SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The No. 39 UC Santa Barbara Men's Tennis Team came up just short in its bid for a conference title, falling 4-3 to No. 49 UC Irvine in the Big West Championship Match at the Barnes Tennis Center on Sunday morning. The Gauchos captured the doubles point but the Anteaters rallied in singles to clinch the crown.

THE MATCH
Final: No. 49 UC Irvine 4, No. 39 UC Santa Barbara 3
Records: UC Santa Barbara (18-4), UC Irvine (18-5)

HOW IT HAPPENED
UCSB started strong by securing the doubles point, with Gianluca Brunkow and Lucca Liu dominating 6-2 at No. 1 and Diogo Morais and Charlie Underwood delivering a 6-4 win at No. 3. The match on court two was left unfinished at 4-4.

The Gauchos carried that momentum into singles, with No. 110 Diogo Morais giving UCSB a 2-0 lead after a commanding 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 4. UC Irvine fought back with wins at No. 3, No. 2, and No. 5 singles to surge ahead 3-2. Matei Gavrea kept UCSB's hopes alive by grinding out a two-set win on court six, sending the match to a decisive battle on court one. In a tense three-setter, UC Irvine's Noah Zamora edged out Brunkow to clinch the Big West title for the Anteaters.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. Gianluca Brunkow/Lucca Liu (UCSB) def. Andy Nguyen/Noah Zamora (UCI) 6-2
2. Conrad Brown/Dominique Rolland (UCSB) vs. Sohrob Amiryavari/Ruining Huang (UCI) 4-4, unfinished
3. Diogo Morais/Charlie Underwood (UCSB) def. Max Fardanesh/Rithvik Krishna (UCI) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles
1. Noah Zamora (UCI) def. Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Andy Nguyen (UCI) def. Lucca Liu (UCSB) 6-4, 6-3
3. Rithvik Krishna (UCI) def. Dominique Rolland (UCSB) 6-4, 6-3
4. Diogo Morais (UCSB) def. Ruining Huang (UCI) 6-1, 6-3
5. Max Fardanesh (UCI) def. Conrad Brown (UCSB) 6-4, 6-4
6. Matei Gavrea (UCSB) def. Sohrob Amiryavari (UCI) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4

Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 5, 6, 1

UP NEXT
UCSB will await its postseason fate with NCAA Tournament selections set to be announced on Monday, April 28.