They draped wet towels over their heads, sucked down bottles of Gatorade and made the trainer's tent look like Grand Central Station.

With the temperatures soaring into the mid-90s, the heat was the biggest opponent for players on Friday afternoon at the 107th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.

After the mercury finally settled, the top two seeds were still alive in the Pacific-10 Conference men's and women's singles and Stanford sophomore Matt Bruch remained in contention for his title defense.

But nothing came easy on a day when one player was taken to the hospital to have an IV administered.

"The heat is pretty bad to say the least. There are just players lying all over the place," Pac-10 trainer Raul Dominguez said as he surveyed the scene at Libbey Park. "I think the weather changing really quickly caught them off guard and guys weren't as prepared for it."

As soon as Susie Babos finished her quarterfinal match at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club, she headed straight to the locker room for a cold shower. The top-seeded Cal junior needed every ounce of energy to defeat USC's Anca Anastasiu 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.

"I am just really happy to be off the court right now," Babos said. "At 5-5, I was like, 'Oh, my God, if I don't win these two games, I am going to die out here.' "

The victory was Babos' second straight three-setter in singles and was sandwiched between two Friday doubles matches.

"We have been training really hard the past couple of months, so I don't think the heat is going to be a big concern for me," Babos said. "I love playing three-set matches and I am fit enough to do that."

Babos is part of a women's semifinal quartet that could be one of the finest in tournament history. It features the defending NCAA champion (Babos), the NCAA runner-up (Lindsey Nelson), an NCAA semifinalist (Theresa Logar) and an NCAA quarterfinalist (Celia Durkin).

"No matter who you play, it is going to be a battle," said Babos, who faces Durkin in the semifinals today at 11 at Libbey Park. "There are so many good players."

Although Durkin's 6-4, 7-5 quarterfinal victory over USC freshman Sarah Fansler didn't reach three sets, the long baseline rallies made it seem like a marathon.

Durkin rallied from down triple-break point in the first set to take a 5-4 lead, and captured the set by breaking at love. The Stanford junior sealed her trip to Libbey when Fansler sent a backhand long on Durkin's first match point.

"I knew it was going to be a really tough match," said Durkin, a Calabasas High graduate who had defeated Fansler at National Indoors in the fall. "Sarah is a really tough competitor and the last time we played it was a close match as well. I remember being absolutely exhausted after it, just like I am now."

Cal junior Pierre Mouillon could relate to his Bay Area neighbor. The No. 2 seed was stretched to his physical limits by Arizona State freshman Matt Brooklyn in his quarterfinal 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (3) victory.

Mouillon saved six match points and broke Brooklyn twice when the freshman was serving for the match.

His body severely cramping from head to toe, Mouillon was sprawled on the training table immediately after the match with his teammates feeding him drips of Pedialyte from a squirt bottle.

"I thought it was over for me out there," Mouillon said. "I didn't feel I could win that match actually. But I shortened the points and decided to go for winners."

Mouillon plays Bruch in today's semifinal at 11 at Libbey Park. Bruch defeated USC's Kaes Van't Hof 7-6, 6-3.

Although his shirt was drenched in sweat, top-seeded Alex Slovic spent the least amount of time on the court Friday. The Washington senior defeated Cal's Eoin Heavey 6-1, 6-1. Slovic plays Arizona State's Juan Carlos Rebaza in today's semifinal at 9:30 a.m. Rebaza beat USC's Dejan Cvetkovic 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Logar and Nelson round out the women's semifinal pairings. In a match the Stanford coaching staff avoided like the plague, Logar defeated teammate Lindsay Burdette 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Nelson advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Cal's Nina Henkel.

Despite the scorching heat, the tea tent at Libbey didn't switch to the iced version "We keep the tradition of hot tea no matter what," Chairman Peggy Chase said.

The forecast calls for slighter cooler temperatures this weekend, but Dominguez is prepared for two more days of constant activity in his tent.

"We have added more ice and energy gels," he said. "The story this year is the heat, and we are doing the best we can."