Bruin SportsWire: Spring football times announced

With the men’s basketball team steaming into the postseason and the women’s basketball program looking for a new coach, there’s a lot of other action on campus, including the dawn of the Rick Neuheisel Era in football.

Football:

>> UCLA announced the timing of its Spring Football practice sessions, all of which will be open to the public (all times subject to change):

• Week 1: April 3 (3:55 pm), April 4 (3:55 pm) and April 5 (TBD).
• Week 2: April 7 (3:55 pm), April 8 (3:55 pm), April 10 (3:55 pm) and April 12 (11:00 am).
• Week 3: April 14 (3:55 pm), April 15 (3:55 pm), April 17 (3:55 pm) and April 18 (7:00 pm).
• Week 4: April 21 (3:55 pm), April 22 (3:55 pm), April 24 (3:55 pm) and April 26 (7:00 pm, Spring Scrimmage at the Rose Bowl).

Softball:

>> Bruin pitching ace Angelica Selden was named the Pac-10's Player of the Week for the second time this season and ninth time in her career. She’s working on a string of 26 scoreless innings, including 22 last weekend with shutouts against UNLV, Long Beach State and Virginia Tech.

Men’s Basketball:

>> Bruin freshman center Kevin Love and junior guard Darren Collison are both on the final ballot for the 2008 Wooden Award. A total of 24 players are on the ballot, which is due back from the panel of more than 1,000 voters March 31. The award winners will be announced April 12.

Men’s Golf:

>> The third-ranked Bruins finished fifth in the Southern Highlands Collegiates in Las Vegas on Sunday, ending the three rounds 12 strokes back of host UNLV. Junior Erik Flores was UCLA’s top finisher with a tie for fourth place, shooting two under par for the tournament.

Men’s Tennis:

>> No. 6 UCLA ran up a 4-0 lead and cruised to a 4-3 win over No. 11 Baylor at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Monday. The Bruins won the doubles point, two matches to one, and then swept the first three singles matches with senior Mathieu Dehaine, freshman Holden Seguso and junior Michael Look losing only two sets between them.

Men’s Volleyball:

>> Bruin senior libero Tony Ker was named the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Assn. Division I-II Men's National Player of the Week and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Molten Player of the Week. Ker earned the awards for not only helping his team to three important wins last week, but also for breaking the UCLA all-time record for career digs during the Bruins' 3-1 win over Lewis on March 4. He now has 1,125 digs in his career, along with 55-career double-digit dig matches, including 13 this season.

>> The No. 9 Bruins will play second-ranked BYU in two key back-to-back matches at Pauley Pavilion on Friday and Saturday. In the meantime, the Cougars were hit with NCAA sanctions announced today as follows:

"The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized Brigham Young University for major and secondary violations in its men's volleyball program. This case primarily involves violations of NCAA recruiting rules, including impermissible transportation, housing, meals, employment, cash and clothing, among other impermissible benefits. These impermissible benefits were provided by representatives of the institution's athletics interests (boosters). The case also includes a failure to monitor by the institution and the former head coach."

The penalties included three years of probation, minor scholarship and recruiting reductions, and the "disassociation of a booster" who tried to help the Cougars land two players who had defected from the powerhouse Cuban national team. As one observer put it, "BYU cheats, gets caught, get penalized but can still win the national title."

Women’s Golf:

>> Despite a tied-for-seventh finish from freshman Maria Jose Uribe and a tied-for-10th placement by All-American Tiffany Joh, the No. 2-ranked Bruins finished third in the UCF Challenge that ended today. UCLA finished 12 strokes back of winner Duke.

Women’s Gymnastics:

>> "If it's possible to feel worse for an athlete than you normally would after an injury, that's how we all feel about Brittani McCullough," said UCLA head Coach Valorie Kondos Field after McCullough ruptured her left Achilles tendon on the takeoff of her opening tumbling pass during Sunday’s quadrangular with Alabama, Arkansas and Cal State Fullerton at Pauley Pavilion. McCullough will miss the remainder of the season.

"She ruptured her right Achilles two years ago, was in a car accident last year and severed a tendon in her toe, and now this," said Kondos Field. "It's heartbreaking to see someone who does everything right in life have to suffer so much." The injury also led to UCLA’s third-place finish in the meet, behind Arkansas and Alabama.

Women’s Water Polo:

>> Senior attacker Brittany Rowe scored three goals to help the No. 1-ranked Bruins past No. 2 Stanford, 9-7, last weekend. For that effort, she was named the Mikasa Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Co-Player of the Week. She’s the fourth Bruin to earn that honor so far this season.