Pepperdine opens NCAA Championships play next weekend as the No. 2 seed in the four-team site hosted by Baylor in Waco, Texas. Head coach Gualberto Escudero's team, 18-8 in dual match action, was ranked No. 18 nationally in this week's Wingspanbank.com poll. The Waves earned a No. 17-32 seed in the 64-team NCAA Championships field that was announced earlier today.

First and second round matches for men and women will be played next weekend at 16 campus sites. The final four rounds will be played a week later in Georgia, with the women convening at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Georgia, outside of Atlanta on May 17-20.

Pepperdine, the WCC champion, faces Pennsylvania, the Ivy League champion, in a first round match next Saturday (May 12) at the Baylor Tennis Center. Pennsylvania, 16-6, won its first-ever Ivy League on April 22 with a 7-0 homecourt win over Columbia. The Quakers are ranked No. 61 nationally. Host Baylor, ranked No. 17 nationally, clashes with intrastate rival Texas-Arlington in the other first round match.

Baylor, 16-6 and the tournament's No. 15 seed, is hosting first and second round NCAA Championships for women for the first time. The Bears earned an at-large berth after losing a 4-3 decision to Oklahoma State in the semifinal round of the Big XII Tournament last weekend in Waco.

Texas-Arlington advances with a dual match record of 16-6 and earned an automatic berth into the 64-team field by virtue of winning the Southland Conference team title.

The second round match is scheduled for next Sunday (May 13), with the winner advancing to the third round in Stone Mountain, most likely to face No. 2 seed Georgia.

Pepperdine was eliminated in the second round of last year's NCAA Championships, losing a hard-fought 4-3 decision to Louisiana State at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Undefeated Stanford is the top seed in the tournament. Georgia defeated the

Cardinal in the title match of last year's NCAA Championships at Pepperdine by a final score of 5-4.

Georgia is the No. 2 seed, followed in order by Duke, Florida and Tennessee. Senior Ipek Senoglu earned a berth in the 64-player NCAA singles draw which will be contested May 21-26 in Stone Mountain. Junior Paola Palencia was one of five alternates chosen for singles.

Palencia and Senoglu will compete in the 32-team doubles draw. The tandem advanced to the semifinals at last year's NCAA Championships and are currently ranked No. 3 nationally.