SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Coming off of a week of final exams, the 49th-ranked UC Santa Barbara men's tennis team returned the court and posted a 6-1 win over visiting UC San Diego on Thursday afternoon.

After losing the doubles point, the Gauchos swept the six singles matches.  At the No. 1 spot, Mathieu Forget swept Chapman Chan by a 6-2, 6-3 score.  Benjamin Recknagel kept the singles sweep going at the No. 2 spot as he crushed Junya Yoshida, 6-1, 6-3.

UCSB continued the singles sweep at No. 3.  Mbonisi Ndimande walloped Austin West, 6-3, 6-0.  At No. 4, freshman Greg Scott defeated Max Jiganti, 6-3, 6-1, giving the Gauchos a 4-1 edge.

At No. 5, freshman Ziad Sultan absolutely blanked Sam Ling, 6-0, 6-0  Axel Bouillin completed the singles sweep at the No. 6 spot, walloping Kona Luu by a 6-0, 6-4 tally.

On Saturday, the #49 UCSB men square off against #55 Denver at Noon (note changed start time) in a match that could lift the Gaucho's ranking and NCAA at-large tournament bid chances.

On Sunday, the Gauchos face conference rival University of Pacific (again at noon).  A win against the Tigers would put the UCSB men in great position for a first round bye at the Big West Conference Championship tournament in Indian Wells April 27-29.

No. 49 UCSB 6 -UC San Diego 1 

Doubles:
1. West/Souza def. Forget/Recknagel (UCSB) 8-6
2. Wall/Luu def. Ndimande/Sultan (UCSB) 8-5
3. Bouillin/Knudtzon (UCSB) def. Ling/Jigante 8-6

Singles:
1. Mathieu Forget (UCSB) def. Chapman Chan 6-2,6-3
2. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) def. Junya Yoshida 6-1,6-3
3. Mbonisi Ndimande (UCSB) def. Austin West 6-3,6-0
4. Greg Scott (UCSB) def. Max Jiganti 6-3,6-1
5. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) def. Sam Ling 6-0,6-0
6. Axel Bouillin (UCSB) def. Kona Luu 6-0,6-4

Order of finish: Singles (5,2,6,3,4,1) 

SEASON RECORD: 10-6

BIG WEST RECORD: 2-1