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University of California, Santa Barbara

Tyra vs. TCU
Jeff Liang

Gauchos Travel North for Trio of Weekend Matches

STANFORD, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis will travel to face Stanford and Cal on Friday and Saturday, respectively, looking to redeem themselves from losses last season to the pair of ACC opponents. Sunday sees another familiar opponent as Big West play kicks off with a visit to UC Davis.  
 
DETAILS 
Match 8  
Friday, Feb. 28 | 1 p.m. 
No. 46 UC Santa Barbara (2-5) at No. 38 Stanford (6-2) 
Taube Family Tennis Center | Stanford, Calif. 
 
Match 9 
Saturday, March 1 | 12 p.m. 
No. 46 UC Santa Barbara (2-5) at Cal (1-4) 
Hellman Tennis Complex | Berkeley, Calif. 
 
Match 10 
Sunday, March 2 | 11 a.m. 
No. 46 UC Santa Barbara (2-5) at UC Davis (5-7) 
Marya Welch Tennis Center | Davis, Calif. 
 
LAST TIME OUT  
The Gauchos dropped both of their last two matches on the road in Tucson two weeks ago. Facing Arizona first, the Gauchos got the early advantage in doubles but couldn't close it out in singles as they fell 4-3. Sunday saw a similar result against No. 23 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders took the doubles point but the Gauchos went to work in singles to tie it up 3-3 where they narrowly lost the last point in a three-set battle.  
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK 
Despite the 0-2 weekend for the Gauchos, No. 14 Amelia Honer was named The Big West Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the second consecutive week on Feb. 19 following an undefeated weekend in singles and doubles. The weekly award was the 14th of her collegiate career, breaking the record for most Big West Women's Tennis Player of the Week awards in a career. 
 
HISTORY     
The Gauchos are 1-5 all-time against Stanford with the sole win taking place in 2022. Last year's matchup saw the Cardinal come away with a 1-6 victory. Stanford had a dominant start to the season after sweeping ITA Kick-Off Weekend and earning a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships. They took their only two losses of the season there against No. 10 Auburn and No. 13 Tennessee. As the 38-rank in the ITA, the Cardinal boast four ranked singles players and three ranked doubles pairings.  
 
The Gauchos have yet to grab a win over the Cal Golden Bears with an 0-6 all-time record. They met last year where Cal got the 1-6 win. The Bears are starting the season with only one win against Grand Canyon back in January. There are four Bears in the ITA rankings as well as two doubles pairings.  
 
On the flip side, the Gauchos are undefeated against their first Big West opponent of the season, UC Davis. The Blue and Gold will look to add another win to their 21-0 all-time record. The Aggies started the season with four straight losses but they've recently bounced back in February adding five wins to their record. They split their first two Big West matchups against UC San Diego and UC Irvine and will host Cal Poly on Saturday prior to Sunday's contest against the Gauchos.  
 
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    
Overall Record: 2-5 
Big West: 0-0    
Home: 1-0    
Away: 0-3    
Neutral: 1-2    
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-2  
ITA Ranking: 46th  
Streak: L2  
 
ABOUT THE CARDINAL 
Roster | Schedule    
Overall Record: 6-2 
ACC: 0-0    
Home: 4-0    
Away: 2-0    
Neutral: 0-2  
Against Ranked Opponents: 0-2  
ITA Ranking: 38th 
Streak: W2   
 
ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS 
Overall Record:1-4  
ACC: 0-0    
Home: 1-1   
Away: 0-3  
Neutral: 0-0 
Against Ranked Opponents: 0-4  
ITA Ranking: N/A 
Streak: L4  
  
ABOUT THE AGGIES 
Roster | Schedule  
Overall Record: 5-7  
Big West: 1-1   
Home: 2-2    
Away: 3-5    
Neutral: 0-0 
Against Ranked Opponents: 0-1  
ITA Ranking: N/A 
Streak: W2  
 
UP NEXT   
The Gauchos return home on March 8 to face LMU. The match will kick off at noon at the Arnhold Tennis Center with live streaming available here.  
 
 
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