SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara rebounded from a tough loss in doubles to claim five of six singles matches en route to its first win of the men's tennis season, 5-2 over visiting Loyola Marymount on Saturday.
The Gauchos (1-1) dropped the doubles point to the Lions (2-3), when Thien Nguyen and John Bryan Otico defeated Joseph Guillin and Alejandro Vedri at No. 3 in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5). Their win came at No. 1 where Stefano Tsorotiotis an Kai Brady topped Diego Nava and Daniel Moreno, 6-4. At No. 2, Victor Krustev and Joey Rotheram fell to Ethan Prost and Emin Torlic, 6-4.
"We lost the doubles point on a tiebreaker and that's a pretty disappointing fashion," said head coach Marty Davis. "A lot of times that type of doubles loss can be a real emotional swing, but we bounced back very well."
At No. 1, Guillin swept past Nava, 6-3, 6-2, to pull UCSB even at 1-1. Playing at No. 3, Victor Krustev won his second match of the season with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Otico, making the score 2-1. Next up was Rotheram at No. 5, where he defeated Torlic, 6-4, 6-4. The clincher was Vedri at No. 4 with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Nguyen.
"Alejandro was down 4-1 and two break points in his first set," Davis said. "That was big. Also, Stefano (Tsorotiotis) was blown out in his first set and came back to win. Even Pablo (Masjuan) came back from losing a first set 6-1 to force a third set. I like where this team is in terms of its competitiveness this early in the season."
Tsorotiotis fell 1-6 in his first set against Moreno at No. 2, but then battled back to post 6-3 and 7-6 wins in the second and third sets. Masjuan also lost his first set against Di Giulio at No. 6 by a 6-1 score, but won the second set 2-6 to force the third, which he dropped 6-2.
The Gauchos will return to action on Friday, Mar. 5 when they host the University of Arizona at the Recreation Center Courts. Following that match, they scheduled to take some time off before returning to host another Pac 12 opponent, Washington, on Wednesday, Mar. 24 also at 1:00 p.m.
Singles
1. Guillin, Joseph (UCSB) def. Nava, Diego (LMU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Tsorotiotis, Stefano (UCSB) def. Moreno, Daniel (LMU) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6
3. Krustev, Victor (UCSB) def. Otico, John Bryan (LMU) 6-3, 6-0
4. Vedri, Alejandro (UCSB) def. Nguyen, Thien (LMU) 7-6, 6-2
5. Rotheram, Joseph (UCSB) def. Torlic, Emin (LMU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Di Giulio, Austin (LMU) def. Masjuan, Pablo (UCSB) 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. Tsorotiotis, Stefano/Brady, Kai (UCSB) def. Nava, Diego/Moreno, Daniel (LMU) 6-4
2. Prost, Ethan/Torlic, Emin (LMU) def. Krustev, Victor/Rotheram, Joseph (UCSB) 6-4
3. Nguyen, Thien/Otico, John Bryan (LMU) def. Guillin, Joseph/Vedri, Alejandro (UCSB) 7-6 (5)
Records
Loyola Marymount 2-3
UC Santa Barbara 1-1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,5,4,6,2)
