BOISE, Idaho – UC Santa Barbara won five out of six singles matches and also claimed the doubles point en route to a 6-1 win over Utah State in a match held at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise, Idaho on Wednesday.
The Aggies (5-8) claimed the first doubles match, winning at No. 2, but the Gauchos (7-5) responded with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. The team of Andrew Riminton/Miles Seemann defeated Marcus Fritz/Andrew Whiting 8-3 at No. 3 to pull UCSB even and then at No. 1, Mbonisi Ndimande and Ziad Sultan topped Sven Poslusny and Matt Sweet, 8-5.
“We had some trouble in doubles but were still able to get the point and it’s always good to get off to a quick start,” said Gaucho head coach Marty Davis. “Andrew and Miles played well. It was a good showing.”
Ziad Sultan got the ball rolling in singles. Playing No. 4, he swept past Marcus Fritz 6-2, 6-1 to give the Gauchos a 2-0 lead. Benjamin Recknagel, moved into the No. 1 spot, made it 3-0 with another easy sweep. Recknagel defeated Poslusny by a 6-1, 6-2 count.
“Recknagel got bumped to No. 1 and he continued playing really well,” Davis said. “He and Ziad, who was playing in his regular spot at No. 4, kind of set the tone for us in singles.”
The Aggies Sean Levesque topped UCSB’s Alexander Gryaznov at No. 5 to make it 3-1, but then Riminton won at No. 6, Ndimande at No. 2 and Axel Bouillin at No. 3 to complete the win.
The Gauchos take on Boise State, the host school, on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. (PDT). The Broncos are nationally-ranked and have lost just one home match in the last five years…to UCSB.
“When we beat them here two-and-a-half years ago it ended a long winning streak for them,” Davis recalled. “They’ve won 26 in a row since then, so that match is really the main course for us on this trip. We just hope that history repeats itself.”
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Mbonisi Ndimande/Ziad Sultan def. Sven Poslusny/Matt Sweet, 8-5
2. Fredrik Peterson/Sean Levesque def. Benjamin Recknagel/Axel Bouillin, 8-3
3. Andrew Riminton/Miles Seemann def. Marcus Fritz/Andrew Whiting, 8-3Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Benjamin Recknagel def. Sven Poslusny, 6-1, 6-2
2. Mbonisi Ndimande def. Fredrik Peterson, 6-3, 6-3
3. Axel Bouillin def. Matt Sweet, 7-5, 6-4
4. Ziad Sultan def. Marcus Fritz, 6-2, 6-1
5. Sean Levesque def. Alexander Gryaznov, 7-5, 6-0
6. Andrew Riminton def. Curran Wearmouth, 6-2, 6-3Order of Finish: 4, 1, 5, 6, 2, 3
