SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – In its first home
dual match of the year, UC Santa Barbara upset No. 36 BYU by
winning four of six singles matches to capture a 4-2 victory. The
teams had to forgo the doubles matches and move play to UCSB's
Stadium Courts due to wet surfaces at the Recreation Center
Courts.
With the victory over the Cougars, UCSB improves to 3-1 on the
young season and captures its third consecutive win.
Matheiu Forget won his third consecutive match as he made quick
work of Spencer Smith, defeating him 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. At
No. 4, Axel
Bouillin defeated Keaton Cullimore 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Ziad Sultan then
picked up a victory at No. 6 (6-2, 6-4 over Michael Eraso) to give
UCSB a 3-2 advantage.
The No. 5 match clinched the win for the Gauchos as Mbonisi
Ndimande closed out the dual with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over
Francis Sargeant.
The Cougars got their two wins at No. 1 with Georgy Batrakov
topping Benjamin
Recknagel 6-3, 6-3 and at No. 3 as Patrick Kawka topped Greg Scott
6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The Gauchos' challenging week will continue on Saturday when
they travel to top-ranked USC to take on the Trojans in a 2:30 p.m.
dual match at Marks Stadium.
UCSB 4, #36 BYU 2
Singles
#1 Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) 6-3,
6-3
#2 Mathieu
Forget (UCSB) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-1, 6-1
#3 Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Greg Scott (UCSB) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
#4 Axel Bouillin (UCSB) def. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) 6-3, 1-6,
6-4
#5 Mbonisi Ndimande (UCSB) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 7-6,
6-3
#6 Ziad Sultan (UCSB) def. Michael Eraso (BYU) 6-2, 6-4