MANOA, Hawai'i – The No. 30 UC Santa Barbara Men's Tennis team opened Big West conference play with a 4-1 victory over Hawai'i on Thursday afternoon at the UH Tennis Complex. The Gauchos secured four singles victories to clinch the match and improve to 12-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

THE MATCH
Final: #30 UC Santa Barbara 4, Hawai'i 1
Records: #30 UC Santa Barbara (12-5, 1-0 Big West), Hawai'i (8-7 overall, 1-1 Big West)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles competition was tightly contested, with UCSB striking first behind the nationally ranked No. 35 pair of Miguel Avendano and No. 107 Lucca Liu, who earned a convincing 6-2 win on court one over Timothy Li and Kosuke Nakanishi. Hawai'i responded with wins on courts two and three, as Toa Maeda and Azuma Visaya defeated Dominique Rolland and Conrad Brown 6-4 before Adriano Dzhenev and Kent Mueller edged Diogo Morais and Lorenzo Brunkow by the same score to claim the doubles point.

The Gauchos quickly shifted momentum in singles, sweeping four completed matches to secure the team victory.

Morais evened the score first, battling to a 7-5, 6-2 win over Nakanishi at No. 3. Carson Lee followed with a strong 6-4, 6-2 victory against Mueller on court five to give UCSB its first lead of the afternoon.

At the top of the lineup, No. 107 Liu added another crucial point, defeating Visaya 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles to push the Gauchos within one of clinching. Matei Gavrea sealed the match shortly after with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 win over Hikaru Takahashi at No. 6.

Two matches went unfinished after the clinch, with No. 44 Rolland locked in a three-set battle on court two and Avendano in a tight third set at No. 4.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. #35 Miguel Avendano/Lucca Liu (UCSB) def. Timothy Li/Kosuke Nakanishi (UHM) 6-2
2. Toa Maeda/Azuma Visaya (UHM) def. Dominique Rolland/Conrad Brown (UCSB) 6-4
3. Adriano Dzhenev/Kent Mueller (UHM) def. Diogo Morais/Lorenzo Brunkow (UCSB) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. #107 Lucca Liu (UCSB) def. Azuma Visaya (UHM) 6-4, 6-4
2. Timothy Li (UHM) vs. #44 Dominique Rolland (UCSB) 6-4, 2-6, unfinished
3. Diogo Morais (UCSB) def. Kosuke Nakanishi (UHM) 7-5, 6-2
4. Adriano Dzhenev (UHM) vs. Miguel Avendano (UCSB) 3-6, 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
5. Carson Lee (UCSB) def. Kent Mueller (UHM) 6-4, 6-2
6. Matei Gavrea (UCSB) def. Hikaru Takahashi (UHM) 6-1, 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 5, 1, 6

UP NEXT
The Blue and Gold return home to face UC San Diego on Apr. 3 at 12 p.m., followed by UC Irvine on Apr. 4 at 1 p.m.