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University of California, Santa Barbara

Ali Benedetto vs LMU
Jeff Liang

Gauchos Continue Homestand Facing No. 28 Pepperdine

SANTA BARBARA, Calif - The No. 51 UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis team continues their homestand Thursday at 1 p.m. as they host No. 28 Pepperdine at the Arnhold Tennis Center. 
  
DETAILS   
Match 12 
Thursday, March 13 | 1 p.m.   
No. 51 UC Santa Barbara (4-7) vs. No. 28 Pepperdine (5-8)  
Arnhold Tennis Center | Santa Barbara, Calif.  
Live Stream  
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO  
Parking Impacts to Lot 30 — Due to ongoing construction, parking in Lot 30 next to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium will be extremely limited. Fans are encouraged to park in Lot 22, the garage next to the Thunderdome. UC Santa Barbara Athletics will provide assistance getting to and from the ballpark for seniors and people with mobility issues.  
  
LAST TIME OUT 
The Blue and Gold dominated on Saturday with a decisive 6-1 victory over LMU. Lily Pradkin and Lucy Lu clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory following Amelia Honer and Marie Weissheim dominating their match 6-1. In singles, the Gauchos secured wins on five of six courts with Raphaelle Leroux, Marie Weissheim and Tyra Richardson earning straight set victories. Ali Benedetto picked up another point for the Gauchos, and Amelia Honer closed out the day with her one hundredth career singles win.  
 
HISTORY  
The Gauchos hold a 7-34 all-time record against the Waves. The teams last met in 2022 where Pepperdine came away with a 4-0 victory on the Gauchos' home court. The Waves started the season with a tough slate of ranked opponents but got a top-25 win over No. 21 USC to kick off March. Pepperdine has a roster of three singles players in the ITA rankings as well as two doubles pairings. No. 11 Amelia Honer faced Pepperdine's No. 13 Savannah Broadus during the 2024 fall season where Honer came away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory to win the ITA Southwest Regional Championship.  
 
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: 4-7  
Big West: 1-0      
Home: 2-0      
Away: 1-5      
Neutral: 1-2      
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-3   
ITA Ranking: 51st   
Streak: W2    
   
ABOUT THE WAVES 
Roster | Schedule      
Overall Record: 5-8   
WCC: 0-0      
Home: 2-0     
Away: 3-6      
Neutral: 0-2   
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-7 
ITA Ranking: 28th 
Streak: L1     
    
UP NEXT    
The Gauchos will conclude their homestand as they host Harvard on Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m. at the Arnhold Tennis Center. Matches will be streamed live here.   
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