An unexpected hurricane touched down in Florida on Saturday
afternoon, sending ripple effects throughout the women’s
collegiate tennis world. The greatest damage was felt in
Gainesville. With Florida’s 4-3 loss to No. 23 Miami in the
second round of the NCAA Tournament, the top-seeded and previously
undefeated Gators will be absent from the finals for the first time
since 1999. It marks the earliest exit for a top-seeded team since
the tournament expanded to 64 teams that same year. For the Bruins,
the Hurricanes’ victory could clear a giant roadblock that
has kept them out of the semi-finals since 1996. “It opens a
door,” assistant coach Rance Brown said. “Now we need
to step through it.” First though, UCLA must get by
cross-town rival USC in tomorrow’s Round of 16, which it has
not been able to do in two meetings this year. Should the Bruins
get by the Trojans, the toughest obstacle between them and the
finals may have been cleared. In the quarterfinals, instead of an
almost certain meeting with the Gators, they would face the winner
of the Miami-Tulane match. While both of those teams have had
impressive seasons, unlike the Gators, neither has been a
powerhouse during the year. During the regular season, the Bruins
defeated the Hurricanes, 4-3. “We know we can beat Miami
because we already have,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said.
“The team may have gone in with a different mind-set if it
was against Florida.” Even the semifinals would appear to be
easier than the Bruins’ Round of 16 match. Washington, the
No. 4 seed, lost to the Bruins 5-2 during conference play and
finished fourth in the Pac-10. Clemson, the No. 5 seed, has
struggled on the road this year, losing to BYU, 4-3, and barely
squeaking out a 4-3 win over Pac-10 bottom-dweller Arizona State.
“It could be (the toughest),” Sampras Webster said of
tomorrow’s match. “‘SC’s had a great
season.” As challenging as the Round of 16 may be for the
Bruins, they can be thankful they did not have Florida’s draw
leading up to it. Because the NCAA looks to minimize traveling for
teams during the Regionals, match-ups are often determined by
geographical convenience rather than rankings. This explains why
Miami, despite being the champion of the Big East, was sent to
nearby Gainesville. UCLA and other teams on the West Coast often
face teams in the tournament that they have already played twice.
“I don’t like it,” Sampras Webster said of the
regional scheduling. “We have such a strong conference and
region. It’s a shame to have to play these teams three times.
It’d be nice to play teams outside the region so we can see
where we match up.” As frustrating as seeing a team so often
in one season can be, at least the Bruins can consider themselves
fortunate that the team they were forced to play a third time,
Pepperdine, was one they had already decisively knocked off
twice.
OTHER UPSETS: Despite finishing eighth in the
Pac-10 and falling to Texas 4-3 during the regular season, Arizona
State avenged its earlier season loss with a second-round 4-0
shutout over the 12th-ranked Longhorns. The Sun Devils are one of
five Pac-10 teams that advanced to the Round of 16. Along with
UCLA, Stanford, USC and Washington will all be in Athens, Ga. this
weekend. Cal was the only Pac-10 team to fall to a non-conference
opponent in the Regionals. The 11th-seeded Bears lost to Fresno
St., 4-3, in the second round.