Quest for Title #109 - Women's Water Polo and Women's Tennis Advance, Women's Golf Still in Third, Men's Tennis Gets Started

While most of us were enjoying a sunny Friday and end to the work week, for many of our UCLA non-revenue sports, their work got underway in earnest yesterday, with the women's water polo and women's tennis team joining their lady counterparts on the golf squad in NCAA action yesterday.

The top-ranked women's golf team struggled yesterday, with their score rising from +2 after the first round to +10 after the second round. Fortunately, the rest of the field followed suit and the Lady Bruins remain in third place after two rounds. Stanford remains in the lead, but now hold a six shot lead over UCLA, while North Carolina's +10 second round dropped them into a tie with our Bruins. LSU made the most headway, climbing into second, now five shots ahead of UCLA and just one behind the Cardinal. The Bruins will be back in action today, in the third and final round in the NCAA West Regional.

While the women's golf team's day didn't go as planned, for the women's water polo, their post-season play couldn't have started any better, with the #2-seeded Bruins dismantled #7-seeed Iona, 14-3. KK Clark was the star (of course), leading UCLA with four goals, while Sarah Orozco chipped in a hat trick, and Emily Donohoe notching a brace. In goal, Caitlin Dement came up with five saves, as the Bruins surged to an easy first round victory. The ladies will be back in action this afternoon at 5:15 p.m. PST against #3-seeded U$C in the semi-final, at San Diego State's Azetc Aquaplex. On the year, the Bruins are a perfect 3-0 over their Trojan rivals, but every win has come on a one-goal margin. Let's hope the ladies can make this next one a much less stressful win over hated U$C.

At the same time yesterday, the #1-ranked women's tennis team started their NCAA tournament off with a first round destruction of Eastern Kentucky at the L.A. Tennis Center, sweeping EKU 4-0. The Bruins got things started off right with a dominating show in doubles action (8-0, 8-0, 7-1) to take the first point, followed by dominating wins across the board for Skylar Morton (6-1, 6-1), Chanelle Van Nguyen (6-0, 6-2), and Carling Seguso (6-2, 6-2). The ladies will be back in action, taking on Long Beach State in the second round at the L.A. Tennis Center at 3 p.m. PST.

As mentioned before, as for the remaining sports, the #4-seeded men's tennis team get their NCAA action started today at the L.A. Tennis Center against Eastern Kentucky, beginning at noon PST. If they win, they'll advance to the second round where they'll face the winner of the San Diego-Fresno State match-up. So, if you're in Westwood, head down to campus and catch a pair of tennis matches (it's just $7 dollars for all of the regional action today at the L.A. Tennis Center). Meanwhile, the #3-ranked men's golf team, led by Patrick Cantlay, will begin their NCAA journey next week, having earned the top seed in the Central Regional

Very strong start for the women's tennis and water polo teams, so let's hope the momentum keeps going and Westwood will be celebrating another national championship (or two) by the end of the 2011-12 year. This is your UCLA NCAA tournament action open thread.

Fire away with your thoughts, takes, or just comments as matches progress.

GO BRUINS