SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (18-7) defeated the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (13-10) by a score of 4-0 on Saturday morning to capture the 2016 Big West Conference Championship.

After falling to Long Beach State in last year's championship match, Santa Barbara's 2016 championship win marks the first time the Gauchos have captured the title since 1996.

The Gauchos started the morning strong by capturing the doubles point after three matches. The Gauchos' top team of Palina Dubavets and Stefani Stojic got the first win of the morning as they defeated Paulina Petriskova and Klara Pribylova 6-4. On court two, Roxanne Resma and Cindy Nguyen knotted the doubles up at one each for Hawaii as they defeated Melissa Baker and Stephanie Yamada 6-3.

Lou Adler and Amanda Atanasson clinched the doubles point for the Gauchos as they took down Sarah Gealer and Marina Hruba 6-4 on court three to put Santa Barbara up 1-0 heading into singles.

"We've worked so incredibly hard this season," Junior Jaimee Gilbertson said. "So we were very well prepared for this year's championships. Losing in the finals last year was very emotional, especially coming so close to winning".

Sophomore Natalie Da Silviera was a part of that 2015 Gaucho team, but the deflating memory of their loss didn't get in the way of her play. The Gaucho jumped out to a 6-2 first set win over Petriskova on court four and never looked back. She took the second set 6-0 to put the Gauchos up 2-0.

Atanasson followed soon after with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Pribylova on court five, putting the Gauchos within one match of a trophy.

The match was Gilbertson's to take. After falling behind 1-2 early in the first set, Gilbertson battled back to take a 5-4 lead. She went on to take the first set 7-5, putting her within a set of ending a 20 year drought for UCSB women's tennis.

Gilbertson's slow start in the first set didn't repeat in the third. The Junior jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. Her opponent Resma stayed in the match and brought the set to 5-4. Gilbertson kept her composure and didn't let her opponents comeback phase her. The Gaucho won the second set 6-4 to win the Big West Conference crown for her team.

"Coming out on top for the first time in twenty years is just an amazing feeling, but we aren't finished yet," Gilbertson said after her title clinching match. "We're going to work really hard over the next couple of weeks and give ourselves the best chance in the NCAA Championships".

Big West Champions UCSB automatically qualify to participate in the NCAA tournament this spring. The team selections will be announced on May 3, where UCSB's first round opponent will be revealed, and the individual selections will be announced May 4. NCAA.com will stream both selection shows.  

BIG WEST TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP
(2) UC SANTA BARBARA 4, (4) HAWAI‘I 0

Doubles

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
 
Singles

Order of finish: 6, 5, 4