UC Santa Barbara (6-14, 3-3) won in convincing fashion today as the team hosted UC Riverside (0-15, 0-4) for a Big West conference match. Santa Barbara never faced a deficit during today’s match as the Gauchos posted a 7-0 victory.
UCSB showed its dominance early on as the team breezed through the doubles matches. On court No. 1, junior April Scatliffe and sophomore Luisa Ortiz Candido posted an 8-3 win. Sophomore Priscila Garcia teamed up with freshman Jaimee Gilbertson on court No. 2 as the pair recorded an impressive 8-1 win. Senior Kiersten Meehan and junior Stacy Yam seeded as the threes while also posting an 8-1 victory.
The Gauchos continued to overmatch the Highlanders in all courts during the singles matches. Gilbertson stepped up as she filled in for Scatliffe on court 1 with a 7-6, 6-0 victory. Freshman, Kaiulani Boyer got back to her winning ways with a solid 6-1, 6-1 win on court 2. Yam cruised past her opponent on court No. 3 with a 6-0, 6-1 score. Scoring 6-0, 6-0 wins today were Meehan and Candido on courts 4 and 6. Last, freshman Melissa Baker recorded an impressive 6-1, 6-1 win in her first match in several weeks.
“I liked how the team stayed focused today and continued to work on their game,” Head Coach Simon Thibodeau said. “We played our game, got our first serves in and did not give them short balls.”
The win further improves the Gauchos’ conference record as the Big West tournament is fast approaching.
“The Big West tournament is our main focus so we are placing high importance in the last two conference matches of the season,” Thibodeau stated. “We got a good win today; our first 7-0 win of the season, and we will continue to look towards building momentum as the tournament comes.”
Along with today’s win, Coach Thibodeau had high praise for Gilbertson as the freshman stepped up in court No. 1 today.
“She has moved her way up now playing near the top two of the team. It is difficult to come here in the middle of the season, but she works hard, is getting stronger and has the skill as seen by her good record,” Thibodeau said.
Up ahead on the schedule is the last weekend of conference action prior to the Big West Tournament. The Gauchos will travel to face Cal Poly on Saturday, Apr. 12 at noon. The team will then come back home and host Cal State Northridge for its last regular season match of the season on Sunday, Apr. 13 at noon.
UCR 0, UCSB 7
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Apr. 5
Doubles
1. April Scatliffe/ Luisa Ortiz Candido (UCSB) def. Jasmine Almaguer/ Courtney Pattugalan
(UCR), 8-3
2. Jaimee Gilbertson/ Priscila Garcia (UCSB) def. Tiffany Jue/ Thanh Doan (UCR), 8-1
3. Kiersten Meehan/ Stacy Yam (UCSB) def. Sophie El-Kara/ Anna Tatyanich (UCR), 8-1
Singles
1. Jaimee Gilbertson (UCSB) def. Jasmine Almaguer (UCR), 7-6 (7), 6-0
2. Kaiulani Boyer (UCSB) def. Courtney Pattugalan (UCR), 6-1, 6-1
3. Stacy Yam (UCSB) def. Tiffany Jue (UCR) 6-0, 6-1
4. Kiersten Meehan (UCSB) def. Thanh Doan (UCR), 6-0, 6-0
5. Melissa Baker (UCSB) def. Sophie El-Kara, 6-1, 6-1
6. Luisa Ortiz Candido (UCSB) def. VJ Ganesan, 6-0, 6-0
UCSB Season Record (6-14, 3-3)
