The UC Santa Barbara men’s tennis team kept the momentum rolling in Big West play with a dominating win over conference foes UC Davis (13-9; Big West 2-2) in the home finale at the Rec Cen Courts on Friday. The Gauchos (8-12; Big West 3-0) swept the doubles matches and added four singles victories, all in straight sets, en route to a 5-2 triumph and a guaranteed top-3 seed in the upcoming Big West tournament.
“We dominated the match, we swept the doubles…and won four [singles] points in pretty dominant fashion,” said Head Coach Marty Davis. “This guarantees us a top three seed, which is an advantage for sure.”
The Gauchos secured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead for the third consecutive match. Gaucho duo Teague Hamilton and Andrew Riminton were first off the courts, downing Bacharach/Luba 8-5 at No. 3 doubles for their third straight victory and 10th dual victory as a pair. UCSB teammates Erik Johnsson and Miles Seemann quickly followed up with a win by an identical 8-5 score at No. 2 doubles to clinch the doubles point for the Gauchos. Play continued at No. 1 doubles, where Tobias Galskov and Ziad Sultan outlasted Adamson/Levie in the tiebreaker to complete the doubles sweep.
After a ceremony for graduating senior Sasha Gryaznov, celebrating his contribution to the team during his four years as a Gaucho, the two teams resumed play in the singles competition.
UCSB quickly took a commanding 3-0 lead after victories by junior Ziad Sultan and freshman Teague Hamilton. Sultan dispatched the Aggies’ James Wade 6-1, 6-3 to hand Wade his first loss playing at No. 2 singles and snapped his opponent’s 10-match winning streak. Hamilton finished his match shortly thereafter in a dominating 6-0, 6-2 triumph at No. 5 singles to extend his winning streak to four and collect his 13th dual victory.
Junior Tobias Galskov clinched the match at No. 1 singles after defeating Alec Adamson 6-3, 6-1 for his team-leading 14th dual victory. Play continued as freshman Erik Johnsson recorded a fifth point for the Gauchos with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Brett Bacharach at No. 4 singles.
Senior Sasha Gryaznov and junior Miles Seemann both battled back from a set down to force a 10-point match tiebreaker but lost at No. 3 and No.6 singles, respectively.
The Gauchos will return to action next Saturday in their regular season finale at Cal Poly. UCSB can clinch the regular season Big West title and a first round bye with a win at Cal Poly next weekend.
“They’re always a handful for us and we haven’t beaten them up there in a long time,” said Head Coach Marty Davis. “We have something to play for [because] a top seed gets us a bye.”
First serve is set for 1 p.m. at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Galskov/Sultan (UCSB) def. Adamson/Levie (UCD) 8-7
2. Johnsson/Seemann (UCSB) def. Kelley/Wade (UCD) 8-5
3. Hamilton/Riminton (UCSB) def. Bacharach/Luba (UCD) 8-5Singles
1. Tobias Galskov (UCSB) def. Alec Adamson (UCD) 6-3, 6-1
2. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) def. James Wade (UCD) 6-1, 6-3
3. Kyle Miller (UCD) def. Sasha Gryaznov (UCSB) 6-2, 2-6 (10-8)
4. Erik Johnsson (UCSB) def. Brett Bacharach (UCD) 6-1, 6-3
5. Teague Hamilton (UCSB) def. Parker Kelley (UCD) 6-0, 6-2
6. Bryce McKelvie (UCD) def. Miles Seemann (UCSB) 7-5, 1-6 (13-11)Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (2, 5, 1, 4, 3, 6)
UCSB Season Record: 8-12; Big West 3-0
