- News by: John Lance

This week in the Western Conference, it was more of the stronger teams beating up on the weaker ones. It's almost become routine at this point, but last season's finalists UCSD and UC Irvine both took another step toward the finals by improving to 4:0 and 3:0, respectively. Since these two powerhouses aren't scheduled to meet until the last week of the season, we could conceivably see a battle of 7:0 teams for the #1 spot in the division. Elsewhere in the league, a surprisingly high number of teams have managed to remain undefeated. In the Western Conference alone, there are seven other teams without losses. (University of Michigan, Ohio State, Northwestern, University of Tennessee, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, and Harvey Mudd, the third undefeated school in the UCSD/UCI conference)

An interesting note on the matches this week is that there were no ace matches played, as every match finished 3-1 or 3-0.With 9 undefeated teams, it is becoming clear that a polarizing effect is occurring. Teams are moving toward either the top or bottom of the bracket at a rapid rate, setting up an end-of-the-season dash for the playoff spots from each division.

Next week's headlining match will undoubtedly again come from Division 4, as undefeated UCSD and undefeated Harvey Mudd face off in a match to see who will remain at the top of the division along with UC Irvine, who will need to get past Lewis and Clark college this week to improve to 4:0. University of Victoria will face USC this week, a team struggling to regain the spark after their perfect start was thwarted by University of Washington. Undefeated University of Tennessee will face Texas A&M, a 3:1 school, in a match that could shape up to be a good one. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing Texas has neglected to send in their lineup, so the possibility of a blockbuster match is beginning to dwindle. The final battle of perfect teams is between 3:0 University of Michigan and 3:0 Northwestern, to determine who will have either sole or co-possession of the #1 spot in the division, depending on the results of the Ohio State-Northern Illinois match. Reaching the midpoint of the season, next week we'll take a quick look at division leaders and the playoff implications of upcoming matches. Stay tuned!