UC Santa Barbara Men, Long Beach State Women Tote NCAA Tennis Championship Bids

Files associated with this release:
2009 NCAA Men's Bracket
2009 NCAA Women's Bracket
MW Tennis Release No. 8

The UC Santa Barbara's men's tennis team takes on USC in the first round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships on Friday, May 8.

Long Beach State drew LSU in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships on Saturday, May 9.

Four-time league Player of the Year Hannah Grady leads the Big West champion Long Beach State 49ers into the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships.

Familiar faces are representing the Big West in the NCAA Tennis Championships as the UC Santa Barbara men and Long Beach State women learned their opponents as the Selection Committee revealed the 64-team brackets.
   
The Gauchos captured their fourth straight Big West Men's Tennis Tournament championship to earn the conference's automatic national berth.  UCSB, the No. 4 seed at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, outlasted UC Davis, Pacific and UC Irvine to win the league tournament for the sixth time in the last eight years.
   
This is UCSB's fourth straight and ninth overall NCAA Tournament appearance.  The Gauchos previously competed in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008.  UCSB is 11-13 on the year.
   
UCSB's first round opponent is USC, the host of the four-team subregional which also includes Minnesota and New Mexico.  The Trojans carry a No. 8 national ranking into the match against the Gauchos, which takes place on Friday, May 8 at 5:00 p.m.  The Golden Gophers and Lobos square off in the day's first match at 2:00 p.m.  Second round competition begins at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 9 with all action held at Marks Stadium.
   
Long Beach State's dynasty on the women's side continued with its sixth straight Big West Women's Tennis Tournament championship at Indian Wells.  The 49ers dispatched UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine to extend their tournament match winning streak to 18 straight.  LBSU tied the conference record for most consecutive tournament titles (6) and broke the mark for most overall titles (7).
   
LBSU is 18-7 on the year and went a perfect 8-0 in Big West play to wrap up the regular season title.
   
The 49ers are making a trip to the NCAA Championship for the sixth consecutive year and seventh time in the last eight seasons.  Long Beach State enters the postseason ranked No. 50 nationally in the Campbell/ITA poll and faces No. 25 LSU in first round action at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium.  The 49ers and Tigers meet on Saturday, May 9 at 9:00 a.m.  The other first round match pits the host Cardinal against Wichita State at noon.
   
Second round play begins at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 10.