Bruin SportsWire: Slater named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week

A busy week for the Bruins is already underway for the No. 1-ranked women's golf team, but last week's efforts brought some nice honors to Bruin athletes:

Cross Country:

>> The UCLA men’s and women’s teams will face some stiff competition this week in Eugene, Ore. at the second Bill Dellinger Invitational on Saturday. The UCLA men moved up to 21st in the national coaches’ rankings this week, but will be in a field that includes seven other ranked teams, including No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Arkansas, No. 6 UTEP and No. 11 Portland, among others. UCLA’s unranked women’s team will face three ranked teams among the 15 entered: No. 4 Arkansas, No. 15 Georgia, No. 17 Washington and No. 24 Oregon.

Football:

>> Matthew Slater was named as the U.S. Bank Pacific-10 Conference Special Teams "Player of the Week." Slater had a key 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to help salt away a 44-31 win for the Bruins over Washington last week. It’s the third time in four weeks that a UCLA player has won weekly honors from the conference; quarterback Ben Olson did it in week one and punter Aaron Perez was named in week two.

Golf:

>> The men’s team was ranked second in the nation by GolfWeek and fifth in the GolfWorld coaches’ preseason poll. The Bruins return eight letter winners from the 2006 team that finished seventh in the nation. The season begins Oct. 21 with the Big Ten-Pac-10 Challenge hosted by Northwestern.

>> The No. 1-ranked women’s team is playing in the NCAA Fall Preview tournament in Albuquerque, N. M. that features the top 12 teams from last year’s NCAA Championships. The Bruins trailed by four strokes after one round of the three-round tournament.

Soccer:

>> Two members of the men’s team -– senior defenders Mike Zaher and Greg Folk -– were among 20 senior athletes nominated for the Lowe’s 2007 Senior CLASS Award. They’re co-captains this season, and were both Pac-10 All-Academic Honorable Mention selections in 2005 and 2006. The award is given in eight sports and recognizes a senior athlete who has excelled both on and off the field of play. Zaher was a preseason All-American pick while Folk captained the U.S. Pan American Games team this past summer.

>> The UCLA men’s team dropped in the national rankings this week to No. 10, 15, 17 or 18, depending on which poll you prefer. However, the Bruins get their leading scorer from 2006, sophomore David Estrada, back this week. He has been healing after foot surgery on Aug. 20.

Men’s Water Polo:

>> Scott Davidson’s five goals against sixth-ranked UC Irvine in a 12-11 Bruin win earned him Mikasa Mountain Pacific Sports Federation "Play of the Week" honors. The Bruins are now 8-1 and will face No. 4-ranked Stanford on Saturday along with a Sunday doubleheader at Santa Cruz. Davidson leads UCLA in scoring with 15 goals on the season.

Women’s Volleyball:

>> UCLA (12-1) remained fifth in the national rankings this week after beating Arizona and Arizona State at home last week, but travel to face No. 10 Cal on Thursday and No. 2 Stanford on Friday.