Gauchos Travel to Big West Tournament as No. 2 Seed
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara men's tennis team, ranked 65th nationally, will open play as the No. 2 seed at the Big West Tournament on Saturday in Indian Wells, Calif.
The Gauchos, who have a first round bye in the tournament, will play the winner of Friday's match between UC Irvine UC Riverside beginning at 11:00 a.m.
UCSB, which finished the regular season with an overall record of 13-9 and a Big West mark of 4-1, are led by senior Mathieu Forget who has a 21-7 overall record in 2011-12 and a 16-6 log in dual matches, including 13-6 at No. 1. Forget is ranked 124th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Junior Benjamin Recknagel is 17-13 overall and 11-10 in dual matches. He is 10-8 at No. 2, which is where he will play on Saturday.
Another junior, Mbonisi Ndimande, has a 24-8 overall record, including 14-6 in singles play. He is 8-3 at No. 3 and will play in that spot at the tournament.
Cal Poly is seeded No. 1 in the tournament, ranked 63rd nationall and edged the Gauchos 4-3 in their regular season dual match in San Luis Obispo on Mar. 3. UCSB did post wins at both UC Irvine - 5-2 on Feb. 20 - and at UC Riverside - 6-1 on April 21.