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Two wins. Eight points. That is all that is standing between both of UCLA's tennis teams and lifting a NCAA national championship. For the men, it will end a trophy drought that stretches back nearly a decade to 2005, while the women will look to add a second title to Coach Sampras Webster's resume, with the only other title coming in 2008. Two wins, eight points.
Today's action will begin with the #5-seeded women's squad, who will take on #8-seeded Florida in their semi-final match-up, beginning in Athens at 10 a.m. PST. The Bruins have been strong so far in Athens, beginning this past Thursday, sweeping #12-seeded Miami aside, 4-0, in the Sweet Sixteen round. After taking Friday off, on Saturday, the Lady Bruins took a huge step forward, dropping #4-seeded Duke, 4-2, avenging February's 4-3 loss to the Blue Devils in the ITA Indoor Champioinship final.
As for the #6-seeded men's squad, their action won't get underway in Athens (or Atlanta, depending on the weather situation) until 2 p.m. PST against #2-seeded Oklahoma in their semi-final match-up. Much like their female counterparts, the men's tennis team made short work of unseeded Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen, winning 4-0. And while the Bruins drew a tough #3-seeded Ohio State squad, a hard-fought battle led to the Bruins surviving and advancing, beating the Buckeyes, 4-2.
Today, weather permitting, we'll have double the tennis action, and hopefully double the celebration for both Bruin squads toiling in Athens, Georgia. Since the tourney is on the far side of the country, for the majority of us unable to make it to the tourney live, fortunately the NCAA will live stream video online, available here. For all information pertaining to the NCAA tennis tournaments, including complete schedules and brackets, you can check out the NCAA's official site through the University of Georgia's athletic department.
Alright folks, we have some NCAA tennis tournament action to keep an eye on. This is your NCAA non-revenue tournament open thread, so fire away in the comment thread with who you think is most likely to bring home NCAA national championship #111 to Westwood, what you're seeing as you watch/track the games, and any other bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse as we cheer on our UCLA squads who hopefully will continue marching toward a NCAA national championship.
GO BRUINS