SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Men's Tennis team bounced back after a tough loss to Pepperdine with a strong 4-1 victory over No. 46 Oregon. The Gauchos dropped the doubles point but swept through singles play to earn the win.
 

THE MATCH
Final:  UC Santa Barbara 4, Pepperdine 1
Records: UC Santa Barbara (4-3), Oregon (10-4)

HOW IT HAPPENED
In doubles action, Conrad Brown and Luka Mrsic picked up the early advantage for the Gauchos winning 6-3 on court three. Oregon bounced back with a win on court one and the Gauchos and Ducks would look to court two to see who would clinch the doubles point. A 6-4 victory would go in favor of the Ducks and Oregon would go to singles play with a 1-0 lead.

Once in singles play the Gauchos took full control. Gianluca Brunkow opened singles with a straight set victory to even the match. Kai Brady followed suit and put the Gauchos up 2-1. Once UC Santa Barbara gained the lead they didn't look back. Conrad Brown earned Santa Barbara's third straight set victory to extend their lead to 3-1. The clinching point came from Lucca Liu who won in three sets and gave the Gauchos their first ranked win of the season.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. Quinn Vandecasteele/Matthew Burton (ORE) def. #34 Pablo Masjuan/Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB-M) 6-2
2. David Cierny/Ray Lo (ORE) def. Kai Brady/Lucca Liu (UCSB-M) 6-4
3. Conrad Brown/Luka Mrsic (UCSB-M) def. Lachlan Robertson/Avi Shugar (ORE) 6-3

Singles
1. #20 Pablo Masjuan (UCSB-M) vs. #103 Quinn Vandecasteele (ORE) 6-4, 2-6, 6-6, unfinished
2. Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB-M) def. David Cierny (ORE) 6-4, 6-1
3. Lucca Liu (UCSB-M) def. Vlad Breazu (ORE) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
4. Luka Mrsic (UCSB-M) vs. Matthew Burton (ORE) 6-3, 6-7, 1-3, unfinished
5. Kai Brady (UCSB-M) def. Zian Vanderstappen (ORE) 6-2, 6-2
6. Conrad Brown (UCSB-M) def. Lenn Luemkemann (ORE) 6-3, 6-4

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will host their third consecutive top 55 opponent on Monday, March 4. UC Santa Barbara will host No. 35 Florida Atlantic at the Arnhold Tennis Center at noon.