The longest journeys begin with a single step. Long Beach State women’s tennis has figured out how to get in the NCAA post season door but so far hasn’t been able to move past the first round. This year may be different when the Beach starts the NCAA Tournament in Southern California, traveling the short run to UCLA and a match with SEC toughened but beatable (Arkansas 12-13) in Westwood on Friday, May 11.

The Razorbacks were selected as an at-large, with that record of 12-13 overall and 3-8 in the SEC. The team’s computer ranking of No. 33 was high enough to get Arkansas into the tournament and that long air trip to the West Coast.

Jenny Hilt Costello has her Niners with good numbers (18-5, 8-0 Big West) and names. The Beach court queens have the Big West Player of the Year, Anais Dallara, and ranked #101 in singles, and the first-team All-Big West doubles team Rachel Manasse and Laura Bernard are ranked #81 in doubles. Arkansas has no players ranked in the latest reports but they have a tradition of strong spring sports.

If the Beach can beat the Razorbacks, next up will be the winner of No. 1 national seed UCLA and Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels were one of the 31 automatic qualifiers and got their automatic bid after winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

If the LB-UCLA match comes up it will be at UCLA for the fourth time in the team’s nine NCAA appearances. LBSU has never left the state of California for the NCAA Tournament. No other Big West teams made the show but USC, Stanford, Cal, Pepperdine, Sac State, St. Mary’s and San Diego are other California squads playing first round matches.