SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Feb 12, 2023) — Despite having only four players available, the UC Santa Barbara women's tennis team challenged No. 24 USC to a dual Sunday afternoon, the Gauchos' first at home this season. After three hours of tennis, the match finished with a 7-0 score in favor of the Trojans.

THE MATCH
Final: UC Santa Barbara 0, No. 24 USC 7
Records: UC Santa Barbara 1-4 (1-0 Big West), No. 24 USC 6-2 (0-0 Pac-12)

HOW IT HAPPENED
With the Gauchos shorthanded, the Trojans won court three by default in doubles, but they would have earned the point without it, winning on courts one and two as well. The visitors earned more points by default on courts five and six to start singles, giving them a 3-0 advantage before the second phase of the dual had even begun.

USC won on courts two, three, and four, but on court one, Amelia Honer was once again causing problems for 32nd-ranked Eryn Cayetano. After upsetting then-No. 1 Cayetano in the fall, Honer took the first set on Sunday, winning a tiebreaker to do so. Ultimately, Cayetano got her revenge, winning in three sets.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. Cheong/Han (USC) def. #13 Honer/Reuter (UCSB), 6-4
2. #19 Cayetano/Seig (USC) def. Gonzalez-Ballbe/Khrebtova (UCSB), 6-3
3. Morra/Piper (USC) def. No player/No player (UCSB) by default

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. #32 Eryn Cayetano (USC) def. #43 Amelia Honer (UCSB), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 10-5
2. #26 Snow Han (USC) def. Kira Reuter (UCSB), 6-2, 6-4
3. #110 Emma Charney (USC) def. Valentina Khrebtova (UCSB), 6-4, 6-1
4. Grace Piper (USC) def. Marta Gonzalez Ballbe (UCSB), 6-2, 6-2
5. McKenna Koenig (USC) def. No player (UCSB) by default
6. Sloanne Morra (USC) def. No player (UCSB) by default

Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will look to bounce back on a weekend trip to Kansas, where they will play Texas Tech, Kansas, and Arizona at the Jawhawks Tennis Center in Lawrence. First up for UCSB are the Red Raiders, whom the Gauchos will face at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, February 17. They will face the Jayhawks and Wildcats on Saturday, the 18th, with the matches starting at 9:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Pacific respectively.