SAN MATEO, Calif. – Three West Coast Conference women’s soccer teams – BYU, Pepperdine and Santa Clara – have earned a bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Pepperdine and BYU earned national seeds and all three teams will host first round matches.
 
The Cougars are making their 22nd appearance in the tournament, the Broncos are making their 31st appearance and the Waves are making their 12th appearance.
 
Defending NCAA Champion Santa Clara will begin its title defense at home, where the 2021 NCAA Women’s College Cup will be held at Stevens Stadium. The Broncos earned a share of the WCC title and the Conference’s automatic qualification, tying BYU with an 8-1 WCC mark. The Broncos earned a 1-0 victory at home against BYU on Sept. 30 to secure the automatic qualification. Santa Clara enters the NCAA Tournament 11-5-2 overall and ranked No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches Association national poll. The Broncos will host No. 20 Stanford in a matchup of the last two NCAA Champions on Saturday at 1 p.m. The WCC Network will have live coverage of the match. Santa Clara, led by MAC Hermann Trophy candidates Kelsey Turnbow and Alex Loera, is making its seventh straight and 31st appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Pepperdine earned a No. 4 national seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host Summit League champion South Dakota State on Saturday at noon at Tari Frahm Rokus Field. The WCC Network will have live coverage of the match. Pepperdine is making its 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Waves have earned a berth in four of the past six NCAA Tournaments. It's the sixth time that the Waves have hosted an NCAA Tournament game, and the fifth time they've been a national seed. Pepperdine enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 19 in the United Soccer Coaches Association national poll The Waves were ranked as high as No. 3 nationally after an 11-match winning streak. They finished the regular season 15-3-1 overall and 7-2 in the WCC. Pepperdine ranks third in the nation in shutout percentage (.632) and is 12th in goals-against average (0.57) and 23rd in goals per game (2.37). Goalkeeper Zoe Clevely ranks tied for third in shutouts (11) and 14th in goals-against average (0.57). Offensively, All-WCC standouts Joelle Anderson (23 points on nine goals and five assists) and Tori Waldeck (22 points on eight goals and six assists) lead the way. Anderson is a candidate for the MAC Hermann Trophy.
 
BYU, led by MAC Herman Trophy candidate Mikayla Colohan, earned a No. 4 national seed and will host Mountain West Conference champion New Mexico at South Field on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT. BYUtv will broadcast the match. The Cougars, who tied for the WCC title, enter the NCAA Tournament 13-4-1 overall and ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches Association national poll. BYU will make its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance as a member of the WCC. The Cougars have earned a berth in the last four NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2019. After earning a bye int the NCAA Tournament second round last season, BYU dropped a 2-0 decision to Virginia.
 
First round matches begin on Friday, Nov. 12. Thew 2021 NCAA Women’s College Cup will be held at Stevens Stadium on the Santa Clara campus Dec. 3 and 5.