SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- The No. 59 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (0-2) lost their second straight match against a ranked opponent as they were defeated by No. 51 Utah Utes (2-0) by a score of 4-3 on Friday.
The Gauchos started off their day losing the doubles point, as Jaimee Gilbertson and Melissa Baker lost 6-2 to Taylor Calton and Luisa Gerstner Da Rosa on court three. Next off were Amanda Atanasson and Lou Adler who fell to Sarah Richter and Alexia Petrovic by a score of 7-6 (7-5).
Utah elected to finish the doubles match on court one, which was in the middle of the tie breaker. #27 Stefani Stojic and Palina Dubavets were able to pull off the win, defeating Margo Pletcher and Brianna Turley 7-6 (7-5).
The singles matches came down to the last match on court one that took three sets to decide.
Adler was able to get the Gauchos on the board, as she defeated Turley 6-2, 6-1 over on court three. Soon after, Atanasson put the Gauchos up 2-1 with her 6-3, 6-2 win over Calton on court five. Neither Adler nor Atanasson fell behind in any of their sets.
Over on court two, Dubavets couldn't quiet find her rhythm despite jumping out to 1-0 leads in both of her sets. Her opponent Richter stayed strong and was able to pull off a 6-2, 6-4 win over Dubavets to tie the match at two for each side. .
Stephanie Yamada also struggled early for the Gauchos, losing her first set 0-6. She came back strong in the second, jumping out to a 3-0 only to have her opponent Petrovic come back and win the next six. Petrovic put the Utes up 3-2 with her 6-0, 6-3 win over Yamada on court six.
Gilbertson was able to keep the Gauchos in the match. She dominated the first set, winning 6-1, and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in her second. Her opponent Jena Cheng brought the score back to 3-2 in Gilbertson's favor, but the Gaucho was too solid. Gilbertson defeated Cheng 6-1, 6-4 to tie the match at 3-3.
All eyes were on the show court, as the two top players for each side were locked in a three set battle.
Stojic was able to take the first set from her opponent Pletcher by a close score of 7-6, a set in which Stojic never lost the lead. In the second set, Pletcher took a 4-1 lead over Stojic, and the Gaucho was unable to recover, falling 6-2.
The third set went to the Ute, as the final score reflected Pletcher defeating Stojic 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
The Gauchos will stay in Santa Barbara as they await the arrival of the Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday, Jan 24 at 11AM.
