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University of California, Santa Barbara

Raphaelle Leroux
Jeff Liang

Gauchos Set to Host TCU in Home Opener

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The No. 24 UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis team will open their home slate for the 2025 spring season hosting TCU on Sunday at the Arnhold Tennis Center.
 
DETAILS   
Match 5 
Sunday, Feb. 9 | 10:30 a.m.  
No. 24 UC Santa Barbara (1-3) vs. TCU (2-1)  
Arnhold Tennis Center | Santa Barbara, Calif.  
 
LAST TIME OUT  
The Gauchos earned their first win of the season with a dominant 4-1 victory over No. 21 Vanderbilt at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. After a commanding victory in doubles, Marie Weissheim got the next point for the Gauchos with a win over No. 26 Bridget Stammel in straight sets. Amelia Honer also defeated her opponent in straight sets to bring the Gauchos within one point of the win. The final three courts were all close battles, but it was Tyra Richardson who would bring home the win for the Gauchos with a 7-6, 7-5 victory. The next day, the Gauchos would fight hard against the No. 8 Michigan Wolverines but ultimately fall 4-0 bringing their record against ranked opponents this season to 1-1.  
  
HISTORY    
The Gauchos hold a 3-2 all-time record over the Horned Frogs of TCU. In their last meeting on TCU's home court in 2022, the Gauchos came away with a 5-2 victory.  
 
TCU is starting the season 2-1. Similar to the Gauchos, the Horned Frogs split their ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a 1-1 record against ranked opponents. They most recently took a 4-2 win at Rice. In the most recent ITA rankings from Feb. 5, TCU boasts one ranked singles player, No. 122 Tomi Main, and one ranked doubles pairing, No. 19 Isabel Pascual/Jade Otway. Last season, the Horned Frogs held a 12-9 overall record and 7-6 record in conference play.  
   
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: 1-3 
Big West: 0-0   
Home: 0-0   
Away: 0-2   
Neutral: 1-1   
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-1 
ITA Ranking: 24th  
Streak: L1  
   
ABOUT THE HORNED FROGS 
Roster | Schedule   
Overall Record: 2-1 
Big 12: 0-0   
Home: 0-0   
Away: 1-0   
Neutral: 1-1 
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-1 
ITA Ranking: N/A  
Streak: W1  
 
UP NEXT   
The Gauchos will travel to Tucson, Arizona on Feb. 14 to face Princeton, Arizona and Texas Tech across the span of two days. Details of the weekend's schedule and live stats will be made available here.  
 
 
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