EUGENE, Ore. (March 30, 2023) — Reigning Big West Player of the Week Pablo Masjuan defeated a second ranked opponent in as many matches on Thursday, and Gianluca Brunkow and Lucca Liu extended their unbeaten run to four doubles matches together, but it was not enough to secure victory for the UC Santa Barbara men's tennis team, as they suffered only their second loss of the season to the No. 64 Oregon Ducks, 4-1. The match was closer than the scoreline indicates, as the teams left two singles matches, both of which were headed to a third set, unfinished.
THE MATCH
Final: No. 26 UC Santa Barbara 1, No. 64 Oregon 4
Records: UC Santa Barbara 15-2 (1-0 Big West), Oregon 11-7 (0-1 Pac-12)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos had to work from behind Thursday afternoon, as Oregon opened doubles play with win on court one thanks to the nation's No. 14 doubles pairing, but UCSB responded with a win from Gianluca Brunkow and Lucca Liu on court three. The Ducks took the decisive win on court two and went into singles with a 1-0 lead.
After playing the doubles matches outdoors, the Pacific Northwest weather forced the teams to move to Oregon's indoor courts, where the Ducks looked just a little more comfortable than the Gauchos. Pablo Masjuan leveled the match up with a win on court one, taking down his second ranked singles opponent in as many matches, this time in straight sets, but that would be UCSB's only point on the day. Despite the Gauchos' best efforts, they could not recover from first-set losses on courts three, four, and five, falling 4-1. At the time Oregon clinched, both Phillip Jordan and Kai Brady were headed to third sets on courts two and six, but their matches remained unfinished.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. #14 Charlton/Q. Vandecasteele (ORE) def. #57 Jordan/Brady (UCSB) 6-3
2. Keremedchiev/Klov-Nilsson (ORE) def. Masjuan/Mrsic (UCSB) 6-4
3. Brunkow/Liu (UCSB) def. Lo/L. Vandecasteele (ORE) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Pablo Masjuan (UCSB) def. #106 Joshua Charlton (ORE) 6-2, 6-2
2. Phillip Jordan (UCSB) vs. Quinn Vandecasteele (ORE) 2-6, 6-4 unfinished
3. Ivailo Keremedchiev (ORE) def. Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB) 6-3, 6-4
4. Jesper Klov-Nilsson (ORE) def. Luka Mrsic (UCSB) 6-4, 6-4
5. Vlad Breazu (ORE) def. Lucca Liu (UCSB) 6-3, 6-2
6. Kai Brady (UCSB) vs. Ray Lo (ORE) 6-4, 2-6, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 5, 3, 4
UP NEXT
UCSB returns to the friendly confines of the Arnhold Tennis Center, where they are undefeated this season, for their next match, welcoming the Highlanders of UC Riverside to Santa Barbara on Tuesday, April 4 at 2 p.m. As with all home UCSB tennis matches, it is free to attend, and a live stream of all the action will be available through ucsbgauchos.com
