University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (Photo: Kirk Irwin)
Women's Tennis Selected to NCAA Tournament Field
April 27, 2026 | Women's Tennis
INDIANAPOLIS โ UCLA punched its ticket into the 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship Monday via at-large berth and will open play in the Tempe, Ariz. regional, the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Subcommittee announced. The Bruins' first-round match is scheduled for Friday versus San Diego State.
Joining UCLA (16-7) and San Diego State (20-3) in the regional are Denver (16-7) and host Arizona State (19-5). San Diego State (Mountain West Conference) and Denver (Summit League) collected automatic berths into the field as conference champions. Arizona State is the No. 16 seed.
Match times have yet to be determined. The Bruins and Aztecs will play for one spot in the regional final, while Arizona State or Denver will earn the other. The regional final is scheduled for Saturday.
The winner of each site advances to super-regional competition May 8 or 9. Each super-regional site will feature two teams playing a single-elimination format. The super-regional winners advance to Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., where the eight teams will compete for the national championship May 16-18.
UCLA beat San Diego State 5-2 in the 2026 dual-season opener (Jan. 18) and now leads the all-time series 28-8. UCLA leads Arizona State 63-19 overall. The Bruins won the programs' most recent meeting, in 2024, by a 4-0 margin. UCLA swept its only meeting with Denver in the 2008 NCAA Championship second round at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The matches shall be regulation dual matches. Three doubles matches consisting of six-game sets will be played for one team point, followed by six singles matches, each valued at one team point; played the best of three sets. No-ad scoring will be used and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) will be played at six-games-all. The team winning four or more team points advances in the championship bracket. During the championship, all matches will be stopped after the doubles point is decided. All remaining individual matches will be stopped once a team winner (four points won) has been determined.
With its selection, UCLA is one of two schools (Stanford) to reach the NCAA Championships each year since the tournament format was instituted in 1982.
Joining UCLA (16-7) and San Diego State (20-3) in the regional are Denver (16-7) and host Arizona State (19-5). San Diego State (Mountain West Conference) and Denver (Summit League) collected automatic berths into the field as conference champions. Arizona State is the No. 16 seed.
Match times have yet to be determined. The Bruins and Aztecs will play for one spot in the regional final, while Arizona State or Denver will earn the other. The regional final is scheduled for Saturday.
The winner of each site advances to super-regional competition May 8 or 9. Each super-regional site will feature two teams playing a single-elimination format. The super-regional winners advance to Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., where the eight teams will compete for the national championship May 16-18.
UCLA beat San Diego State 5-2 in the 2026 dual-season opener (Jan. 18) and now leads the all-time series 28-8. UCLA leads Arizona State 63-19 overall. The Bruins won the programs' most recent meeting, in 2024, by a 4-0 margin. UCLA swept its only meeting with Denver in the 2008 NCAA Championship second round at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The matches shall be regulation dual matches. Three doubles matches consisting of six-game sets will be played for one team point, followed by six singles matches, each valued at one team point; played the best of three sets. No-ad scoring will be used and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) will be played at six-games-all. The team winning four or more team points advances in the championship bracket. During the championship, all matches will be stopped after the doubles point is decided. All remaining individual matches will be stopped once a team winner (four points won) has been determined.
With its selection, UCLA is one of two schools (Stanford) to reach the NCAA Championships each year since the tournament format was instituted in 1982.
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