The seedings and matchups for the 2009 Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Championships have been determined as No. 1 seed Long Beach State attempts to win its sixth consecutive women's title, while No. 1 men's seed Pacific looks to claim its first tournament crown since 2004.
The 49er women have won 15 consecutive matches at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, site of the championship for the sixth straight year. LBSU is vying to tie UC Santa Barbara for most championships in a row (6) and break the record for most overall titles. The 49ers have won six titles, capturing their first in 2002.
In addition, Long Beach State wrapped up the regular season championship with a perfect 8-0 record after defeating Pacific and UC Davis on the road last week. The 49ers have won 19 straight Big West regular season contests dating back to the 2007 campaign.
The 49ers will play the winner of the match between No. 8 seed UC Riverside and No. 9 seed Cal State Fullerton. Other matchups on Friday include No. 2 UC Irvine against No. 7 UC Davis, No. 3 Cal Poly versus No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, and No. 4 Cal State Northridge against No. 5 Pacific. A coin flip determined seeds Nos. 4-6 in order to resolve a three-way tiebreaker between the Matadors, Tigers and Gauchos.
Pacific is the No. 1 seed for the men's tournament which begins on Friday, April 17. The Tigers captured a share of the men's regular season championship with UC Irvine as both posted 4-1 records in league play. However, Pacific earned the No. 1 seed by virtue of dealing the Anteaters a 4-3 loss on April 4. UCI is the No. 2 seed and this marks the second straight year the program has claimed a co-championship. Cal Poly owns the No. 3 seed and three-time defending tournament champion UC Santa Barbara is No. 4. UC Davis is No. 5 and UC Riverside No. 6.
The Gauchos are looking to make their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. They must first get past UC Davis in a 3:00 p.m. matchup on Friday, April 17. Cal Poly takes on UC Riverside at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. Pacific faces the winner of the UCSB/UCD tussle and UC Irvine battles the winner of CP/UCR on Saturday, April 18. Both matches begin at 9:00 a.m.
Both the Big West Men's and Women's Tennis championship matches take place on Sunday, April 19 at 9:00 a.m.