The UCSB women’s tennis team dropped their first home match of the season against conference rival Cal Poly, 5-2, Friday afternoon at the UCSB Recreation Center courts.
“We knew they were going to be tough to beat going into the match,” head coach Pete Kirkwood said. “But I liked the way we fought against them.”
In doubles play, the Gauchos struggled to stay with the Mustangs and lost every point.Michelle Murphy and Jill Damion could not get any momentum in the match and soon fell to Suzie Matzenauer and Amy Markhoff, 8-4.
“We just couldn’t get the doubles point down for us,” coach Kirkwood stated. “We haven’t had good success with them lately so we might try to experiment and switch some players around in the next few matches.”
Cal Poly took control of the match in singles, tallying victories at the No. 1 and No. 5 positions. Brittany Blalock was the Mustang to clinch the win for Cal Poly, grabbing a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Jill Damion.
After the match had already been decided, the Gauchos pulled out two wins in the third set tie breaker. On court six, Bryanna Ojeda was the first Gaucho to pull out a victory over Jocelyn Davis, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0. Not too long after, Sofia Novak rallied back against Maria Males in the third set to take a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win.
“Sofia was a big highlight for us today,” coach explained. “After being down a set, she powered through to get the second and third sets for the win.”
With the loss, the Gauchos fall to 4-2 overall (1-2 in Big West). UCSB will continue their home stand on Sunday when they clash with UC Irvine on the Rec. Center courts at 11:00 a.m.Doubles
1. Matzenauer/Markhoff def. Murphy/Damion, 8-4
2. Blalock/Filip def. Lozano/Ojeda, 8-4
3. Malec/Brady def. Novak/Onaga, 8-1
Singles
1. Suzie Matzenauer def. Michelle Murphy, 6-3, 6-2
2. Brittany Blalock def. Jill Damion, 6-1, 7-5
3. Sofia Novak def. Maria Malec, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
4. Whitney Peterson def. Natalia Lozano, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
5. Diane Filip def. Asagi Onaga, 6-3, 6-4
6. Bryanna Ojeda def. Jocelyn Davis, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0
