Men's Tennis 2/14/2015 12:00:00 AM

Gauchos Remain Undefeated at Home, Defeat LMU 4-3

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Gauchos had a third consecutive match end in a 4-3 decision on Saturday, but came out on the winning side this time, beating LMU (2-3) to remain undefeated at the Rec Cen Courts. UCSB bounced back after losing the doubles point to win four of their six singles matches and improve their record to 3-0 at home and 3-4 overall.

In the doubles competition, the Lions took two of the three doubles matches to clinch the early 1-0 lead. A dominant 6-1 victory by Gaucho duo Morgan Mays and Andrew Riminton at the No. 3 court prevented the doubles sweep by the Lions.

The Gauchos drew support from the large crowd to come back more focused in singles play and earn another victory at the Rec Cen Courts, where they have been dominant all season.

"It's easier to play at home because we practice here so it's more comfortable for the guys," said Head Coach Marty Davis of the home-road record disparity. "We've also had great support from the home crowd this season."

First off the court in singles play was junior Andrew Riminton who nearly shutout Alex Bourgeois at the No. 6 court, defeating the LMU freshman 6-0, 6-1.

LMU regained the lead after Charles Boyce downed sophomore Morgan Mays 7-6, 6-0 but that lead was short-lived as the Gauchos rattled off three straight victories to capture the match victory at 4-2.

At the No. 4 court, Nathan Eshmade dropped Cristobal Rivera in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 while Cody Rakela continued to impress in his debut season with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Felix Van Kann at the No. 3 slot.

Gaucho ace Tobias Galskov returned to the No. 1 court and delivered the clinching victory with a 7-6, 6-2 win against LMU's Eroll Smith.

"Tobias has been playing great, he had a great win at USD and he played well again today," said Davis. "He doesn't lose many at center court," Davis continued.

After the Gauchos captured the win, the two teams continued playing at the No. 5 court, where Gaucho sophomore Teague Hamilton took on Joat Farah. Farah battled back from a set down to defeat Hamilton to make the final score 4-3.

Next up for the Gauchos are two tough road matches in the Bay Area at USF on Saturday, February 21 and No. 13 California on Sunday, February 22.

"The matches are reversed from our last road trip, where we played the ranked team and then the unranked team," commented Davis. "We'd like to get a win at [unranked] USF to gain a little bit of momentum heading into the match against Cal."

Action is set to begin at 1:00 pm for both matches.

UC Santa Barbara 4, Loyola Marymount 3
February 14, 2015
Rec Cen Courts (Santa Barbara, Calif.)

Doubles

1. Eroll Smith/Joat Farah (LMU) def. Tobias Galskov/Erik Johnsson (UCSB) 6-2
2. Charles Boyce/Cristobal Rivera (LMU) def. Nathan Eshmade/Chase Masciorini (UCSB) 6-2
3. Morgan Mays/Andrew Riminton (UCSB) def. Othar Kordsachia/Adam Zaorski (LMU) 6-1

Singles

1. Tobias Galskov (UCSB) def. Eroll Smith (LMU) 7-6, 6-2
2. Charles Boyce (LMU) def. Morgan Mays (UCSB) 7-6, 6-0
3. Cody Rakela (UCSB) def. Felix Van Kann (LMU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Nathan Eshmade (UCSB) def. Cristobal Rivera (LMU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Joat Farah (LMU) def. Teague Hamilton (UCSB) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
6. Andrew Riminton (UCSB) def. Alex Bourgeois (LMU) 6-0, 6-1