MONDAY BRIEFING

Track teams compete in MPSF Championships

The UCLA women’s track team boasted several strong individual performances at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships over the weekend in Seattle. The team finished sixth with 53.50 points, with Oregon finishing first with 133 points.

Finishing with 108.50 total points, the men’s track team placed ahead of fellow Pac-10 schools Stanford and California for the MPSF Indoor championship.

Men’s golf to face Trojans at USC Invitational

The crosstown rivalry between UCLA and USC may be alive and well each time the storied enemies face each other in any competition, but not so much for the men’s golf team.

“I don’t know that we make this one more special than any other event. If it was a head-to-head match, it might be different,” coach Derek Freeman said. “We’re just trying to play to our capabilities, make smart decisions and do the best we can.”

And coming off of a first-place finish at the Battle at the Beach, where they made plenty of smart decisions, members of the No. 8 UCLA men’s golf team will look to build on that win over the next two days at the USC Invitational, staged at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.

Men’s tennis battles rain, Bears this weekend

The UCLA men’s tennis team ran into yet another roadblock in its season when its Friday match against No. 14 Stanford was postponed because of rain, the third time UCLA has seen one of its matches postponed or canceled so far this season.

But this time, UCLA didn’t let the rain get them down.

The No. 7 Bruins bounced back Saturday to defeat No. 15 California, 4-3, on the Golden Bears’ home court in Berkeley.

Men’s volleyball dominated by Long Beach State

The No. 3 Bruins struggled for the second match in a row, falling in straight sets to No. 9 Long Beach State in Pauley Pavilion on Friday night.

“I think our missed serves are what really hurt us,” freshman opposite Jonathan Bridgeman said. “Every time we would get on a run, we’d miss a serve, and it would just kill our momentum.”

UCLA’s 22 errors with just two aces gave a mere .703 serving average while Long Beach hit for a .773 serving average with six aces.

Whatever the Bruins were doing to serve better, it was not enough, Bridgeman said.

Softball goes 3-2 at Cathedral City Classic

This past weekend, the No. 4 UCLA softball team was immediately at the brink of a major let-down. Then there were moments of dominance, furious rallies and invigorating momentum shifts. There were extra innings, then a silent humbling. The Bruins really had a taste of five completely different games at the Cathedral City Classic.

Swim and dive competes in Pac-10 Championships

School records and personal best times dropped left and right at the Pac-10 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Long Beach this past week, as UCLA ended its conference season on a high note.

Finishing fifth out of the eight Pac-10 swimming schools with 1,015 points is right where UCLA figured to be, behind the Pac-10’s four strong contenders for the NCAA Championships this year. Stanford took home the crown (1,489 points), and was followed by Cal (1,341), USC (1,298.5) and Arizona (1,223.5).

Up in Federal Way, Wash., UCLA’s divers also had a great conference meet. The highlight came on the final day, as junior Karina Silva broke the school record for points on tower, and finished second overall, while fellow junior teammate Laura Winn finished right behind her in third.

Women’s golf to host own invitational

The No. 1 UCLA women’s golf team will co-host the inaugural Bruin Wave Invitational with No. 9 Pepperdine this week at the Valley Course of the Robinson Ranch Golf Club this week.

Compiled by Bruin Sports staff. Read the full versions of these stories and more on dailybruin.com/categories/sports

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