With the match between No. 67 UCSB and No. 38 UC Irvine knotted at 3-3, Benjamin Recknagle fought back from a 5-1 deficit in the third set of his match against Sam Gould at court No. 1, narrowing the margin to 5-4, but his comeback attempt fell short as he lost the match 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 giving the Anteaters a 4-3 victory.
For the second straight year UCI has won the final two singles matches of the day to nip the Gauchos by a 4-3 margin.
The Anteaters swept the doubles matches to begin the day’s action, but the Gauchos came out on fire in singles winning three of the first four matches before dropping the final two. Max Glenn defeated Ryan Mayer in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 at court No. 5 and Alex Konigsfeldt followed suit with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Steven Henderson at court No. 3. Mathieu Forget gained momentum after winning the first set tiebreaker in his match against Shan Sondhu and went on to win the match 7-6, 6-2.
“Despite today’s set back we still have a shot at the regular season conference title,” said head coach Marty Davis. “Bouncing back from today’s disappointing result quickly is important.
The Gauchos square off against conference rival UC Riverside Sunday, at noon at the Recreation Center Courts on campus
