TUCSON, Ariz. - The No. 24 UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis team will hit the road again this weekend as they take on Arizona and Texas Tech across two days of competition.

DETAILS   
Match 6 
Friday, Feb. 14 | 11 a.m. PT
No. 24 UC Santa Barbara (2-3) at Arizona (5-3)
LaNelle Robson Tennis Center | Tucson, Ariz.

Match 7
Saturday, Feb. 15 | 10 a.m. PT
No. 24 UC Santa Barbara (2-3) vs. No. 23 Texas Tech (5-1)
LaNelle Robson Tennis Center | Tucson, Ariz.

LAST TIME OUT 
The Gauchos dominated in their first home match of the season at the Arnhold Tennis Center on Sunday with a 4-0 sweep of TCU. Lucy Lu and Lily Pradkin and No. 17 Amelia Honer and Marie Weissheim defeated the Horned Frogs in doubles to put the Gauchos on the board.

In singles, Ali Benedetto took court four in straight sets to bring the score to 2-0. On court one, Amelia Honer fought for a major comeback in the first set and finished off the match with a 6-1 second set victory. Lily Pradkin gave the Gauchos their last point needed for the victory, defeating her opponent 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
No. 14 Amelia Honer was named The Big West Women's Tennis Player of the Week following her impressive comeback and undefeated weekend. This is the 13th weekly award of her collegiate career, tying the record for most Big West Women's Tennis Player of the Week awards in a career.

HISTORY    
The Gauchos are 3-8 all-time when facing the Wildcats. The last victory over Arizona for the Blue and Gold came in 2018. The host is coming off three losses following ITA Kick-Off Weekend. They were previously 5-0, including sweeps of four of their first five opponents. Two Wildcats appear in the ITA singles rankings with one ranked doubles pair as well. 

The Gauchos hold a 1-3 all-time record against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. The two most recently met in Santa Barbara last season where the Red Raiders walked away with a 4-1 victory. Texas Tech comes in at No. 23 in the ITA rankings and also boasts two ranked singles players and three ranked doubles pairings. They had a hot start to the season only taking one loss when facing No. 18 Tennessee. 

FALL RECAP   
The Gauchos opened the fall tournament season at the Battle in the Bay where Amelia Honer and Ali Benedetto had a strong start in both doubles and singles. Honer took four straight wins, all in straight sets, to come away with the singles consolation championship title.   
   
The fall season continued at the ITA All-American Championships where Amelia Honer and Marie Weissheim brought home the doubles consolation championship title but still remained in search of their NCAA qualifying spot.   
   
At the Women of Troy Invite, Benedetto and Weissheim made a doubles championship appearance following wins over BYU and Wisconsin. The same weekend, Gauchos found success in Long Beach at the Beach Fall Tennis Tournament. Raphaelle Leroux, in her first tournament for Santa Barbara, won five straight matches to appear in the championship final. The freshman won in straight sets in her first two matches as a Gaucho. Lily Pradkin and Emma Tutoveanu won their first collegiate matches in singles as well. Tyra Richardson kicked off her senior season with three wins on the weekend, all in straight sets.    
   
At the ITA Southwest Regional Championship in San Diego, Honer won in straight sets for six consecutive singles matches to reach the championship where she defeated the 8th ranked player nationally and clinched her spot at Waco.    
   
At the Dennis Rizza Classic, five Gauchos went 2-0 on the weekend in singles. During Friday's singles matches, Marie Weissheim, Raphaelle Leroux and Tyra Richardson each took straight set victories over their opponents from LMU. Leroux and Weissheim took the first Gauchos doubles victory. Pacot and Leroux also took their first win as a pair over Saint Mary's.    
   
At the ITA West Sectional Championships, the last opportunity for the top three doubles to clinch a NCAA Championship spot, Honer and Weissheim took two straight set wins to reach the semifinals. Despite the loss in the semifinal round, they found success in the 3rd place match with a 15-13 win in the tiebreak to qualify as a doubles pair for the NCAA Championships.    
   
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS   
Roster | Schedule   
Overall Record: 2-3 
Big West: 0-0   
Home: 1-0   
Away: 0-2   
Neutral: 1-1   
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-1 
ITA Ranking: 24th  
Streak: W1  

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Roster | Schedule   
Overall Record: 5-3 
Big 12: 0-0   
Home: 4-0   
Away: 0-2   
Neutral: 1-1 
Against Ranked Opponents: 0-1 
ITA Ranking: N/A  
Streak: L3  

ABOUT THE RED RAIDERS
Roster | Schedule 
Overall Record: 5-1 
Big 12: 0-0   
Home: 2-0   
Away: 1-1   
Neutral: 2-0
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-1 
ITA Ranking: 23
Streak: W3  
 
UP NEXT   
The Gauchos travel north in two weeks to face a couple of ranked opponents starting with No. 12 Stanford on Feb. 28 at 10:30 a.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Center.