STOCKTON, Calif. – The No. 65 Gauchos rebounded from their narrow 4-3 loss against Davis yesterday with a 4-3 win of their own against nonconference foes, Pacific, in Stockton on Sunday. UCSB won the doubles point for the fourth time in their last five matches and split the singles matches en route to the 4-3 triumph.
Sophomore Morgan Mays and junior Andrew Riminton gave the Gauchos the early momentum in doubles after posting a 6-2 win over Jose Chamba and Alex Hamilton at the No. 3 court to collect their 10th victory as a doubles pairing. The Tigers answered with a victory at No. 1 doubles as Marlon Brand and Sem Verbeek downed the UCSB pairing of Tobias Galskov and Ziad Sultan 6-3.
The doubles point came down to the No. 2 court, where junior Nathan Eshmade and sophomore Erik Johnsson edged Alex Hamilton and Jose Chamba in a tiebreaker to earn the 1-0 lead for the Gauchos.
After grabbing the doubles point, the Gauchos never relinquished the lead, although the match remained close until UCSB clinched the victory at 4-2.
Sophomore Teague Hamilton added the second Gaucho point of the match with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles but the Tigers followed with a victory at the No. 5 court to close the UCSB lead to 2-1.
Morgan Mays extended his singles winning streak to nine after downing Alex Hamilton in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles to give the Gauchos a 3-1 edge. Pacific stayed alive with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph at No. 1 singles to again narrow the gap to one point.
With the score at 3-2, the remaining two matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles were locked at one set apiece.
Freshman Cody Rakela came through for the Gauchos after beating Daniel Alameh 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to secure the 4-2 win for UCSB.
"Cody Rakela played very well today and clinched the match for us," said head coach Marty Davis. "It was a nice little bounce back from yesterday's disappointment."
The Tigers made the score 4-3 after Jose Chamba edged senior Ziad Sultan in a very close three-set match 7-5, 6-7, 7-5.
With the win, the Gauchos snapped Pacific's win streak at four, dropping the Tigers to 8-15 on the season while UCSB improved to 11-8 overall.
The UCSB men will conclude their final road trip with a match against Fresno State on Monday at noon.
#65 UC Santa Barbara at Pacific
April 12, 2015 at Stockton, Calif.
#65 UC Santa Barbara 4, Pacific 3
Doubles
1. Sem Verbeek/Marlon Brand (PAC) def. Tobias Galskov/Ziad Sultan (UCSB) 6-3
2. Nathan Eshmade/Erik Johnsson (UCSB) def. Alex Hamilton/Jose Chamba (PAC) 7-6
3. Morgan Mays/Andrew Riminton (UCSB) def. Daniel Alameh/Miguel Diaz (PAC) 6-2
Singles
1. Miguel Diaz (PAC) def. Nathan Eshmade (UCSB) 6-2, 6-4
2. Morgan Mays (UCSB) def. Alex Hamilton (PAC) 6-3, 6-4
3. Jose Chamba (PAC) def. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) 7-5, 6-7, 7-5
4. Cody Rakela (UCSB) def. Daniel Alameh (PAC) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
5. Marlon Brand (PAC) def. Erik Johnsson (UCSB) 6-0, 6-3
6. Teague Hamilton (UCSB) def. Ashwin Sharma (PAC) 6-4, 6-2
UCSB Season Record: Overall (11-8); Big West (2-2)
