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The Los Angeles Tennis Center, shown here, will host men’s and women’s NCAA tennis re

Today’s start to the NCAA tournament marks the beginning of the women’s tennis team’s quest to salvage what has thus far been a disappointing season.

The Bruins (13-10, 4-4) managed to earn a No. 11 seed in the tournament, and will host matches in the first two rounds.

The women’s squad has been wrecked by injuries all season, but they are coming into the tournament at almost full strength.

“We are excited because we’re the healthiest we’ve been all year,” UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “The team is really excited to get this tournament started.”

Action will get underway at the Los Angeles Tennis Center with Minnesota facing Pepperdine today at 10 a.m. The Bruins will battle Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in the afternoon match starting at 1 p.m., and the winners of the two matches will play Saturday at 3 p.m.

UCLA did not play IUPUI or Minnesota this year, but they defeated Pepperdine on two occasions.

Being a host institution will enable UCLA to play the tournament’s first two rounds on familiar ground, and will also allow it to postpone traveling for another week.

“It helps with our confidence to be able to play at home,” said Sara Walker, who was recently named to the All Pac-10 First Team. “It’s a lot easier to play in our own place and not have to miss school. There is much less stress.”

UCLA is heavily favored to advance out of its region, and should it do so, it will travel to Gainesville, Fla. for the tournament’s remaining rounds. The Bruins aren’t expected to go much further than the round of 16 – given their regular season record – but the team is out to prove that, now that it’s healthy, it is much better than its record indicates.

“We haven’t been able to play our full lineup all year,” Walker said. “If everyone is healthy we can do very well.”

The only question mark for the Bruins is freshman Jackie Carleton, who is still suffering from shin splints. She will likely be limited to doubles play this weekend, but Sampras Webster expects her to be able to play both singles and doubles in Florida.

“Having her in the lineup will be a great advantage for us,” Sampras Webster said. “We’ve never been able to play with all of our top six players and we’re excited to be able to do that.”

The Pac-10 is very well represented in this year’s tournament, with six teams seeded in the top 16. Defending champion Stanford is the No. 1 seed, and Cal, Arizona State, Arizona, USC and UCLA are also seeded.

Last year the Bruins advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before falling to Georgia 4-3. Despite their low seed, the team believes that with the increased depth resulting from the team’s improved health, they can equal or better last year’s performance.

“We’ve got a great opportunity to show the rest of the country how good we are because we haven’t been able to do that in the regular season,” Sampras Webster said.

“If there was any time to be healthy, now would be the time because we want to peak in this tournament. Anything can happen during these matches.”

If the Bruins win both regional matches, they would advance to the NCAA Championships in Gainesville, Fla., taking place May 15-18.