Santa Barbara, Calif. – The focus was all business in Saturday's home doubleheader. Despite trailing at various points throughout the day, the UC Santa Barbara women's tennis team didn't allow one point to be scored by neither UC Davis nor UC Riverside.
The Gauchos' back-to-back shutout victories of 4-0 put an end to the three-match losing streak they entered the day with. Now 5-6, UC Santa Barbara is currently tied for first place with Cal State Fullerton in the Big West standings at 2-0.
Playing a major role in UCSB's success on Saturday was sophomore Amit Lev Ari, who won her third-straight singles dual match following two wins today.
"I'm just really happy that we ended how we did. I feel like we really trusted ourselves as we played. My singles win at Cal [gave me some momentum]," Lev Ari said. "I was down two sets in the third [frame] of that match but managed to comeback. It gave me confidence heading into today."
Dating back to last season, UCSB has now won eight-straight regular season Big West dual matches.
"It was a good start to the Big West portion of the season. The doubles were more discipline, more serves and returning. Across the board, today was a good performance," Head Coach Simon Thibodeau said.
Saturday resulted in the Aggies' first conference loss this season. They are now 7-3 and 1-1 in the Big West. As for UCR, the Highlanders lost their 17-striaght conference match, a streak that continues from the last two years combined. Riverside now sits at 1-9 overall, 1-3 in conference play.
UCSB vs UC Davis (Game 1)
Much anticipation surrounded Saturday's meeting between UCSB and UC Davis, especially after the Aggies win over last season's Big West Tournament runner-up Hawaii last week.
After making changes to the team's doubles pairs on courts two and three last week, switching Lev Ari to court two and senior Amanda Atanasson to court three, Coach Thibodeau remained committed to his players and made no changes on Saturday.
The commitment paid off as the Gauchos made quick work of the Aggies in doubles play. Tallying UCSB's first doubles victory of the day was the combo of Atanasson and freshman Lise Sentenac with a 6-1 win over Davis' Kelsie Bryant and Bella Von Ebbe on court No. 3.
Locking up the doubles point for UC Santa Barbara was Lev Ari and junior Stephanie Yamada, who beat Nikita Pradeep and Sara Tsukamoto 6-2 to give UCSB a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
"[Despite the loss], the Cal match was a mini victory. Beating Cal in doubles on court No. 1 was significant. We were really close," Thibodeau said. "So we knew today would be tough, but that we would be able to pull through. Thngs are working out as our No. 1 pair is now ranked and the others are getting better."
As both sides transitioned into singles play, the momentum remained on the Gauchos side. After helping clinch the doubles point, Yamada remained consistent with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Shirley Hall on court six.
Lev Ari followed in her teammate's path as well, piecing together a 6-1, 6-2 win that increased UCSB's lead to 4-0. Pushing the Gauchos past UC Davis was senior Palina Dubavets. Playing on court No. 1, Dubavets prevailed for a 6-4, 6-3 victory to seal UCSB 4-0 win versus the Aggies.
UCSB vs UC Riverside (Game 2)
The second half of UCSB's doubleheader continued against UC Riverside, who came into Santa Barbara looking for its first conference win since the 2015 season.
Following its win over UC Davis, who had won three of its last four prior to visiting Santa Barbara, UC Santa Barbara nearly had everything work in its favor and simply outperformed the Highlanders to close out the day.
UCSB struck first, continuing its dominance in doubles play. Not letting up on the competition was Lev Ari and Yamada, who blanked UCR's Lauren Wolfe and Tamilla Vaksman, 6-0.
Nearly pulling off the same result were Dubavets and senior Natalie Da Silveira, who are the nation's newly ranked No. 57 doubles pair. UCSB's senior tandem almost shutout the Highlander pair of Sara Khattab and Tia Elpusan, winning 6-1.
With a 1-0 lead at the start of singles play, the remainder of Saturday's second match was dominated by the Gauchos once again.
The near identical results continued for UCSB in individual play as well. UCSB ended its first match with singles wins on courts six, four, and one. Its contest against UCR ended in the following order of six, four, and two.
It didn't take long for Yamada, who didn't allow a point in her 6-0, 6-0 win over UCR's Vaksman.
Saturday was also another opportunity for Lev Ari to step up and prove her consistency. She did not fall short of the challenge, earning a victory in consecutive sets 6-1, 6-1 against Wolfe to give UCSB a 3-0 lead. Securing UCSB's win was Atanasson with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Khattab.
Now back on track with two consecutive wins in their first two conference matches of the season, the Gauchos previous matches against such top tier talent deserves some credit for Saturday's strong performance.
"[Looking ahead], we should just stay focused and trust ourselves when we play. We have to really believe that we can beat any team because I really do believe that we can beat any team," Lev Ari said.
UCSB will have its first weekday match of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at home at the Rec Cen Courts versus Southern Methodist University at 12 p.m.
