The No. 57-ranked UCSB women’s tennis team fell short in its match against No. 32-ranked Pepperdine, losing 7-0 Sunday at the Ralph-Straus Tennis Center.
The loss ended a dominant stretch for the Gauchos, who swept their previous five opponents capitalizing on a six-match home stand to open the season.
Despite the lopsided score UCSB was competitive in matches throughout the day. In singles, Natalia Lozano could not hold off Arianna Collfer despite leading 5-2 in the second set, losing 7-5, 7-5 at court No. 1.
Jill Damion lost via tiebreaker to Anamika Bhargava 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10) at court No. 2 and Kiersten Meehan was also edged out in a third set tiebreaker, losing to Andrea Oates 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) at court No. 6.
The doubles matches were hard fought as all three were knotted at 5-5 at one point. Pepperdine prevailed in all three matches marking the first time all year the Gauchos lost at courts No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
Up next for the Gauchos is their Big West Conference opener against archrival Cal Poly Thursday, March 3 at the Robertson Gymnasium Courts on campus.
