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EUGENE, Ore. - The UCLA women's golf team begins its quest for a fourth NCAA Championship this weekend, beginning on Friday with the first of four rounds of stroke play at the Eugene Country Club. 

This year marks the second in a row under the new format, which features four rounds of stroke play and three rounds of match play to determine the national champion. The 24-team field will face 18 holes of stroke play on both Friday (May 20), Saturday (May 21) and Sunday (May 22) before the field is trimmed to 15. Then on Monday, May 23, the top eight teams from those 15 will advance to the match-play portion. Play on Tuesday, May 24 will feature the match-play quarterfinals in the morning and the semifinals in the afternoon, with the last two teams standing squaring off for the NCAA Championship on Wednesday afternoon.

Golf Channel will have unprecedented coverage of the NCAA Championships, starting on Monday with the final round of stroke play (4-7 p.m. PT). On Tuesday, the network will air the match-play quarterfinals live from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., as well as the semifinals from 3:30-7 p.m. Wednesday's match-play final will air live from 3-7 p.m.

Joining the Bruins in the 24-team field are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Furman, Georgia, Miami Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, USC, Virginia and Washington.

The fivesome teeing it up for the Bruins will be senior Louise Ridderström, juniors Bronte Law and Hadas Libman and freshman Lilia Vu and Bethany Wu. The top four scores from those five will count towards the overall score. The Bruins will open the tournament on Friday on the 10th tee at 12 p.m. in the order of Libman, Ridderström, Wu, Vu and Law. Live scoring will be available here.

The Bruins are coming off a third-place finish at the NCAA Bryan Regional (May 5-7), shooting a 1-over 865 (289-279-297) to earn their 16th-straight trip to the NCAA Championships. UCLA has not finished worse than sixth in any stroke-play tournament this season, boasting four victories (Nanea Pac-12 Preview, Bruin Wave Invitational, Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic stroke play, PING/ASU Invitational) and a second-place showing at the Pac-12 Championships (April 18-20).

Law was the co-medalist at the Bryan Regional, sharing first-place honors with Georgia's Bailey Tardy. Law, who led the field in par-4 scoring, posted her third victory of the season (Stanford Intercollegiate and PING/ASU Invitational) and the sixth of her career to tie Kay Cockerill for the most in school history. Law's win was the sixth for a Bruin in Regional play (Stephanie Kono, 2011; Maria Jose Uribe, 2008 and 2009; Sydnee Michaels, 2007; Hannah Jun, 2004). Additionally, the 209 score tied the course record for 54 holes.

The top-ranked collegiate golfer, according to Golfweek, Law has gone T-1, second, first and second in her last four events. Her second-place showings were at the Pac-12 Championships (-10, 206) and the Bruin Wave Invitational (Feb. 29-March 1), the latter of which she lost on the second playoff hole to her teammate, Ridderström. Law, who has a 70.6 scoring average, has seven Top 10's in eight events, 18 rounds under par and 10 in the 60's. She was named All-Pac-12 Conference First Team.

Vu has finished T-12, T-3 and 2nd in her last three events, going under par in seven of those nine rounds. Her 71.8 scoring average is second on the team, her eight Top 20's are first and her four Top 10's are tied for second. The freshman, ranked fifth by Golfweek, was 1-under (215) at the Bryan Regional with under-par scores in her first two rounds (70 and 71). Vu was under par in all three rounds of the Pac-12 Championships, tying for third with a three-round total of 208 (-8), to help her earn All-Pac-12 First Team honors. She ended her regular season with her best collegiate finish, a second-place showing behind Law at the PING/ASU, shooting a season-best 9-under (207). Vu's first two rounds were 68 and 67, the latter of which was a year low.

Wu, an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection, holds a scoring average of 73.0, posting a pair of Top 10's and seven Top 20's. She tied for fourth in the single round of stroke play at the Liz Murphey, with her best three-round finish occurring at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (Feb. 7-9) when she finished tied for 10th (216, +3). Wu's best two rounds of the season came in her first collegiate tournament, the Annika Intercollegiate, when she had bookend 69's to finish 12th (212, -4).

Ridderström, another All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection, has a scoring average of 73.9, posting a pair of wins, four Top 10's and five Top 20's. Her two victories came back-to-back. Ridderström shot a blistering 67 in the final round of the Bruin Wave Invitational and defeated Law in a playoff to claim her first collegiate victory. A month later, in one round of stroke play at the Liz Murphey, she shot a 4-under 68 to claim medalist honors. Ridderström ended the regular season with a T-14 at the PING/ASU (219, +3) and placed T-35 at the NCAA Regionals and T-40 at the Pac-12s with matching 223 (+7) scores.

Libman, who sat out the fall after transferring from Baylor, has played in six events and has a scoring average of 77.3. Her best finish came at the Liz Murphey when she shot a 1-over 73 to tie for 12th. Libman's top showing in a full stroke-play tournament came at Pac-12s when she tied for 36th (+6, 222). 

MATCH-PLAY SUCCESS
In the two regular-season tournaments that featured match play, the Bruins finished second at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic (April 1-3) and third at the SDSU March Mayhem at The Farms (March 21-23). In Athens, UCLA earned the top seed thanks to a 2-under score in the lone round of stroke play. The Bruins technically didn't win any of their three matches at the Liz Murphey, tying Kent State in the first round and USC in the semifinals, however, UCLA would advance to the championship match on tiebreakers both times before losing 3-2 in the final to Alabama. In San Diego, the Bruins beat Delaware in the first round and San Diego State in the second round before losing a tiebreaker to Arizona in the semifinals. UCLA rebounded with a 4-1 win in the third-place match against Stanford. In the two match-play tournaments, the Bruins have won three, lost one and tied three.

Individually, Vu went undefeated in the two tournaments, posting a 6-0-1 record. At the LMCC, she had an outstanding differential of 17 and 14 in her three victories. Wu was 5-2 in the two events, going 4-0 in San Diego. Ridderström was 4-2-1 in the two tournaments, including an undefeated 4-0 mark at SDSU. Libman also played in both match-play events, going 1-4-2, while Law was 3-1 at the SDSU March Mayhem, including a 2-up victory over Stanford's Mariah Stackhouse in the third-place match. The junior did not participate in the Liz Murphey, as she was playing in the LPGA Tour's first major, the ANA Inspiration.

HISTORY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA's two most recent NCAA Championships came in 2011 (Bryan, Texas) and 2004 (Auburn, Ala.), both under current head coach Carrie Forsyth, who is in her 17th season at the helm of the Bruins. UCLA also hoisted the trophy in 1991 (Columbus, Ohio) under former coach Jackie Steinmann. The best finish for a UCLA player at the NCAA Championships came in 2008 when Tiffany Joh tied for first, however, she lost the individual title in a playoff. The Bruins also have a trio of third-place individual finishes (1996, Kathy Choi; Susie Mathews, 2004; Amie Cochran, 2005, T-3).

Last season in Bradenton, Fla., the Bruins were tied for 22nd after one round, but vaulted all the way up to 16th following round two and made the Top 15 on the number to advance to the fourth round of stroke play. But UCLA's early hole was too much to dig out of, as it finished 15th (1,233, +81). Law tied for 18th (+11, 299) and Ridderström tied for 51st (+23, 311). Law is making her third appearance at the NCAA Championships after finishing T-50 (+13, 293) in 2014 in Tulsa. Ridderström tied for seventh in her sophomore campaign at +2 (282) and tied for 42nd as a freshman (+11, 299) in Athens, Ga.