INDIAN WELLS – No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara pulled off a 4-2 upset of No. 4 seed Hawai’i to conclude first round action of the Big West Men’s Tennis Championship Thursday.
The Gauchos improved to 10-13 on the year and advanced to Friday’s semifinals, where they will face top-seeded UC Irvine at 3:00 p.m. The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 7-13 as they finished their season.
UCSB captured the doubles point for the 1-0 advantage, with Benjamin Recknagel and Axel Bouillin toppling Nils Schuhmann and Carter Lam, 8-6, at No. 2 for the clincher.
In singles action, UCSB was tough in the middle of the order to stave off a game UH squad.
Ziad Sultan notched a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 over UH’s Chas Okamoto to give the Gauchos a 2-0 lead. At No. 3, Bouillin downed Jared Spiker 6-2, 6-4 for a commanding 3-0 edge.
But UH did not go down quietly as Danilo Casanova posted a 6-3, 6-3 triumph against Chase Johnson at No. 6, followed by Dmytro Kovalyov’s 7-5, 6-3 win over Recknagel at No. 2.
With tight matches taking place at No. 1 and No. 5, UCSB finished out the match when Alexander Gryaznov overcame Schuhmann 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 at the bottom of the lineup.
BIG WEST TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
MEN’S FIRST ROUND
(5) UC SANTA BARBARA 4, (4) HAWAII 2Doubles
1. Brooklyn/Kovalyov (UH) vs. Ndimande/Sultan (UCSB) – DNF
2. Recknagel/Bouillin (UCSB) def. Schuhmann/Lam (UH) – 8-6
3. Riminton/Seemann (UCSB) def. Spiker/Schuster (UH) – 8-4Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. Jonathan Brooklyn (UH) vs. Mbonisi Ndimande (UCSB) – DNF
2. Dmytro Kovalyov (UH) def. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) – 7-5, 6-3
3. Axel Bouillin (UCSB) def. Jared Spiker (UH) – 6-2, 6-4
4. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) def. Chas Okamoto (UH) – 6-2, 6-2
5. Alexander Gryaznov (UCSB) def. Nils Schuhmann (UH) – 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
6. Danilo Casanova (UH) def. Chase Johnson (UCSB) – 6-3, 6-3Order of finish: 4, 3, 6, 2, 5
