No. 49 UC Santa Barbara completed its spring break in fashion, hanging a 7-0 shutout on visiting Big West Conference opponent Pacific on Sunday afternoon at the Recreation Center Courts.
The Gauchos (11-7 overall, 3-1 in the Big West) needed the win for seeding position at the Big West Tournament, which runs from April 27-29 in Indian Wells. The victory over the Tigers should assure UCSB the No. 2 seed in the league tournament, including a bye.
“This should get us a bye,” said Gaucho head coach Marty Davis. “I think we will be second after Cal Poly.”
Led by senior co-captain Mathieu Forget, UCSB swept Pacific. Forget teamed with Mbonisi Ndimande to post a decisive win at No. 1 doubles, 8-2 over Bonin/Vorkfeld. He also blanked the Tigers’ No. 1 player, Ben Mirkin, in singles, 6-3, 6-3.
In all, Santa Barbara posted four sweeps in singles. In addition to Forget, Benjamin Recknagel, Mbonisi Ndimande and Greg Scott each swept past their Pacific opponents. Ziad Sultan and Axel Bouillin also won their matches, but needed either three sets or a tiebreaker.
UCSB will host Loyola Marymount in its home finale on Wednesday, April 11 at 1:30 p.m. The Gauchos will be off until they meet the Lions.
UCSB 7, PACIFIC 0
Doubles:
No. 1 – Forget/Ndimande (UCSB) def. Castro/Hamilton 8-3
No. 2 – Bouillin/Johnson (UCSB) def. Cederwall/Goncalves 8-3
No. 3 – Sultan/Gryaznov (UCSB) def. Golding/Mirkin 8-7Singles:
1. Mathieu Forget (UCSB) def. Ben Mirkin (Pacific) – 6-3,6-3
2. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) def. Ivan Castro (Pacific) – 6-2,6-2
3. Mbonisi Ndimande (UCSB) def. Alex Golding (Pacific) – 6-1,6-2
4. Greg Scott (UCSB) def. Juan. Goncalves (Pacific) – 7-5,6-1
5. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) def. John Cederwall (Pacific) – 6-2,2-6 (10-8)
6. Axel Bouillin (UCSB) def. Alex Hamilton (Pacific) – 6-1,4-6,7-5Order of finish: Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)
