SAN DIEGO – The UC Santa Barbara Men’s Tennis team fell just short of their 16th Big West Championships. After claiming the doubles point, the Gauchos were unable to grind out a win in singles competition.
THE MATCH
Final: No. 1 UC Santa Barbara 1, No. 2 UC Irvine 4
Records: No. 1 UC Santa Barbara 15-7, No. 2 UC Irvine 17-6
HOW IT HAPPENED
In doubles competition the Gauchos won a hard fought point. UC Irvine claimed the upper hand early with a 6-2 win on court three, but the Gauchos would come back to claim the point. Kai Brady and Pablo Masjuan leveled doubles play with a 6-4 win in the No. 1 position. On court two a back-and-forth battle ended with a Gaucho victory. Gianluca Brunkow and Lucca Liu pulled out a gutsy 7-6 win to claim the doubles point for UC Santa Barbara.
The Anteaters quickly got a point back with a win on court one which evened the match at one point a side. UC Irvine then pulled ahead 3-1 with straight-set wins on courts three and four. A back and forth match on court two ultimately ended in an Anteater win to clinch the victory for UC Irvine.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Kai Brady / Pablo Masjuan (UCSB) def. Rahul Dhaka / Noah Zamora (ICU), 6-4
2. Gianluca Brunkow / Lucca Liu (UCSB) def. Andy Nguyen / Hiroki Sakagawa (ICU), 7-6
3.Brandon Park / Matthew San (ICU) def. Conrad Brown / Luka Mrsic (UCSB), 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Enrique Luque Rico (UCI) def. Pablo Masjuan (UCSB), 6-2, 6-1
2. Hiroki Sakagawa (ICU) def. Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB), 6-2, 7-6
3. Noah Zamora (ICU) def. Luka Mrsic (UCSB), 6-3, 6-2
4. Andy Nguyen (ICU) def. Lucca Liu (UCSB), 6-4, 6-3
5. Rithvik Krishna (ICU) vs. Kai Brady (UCSB), 7-6, 2-6, 3-0 unfinished
6. Rahul Dhaka (ICU) vs. Conrad Brown (UCSB), 7-6, 2-6, 2-1 unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 4, 3, 2
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will await the decision of the NCAA Selection Show for postseason consideration.
