This post was updated April 30 at 6:32 p.m.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect a correction issued by the NCAA that UCLA women’s tennis will host San Diego State on May 3, and not Denver. In addition, if UCLA advances, it will face the winner of Texas Tech and Denver, not Texas Tech and SDSU.

As long as the NCAA championships have existed, the Bruins have been there.

They’re an institution on the national stage, never missing the tournament over its 40-plus years of existence. And though the streak rolls on, there is a twist.

Three rounds run through Westwood for the first time since 2021.

UCLA women’s tennis (18-5, 9-1 Pac-12) received the No. 8 seed in the NCAA championships Monday afternoon, and will host San Diego State (16-6, 7-2 Mountain West) in the first round on May 3. Should it advance, it will square up with the winner of No. 25 Texas Tech (19-8, 10-3 Big 12) and Denver (17-6, 6-0 Summit) a day later, also at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

As regular-season champions with multiple top-25 wins, the No. 8-ranked Bruins were a lock to make the field. Still, uncertainty loomed – the top eight seeds in the tournament host the Sweet 16, and a 4-2 loss to California in the semifinals of the Pac-12 championships left UCLA teetering on the edge of that group.

However, the selection committee was ultimately more impressed by the Bruins’ resume than those of the teams on their tail, granting their highest seeding since No. 4 in 2021.

Even in failing to reach the final of last week’s conference tournament, the squad remains one of the hottest in the country. They have won 16 of their last 18 matches, and the Golden Bears are the only team to topple them in that span.

Four top-10 wins highlighted a dominant regular-season campaign. UCLA fended off a murderer’s row of No. 3 Stanford, No. 10 Cal and No. 11 USC, claiming the conference crown outright for only the second time in program history.

The reward of hosting rights comes with the caveat of a major collision course.

Assuming all goes chalk, No. 9 seed Texas would visit for a Sweet 16 matchup, while undefeated No. 1 seed Oklahoma State would host the Elite Eight, with its Greenwood Tennis Center serving as the site for all three final rounds of the tournament.

Both potential foes are familiar from the regular-season slate. The Bruins defeated the Longhorns 5-2, benefitting from two singles walkovers, while the Cowgirls outlasted them in a 4-3 indoor marathon. Only four teams earned three points against the 27-0 behemoth in 2024.

If UCLA wants to see such rematches, it must earn its way down the path.

After spending the entirety of the 2022 and 2023 postseasons on the road, the Bruins can do so in the comfort of home courts.

They’re road warriors no longer.