Malibu, Calif. – The No. 48 UCSB Men's Tennis team took its second straight win on the road today defeating No. 43 Pepperdine by a score of 4-2. They improve to 3-3 on the season with this streak.
"It was a great win for us today against a very respected program," captain Morgan Mays said. "We went into a tough environment to play in and we set the tone right away."
The Gauchos got out to an early lead in the match as they grabbed two doubles matches to seal a 1-0 lead. The team of Nathan Eshmade and Miles Seemann took down the No. 19 doubles duo in the country, Guilherme Hadlich and Gabriel Sydney, by a score of 6-3 to take the first match on court one. The new team of Oliver Sec and Andrew Riminton took their first victory on the season together playing on court three. They defeated Jack Van Slyke and Tom Hill 6-3 to give their team the lead heading in to singles play.
Although the Gauchos found themselves ahead, the Waves would not go away so quickly as they were able to capture two of the first three singles matches on the day. Lautaro Pane took a court four win in straight sets to even the match at 1-1 for Pepperdine.
Mays took home the first singles match for Santa Barbara as he played on court three for the first time this season. The Gaucho captain won convincingly as he only dropped five total games, beating Pedro Iamachkine 6-2, 6-3. His sweeping victory gave his team a 2-1 advantage.
"I thought I played very well today and I was glad to get a win for my team," Mays explained. "It was nice to play outdoors again in my home town of Malibu."
Again the Waves would answer as they iced the score at 2-2 with another singles win in straight sets. This time it was Gabriel Sydney who stood up for Pepperdine with a win on six in a second set tie-breaker.
The Gauchos closed the match out with a few tie-breaker wins of their own in this very close competition. Cody Rakela picked up his first singles win of the season as he dominated Van Slyke on the tie-breaker giving him an overall win 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).
No. 81 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran sealed the 4-2 win for Santa Barbara with a very slim straight set victory that called tie-breakers in both sets. When it was all over the freshman emerged 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6). Eshmade was heading into the third set on court one but was halted when the Gauchos won the match.
The Gauchos will look to extend their two match win streak next weekend when they visit Grand Canyon University on February 13th. The match is set to start at noon.
#48 UC Santa Barbara 4, #43 Pepperdine 2
Singles
1. ESHMADE, Nathan (UCSB) vs. HADLICH, Guilherme (PEP) 6-7 (9-11), 6-4, unfinished
2. #81 MORENO DE ALBORAN, N (UCSB) def. MENICHELLA, Stefan (PEP) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6)
3. MAYS, Morgan (UCSB) def. IAMACHKINE, Pedro (PEP) 6-2, 6-3
4. PANE, Lautaro (PEP) def. SEC, Oliver (UCSB) 6-4, 6-0
5. RAKELA, Cody (UCSB) def. VAN SLYKE, Jack (PEP) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
6. SIDNEY, Gabriel (PEP) def. MASCIORINI, Chase (UCSB) 6-1, 7-6 (9-7)
Doubles
1. ESHMADE, Nathan/SEEMANN, Miles (UCSB) def. #19 HADLICH, Guilherme/SIDNEY, Gabriel (PEP) 6-3
2. PANE, Lautaro/IAMACHKINE, Pedro (PEP) vs. MORENO DE ALBORAN, N/MASCIORINI, Chase (UCSB) 5-4, unfinished
3. SEC, Oliver/RIMINTON, Andrew (UCSB) def. VAN SLYKE, Jack/HILL, Tom (PEP) 6-3
Match Notes:
UC Santa Barbara 3-3, 0-0; National ranking #48
Pepperdine 1-3, 1-0; National ranking #43
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (4,3,6,5,2)
