure sort of guy. I apologize, Ollie, if I’m taking your post too simply – you write great posts and are a great Bruin. Maybe I’m just overly sensitive with all the (perceived) criticism of CBH so-called “failures” the last 3 years.

greg in denver

by gbruin on May 12, 2008 6:49 AM PDT up reply actions

No No

I see exactly what your saying, and I didn’t mean it to come across as a “championship or bust” type post. I could not be more proud of basketball teams that have come so close the past 3 years, and of course I’m much more proud of our programs becoming perennial powers than I am hanging another banner.

I too would love volleyball to get back to where they were, I was at pauley east when they lost in a tight won to SUC. I also know a few guys on the team and would love to see them do well like the scilacci’s

O.A.

by Ollie on May 12, 2008 10:03 PM PDT up reply actions

Forgetting T&F

Please Do NOT forget our track teams! The women’s team is ranked #5 in the nation and the men are #7.

Track championship meets can be incredibly fickle. If our top people perform up to expectations and one or two darkhorses go way above expectations, we win. OR If we do as expected and the top teams get a guy with a hamstring injury or the flu or a dropped baton, we win. It’s that close at this point.

Regardless, the track teams are far more deserving of a mention in this thread than the underachieving baseballers.

Easy money and faithless women, red-eye whiskey for the pain...

by rich87 on May 12, 2008 8:21 AM PDT reply actions