2026 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship Bracket
UC Santa Barbara is set to play No. 11 seed Pepperdine in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship, Friday, May 1 at 10 a.m. PT. The announcement of the 64-team field was made Monday on the Women’s Tennis Selection Show on NCAA.com.

The Gauchos (17-8) earned their right to dance by winning the 2026 Big West Women’s Tennis Championship, clinching the league’s automatic qualifier. The No. 1 seed Gauchos defeated No. 4 seed Long Beach State in the semifinals 4-3 and No. 2 seed Cal Poly 4-3 in the title match. The Waves earned their conference's automatic qualifier by winning the West Coast Conference Tournament. 

UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 32 in the latest ITA rankings (April 22), while the Waves (18-4) are at No. 27. The winner of the UCSB-Pepperdine match will face either BYU (19-8) or Stanford (13-10) in the second round, Saturday, May 2, also held at Pepperdine. 
 
UC Santa Barbara is making its second straight and eighth NCAA Championship appearance overall. Last season, the Gauchos defeated 39th-ranked Rice 4-3 in the opening round before falling to No. 2 seed Texas A&M.