IRVINE, Calif. - Third-seeded and winners of the last five Big West Tournaments, UC Santa Barbara opened defense of its title with a convincing 4-0 first round sweep of sixth-seeded UC Riverside on Friday afternoon at the Orange County Great Park.
"We were really efficient today," said head coach Marty Davis. "We won doubles, Stefano's (Tsorotiotis) opponent retired, Joe (Guillin) was off in a big hurry and Kai (Brady) wasn't far behind. An hour and 55 minutes of tennis is pretty light work."
Playing with a full roster for the second consecutive match after a stretch of four matches shorthanded, the Gauchos (8-5) claimed the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. Playing at No. 1, Stefano Tsorotiotis and Alejandro Vedri defeated Gilbert Chung and Nolan McCaig, 6-4. Joseph Guillin and Kai Brady would defeat their Highlander opponents, the brothers Jayson and Michael Blando, by the same 6-4 score.
UCSB bumped the lead to 2-0 when Tsorotiotis, leading 5-1 in the first set, saw his opponent, Antreas Djakouris retire. Guillin was next, making it 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 sweep over Chung. Guillin's doubles partner, Brady, ended the match with a 6-2, 6-1 sweep over Bingru Chen at No. 6 singles.
The Gauchos were leading in the three matches that were unfinished. Big West Tournament format dictates that when a team has clinched the win, all other matches are pulled off the courts, regardless of how close they are to completion.
"You can practice all you want, but getting a match in was big for us," Davis said. "These courts are faster that what we're used to and today gave us an opportunity to adjust."
Santa Barbara has now won two consecutive matches and three of its last four. It has also won five straight when playing with its full complement of players.
"Hopefully we're building towards something," Davis said. "We didn't peak today. I hope we're on track to peak Sunday."
The Gauchos have won 12 consecutive Big West Tournament matches dating back to the 2015 title, and 16 of 17 dating back to 2013.
UCSB will play UC Irvine on Saturday at noon in a semifinal match. The Anteaters defeated a shorthanded Gaucho team by a 5-2 score on April 11 in Irvine.
UC Riverside vs UC Santa Barbara
4/30/2021 at Irvine, CA
(Orange County Great Park)
UC Santa Barbara 4, UC Riverside 0
Singles competition
1. Joseph Guillin (UCSB) def. Gilbert Chung (UCR) 6-1, 6-2
2. Stefano Tsorotiotis (UCSB) def. Antreas Djakouris (UCR) 5-1, retired
3. Victor Krustev (UCSB) vs. Nolan Mccaig (UCR) 6-5, unfinished
4. Pablo Masjuan (UCSB) vs. Jayson Blando (UCR) 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
5. Joseph Rotheram (UCSB) vs. Joshua Roth (UCR) 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
6. Kai Brady (UCSB) def. Bingru Chen (UCR) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Stefano Tsorotiotis/Alejandro Vedri (UCSB) def. Gilbert Chung/Nolan Mccaig (UCR) 6-4
2. Victor Krustev/Joseph Rotheram (UCSB) vs. Antreas Djakouris/Bingru Chen (UCR) 4-2, unfinished
3. Joseph Guillin/Kai Brady (UCSB) def. Jayson Blando/Michael Blando (UCR) 6-4
Match Notes:
UC Riverside 2-12
UC Santa Barbara 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,1,6)
2021 Big West Men's Tennis Championship First Round
T-1:35
