Malibu, Calif. — The No. 43 UC Santa Barbara Men's Tennis Team earned one of its most impressive wins of the season, edging No. 23 Pepperdine 4-3 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon. After dropping the doubles point, the Gauchos stormed back with four gritty singles victories to notch their third ranked win of the year.
THE MATCH
Final: No. 43 UC Santa Barbara 4, No. 23 Pepperdine 3
Records: UC Santa Barbara (13-3), Pepperdine (12-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Waves took an early lead after capturing the doubles point with decisive wins at No. 1 and No. 3. UCSB's
Lucca Liu and
Diogo Morais were narrowly trailing 5-4 on court two when the point was clinched.
Pepperdine extended its lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 6, but the Gauchos quickly began their rally. No. 110
Diogo Morais put UCSB on the board with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4, and
Dominique Rolland evened the match at 2-2 after rolling past his opponent at No. 3.
The Waves momentarily pulled back in front with a straight-set win at No. 5, but
Lucca Liu and
Gianluca Brunkow each rallied from a set down in dramatic fashion. Liu's 6-4 third set win at No. 2 set the stage for Brunkow, who clinched the match on court one with a thrilling 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback over No. 19 Edward Winter.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. #73 Winter, Edward/Winter, Hugh (PEPPM) def. #48
Gianluca Brunkow/
Dominique Rolland (UCSB-M) 6-2
2. Poertner, Lasse/Pisaric, Aleksa (PEPPM) vs.
Lucca Liu/
Diogo Morais (UCSB-M) 5-4, unfinished
3. Halldin, Linus/Fix, David (PEPPM) def.
Charlie Underwood/
Conrad Brown (UCSB-M) 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles
1. #79
Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB-M) def. #19 Winter, Edward (PEPPM) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2.
Lucca Liu (UCSB-M) def. Poertner, Lasse (PEPPM) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
3.
Dominique Rolland (UCSB-M) def. Halldin, Linus (PEPPM) 6-2, 6-3
4. #110
Diogo Morais (UCSB-M) def. Pisaric, Aleksa (PEPPM) 6-2, 6-4
5. Fix, David (PEPPM) def.
Conrad Brown (UCSB-M) 7-5, 6-3
6. Winter, Hugh (PEPPM) def.
Matei Gavrea (UCSB-M) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 5, 2, 1
UP NEXT
The Gauchos return to Big West play on Friday, April 11, when they travel to La Jolla to take on UC San Diego. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m.