The No. 74 UCSB men’s tennis team (6-11 overall) came up one point short against Cal Poly, 4-3, at the Recreation Center courts Wednesday afternoon. The heartbreaking loss moves the Gauchos out of second place in the Big West and drops their conference record to 3-2.
The Mustangs started hot, securing the doubles point winning 8-3 at both the No. 1 and No. 2 slots.
In singles, the Gauchos got on the board first with senior Max Taylor downing Darryn Young on court four, 6-4, 6-0. UCSB remained tied with visiting Mustangs after the Gauchos split matches at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Scott Hohenstein notched a solid 7-5, 7-5 win, but Josh Finkelstein dropped a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 decision to snap his five match winning streak.
With the match knotted at two apiece, sophomore Taylor Chavez Goggin found himself down a set on court five, Alex Konigsfeldt trailed a set and level at five all in the second set on center court and Mathieu Forget was hanging by a thread on court six, down 7-5, 5-3. Down but not out, Forget rallied to take four straight games to push his match to a third set. Konigsfeldt also stretched his match to a third set, but Goggin fell short against Alex Sonesson, 7-6, 6-3. However, Konigsfeldt answered back in the third set of his match, steam rolling Andre Dome, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.
Tied 3-3, Forget took a 3-2 lead in the third and deciding set to give the Gauchos the first lead of the day. Yet, the freshman could not close out the match, as Rob Foy rallied for six straight sets to post a dramatic come-from-behind victory, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
“We may have lost the battle, but not the war,” coach Marty Davisexplained. “Although today’s match lowers are seeding for the tournament and means that we’ll have to win one additional match to defend our title, but it can be done.”
The Gauchos will travel to San Diego this weekend and then return Saturday, April 11 to host Loyola Marymount on “senior day” at 1pm.
Doubles:
1. Foy/Young def. Alexander Konigsfeldt / Josh Finkelstein(UCSB): 8-3
2. Sonesson/Gerst def. Scott Hohenstein / Evan Jurgensen(UCSB) 8-3
3. Taylor Chavez Goggin / Nick Caledonia (UCSB) def. Dome/Wardman 8-4
Singles:
1. Alexander Konigsfeldt (UCSB) def. Andre Dome 5-7,7-5,6-1
2. Scott Hohenstein (UCSB) def. Andy Gerst 7-5,7-5
3. Drew Jacobs def. Josh Finkelstein (UCSB) 6-2,2-6,6-2
4. Max Taylor (UCSB) def. Darryn Young 6-4,6-0
5. Alex Sonesson def. Taylor Chavez Goggin (UCSB) 7-6,6-3
6. Rob Foy def. Mathieu Forget (UCSB) 7-5,5-7,6-3
