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University of California, Santa Barbara

Emma Tutoveanu serving
Jeff Liang

Big West Play Continues with Trio of Key Road Matches

RIVERSIDE, Calif - The No. 55 UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis team hits the road for three conference matchups this week. The first trip takes the Gauchos south to Riverside and Long Beach on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The Blue and Gold will then head across the Pacific to face the Rainbow Wahine in Hawai'i on Saturday.  
 
DETAILS    
Match 14 
Tuesday, March 25 | 12 p.m.    
No. 55 UC Santa Barbara (5-8) at UC Riverside (4-12) 
SRC Tennis Courts | Riverside, Calif.  
 
Match 15 
Wednesday, March 26 | 1 p.m.    
No. 55 UC Santa Barbara (5-8) at No. 59 Long Beach State (10-3) 
Rhodes Tennis Center | Long Beach, Calif. 
 
Match 16 
Saturday, March 29 | 2 p.m. (PT)  
No. 55 UC Santa Barbara (5-8) at Hawai'i (7-5) 
UH Tennis Complex | Manoa, Hawai'i 
 
LAST TIME OUT  
The Gauchos got back in the win column on Saturday with a 5-2 victory over Harvard at home. After securing the doubles point with a tiebreak win from Ali Benedetto and Lily Pradkin on court three, the Gauchos dominated in singles. Amelia Honer, Raphaelle Leroux and Tyra Richardson all secured decisive straight set victories with Richardson clinching the winning point for the Blue and Gold. Katarina Vayser added the fifth point with a 6-3, 6-2 win in her second appearance this spring season.  
  
HISTORY   
The Gauchos hold a 19-0 all-time record when facing the Highlanders. Last season, Santa Barbara came away with a sweep at home. UC Riverside got off to a 0-4 start this season with their first win not coming until February against Concordia Irvine. They are 0-3 in conference play with losses to Hawai'i, UC Irvine and Cal Poly. The Highlanders host CSUN on Monday prior to Tuesday's matchup with the Gauchos. 
 
Santa Barbara is 7-14 all-time against No. 59 Long Beach State. All seven wins for the Gauchos have come in the last seven matchups between the two teams. The Beach first appeared in the ITA rankings on March 11 and their only three losses of the season came against Oregon, UC San Diego and Hawai'i.  
 
The trip to Hawai'i will have the Gauchos looking to add another win to their 10-7 all-time record over the Rainbow Wahine. Santa Barbara has won four of the last five meetings including a 6-1 win last year at home. The Rainbow Wahine have started conference play strong with a 5-1 record. They host Cal Poly first on Wednesday prior to Saturday's matchup with 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       
Roster | Schedule    
Overall Record: 5-8   
Big West: 1-0       
Home: 3-1       
Away: 1-5       
Neutral: 1-2       
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-4  
ITA Ranking: 55th  
Streak: W1   
    
ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS 
Roster | Schedule       
Overall Record: 4-12    
Big West: 0-3      
Home: 3-11     
Away: 1-1       
Neutral: 0-0 
Against Ranked Opponents: 0-0 
ITA Ranking: N/A 
Streak: L4 
 
ABOUT THE BEACH 
Roster | Schedule       
Overall Record: 10-3  
Big West: 2-2      
Home: 5-1   
Away: 4-2       
Neutral: 1-0 
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-0 
ITA Ranking: 59th 
Streak: W1 
 
ABOUT THE RAINBOW WAHINE 
Roster | Schedule    
Overall Record: 7-5   
Big West: 5-1    
Home: 4-2     
Away: 3-3       
Neutral: 0-0 
Against Ranked Opponents: 1-0 
ITA Ranking: N/A 
Streak: W2 
     
UP NEXT     
The Blue and Gold will travel out to CSUN on Friday, April 4. The matchup with the Matadors is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the Matador Tennis Complex.  
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