INDIAN WELLS, Calif.- The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (17-7) defeated the Cal State Northridge Matadors (10-13) 4-1 in the semifinal of the Big West Conference Tennis Championship on Friday morning.
With the win, the two seed Gauchos will move onto their second straight Big West Championship match. In 2015, the Gauchos fell to Long Beach State 4-1 in the finals as the three seed.
Lou Adler and her partner Amanda Atanasson got the Gauchos going in doubles as they defeated Ki Kim and Mari Taslagyan 6-4 on court three. The Gauchos' top doubles team of Palina Dubavets and Stefani Stojic clinched the doubles point as they took down Mickey Hsu and Kristen Poei 6-3 to give Santa Barbara the early 1-0 lead.
Adler took her momentum with her from doubles to singles as she defeated Hsu on the top court 6-3, 6-1 to put the Gauchos up 2-0.
The Matadors hopped on the board soon after as Kim took down Atanasson on court five by a score of 6-3, 6-1 to bring Northridge within one.
Natalie Da Silveira continued her season long dominance at the number six position as she defeated Taslagyan 6-4, 6-1 to put Santa Barbara within a point of heading to the Championship match for a second straight season.
Dubavets, with a trip to the finals within striking distance, was able to get the job done at the number two spot as she took down Vivian Lin 6-4, 6-3 to give the Gauchos the 4-1 semifinal win.
The Gauchos will face off against four seed Hawaii (13-9) in the final match of the Big West Championship tournament. Friday morning, the Rainbow Warriors upset defending champions and the top seed Long Beach State 4-3 to send them to their first Big West Championship match.
The last time the two teams met was back on Feb. 26 when the unranked Gauchos defeated the ranked Rainbow Warriors 4-2 in Hawaii. Since that match, Hawaii has gone 7-5 and the Gauchos have gone 11-3.
The Big West Conference Championship Match will take place on Saturday April 29 at 9am.
# 2 UC Santa Barbara vs. #6 Cal State Northridge
Big West Conference Semifinal
April 28, 2016
Indian Wells, Calif.
UCSB 4, CSUN 1
Doubles Compeition
1. Stefani Stojic/Palina Dubavets (UCSB) def. Mickey Hsu/Kristen Poei 6-3
2. Melissa Baker/Stephanie Yamada (UCSB) vs. Vivian Lin/Skyla Alcon (CSUN) unf.
3. Amanda Atanasson/Lou Adler (UCSB) def. Ki Kim/Mari Taslagyan (CSUN) 6-4
Order of finish (3, 1)
Singles Competition
1. Lou Adler (UCSB) def. Mickey Hsu (CSUN) 6-3, 6-1
2. Palina Dubavets (UCSB) def. Vivian Lin (CSUN) 6-4, 6-3
3. Stefani Stojic (UCSB) vs. Skyla Alcon (CSUN) unf.
4. Jaimee Gilbertson (UCSB) vs. Kristen Poei (CSUN) unf.
5. Ki Kim (CSUN) def. Amanda Atanasson (UCSB) 6-1, 6-3
6. Natalie Da Silveira (UCSB) def. Mari Taslagyan (CSUN) 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish (1, 5, 6, 2)
Match notes:
UC Santa Barbara (17-7)
Cal State Northridge (10-13)
