SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – No. 35 UC Santa Barbara closed out its regular season Sunday afternoon at the Arnhold Tennis Center with a hard-fought 4-2 loss to No. 28 Pepperdine, as the Waves secured the doubles point and three singles victories.

THE MATCH
Final: #35 UC Santa Barbara 2, #28 Pepperdine 4
Records: #35 UC Santa Barbara (16-7), #28 Pepperdine (16-8)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Pepperdine set the tone early by claiming the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. The No. 55-ranked duo of Miguel Avendano and Lucca Liu fell 6-2 on court one, followed by a 6-2 decision on court two to give the Waves a 1-0 lead. The pairing of Diogo Morais and Lorenzo Brunkow held a 5-4 edge on court three before the match was left unfinished.

UC Santa Barbara struck first in singles through Morais, who delivered a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win on court three to even the match at 1-1.

Pepperdine responded with back-to-back wins on courts two and one. No. 57 Dominique Rolland fell 6-3, 6-0, followed by a 6-1, 6-4 decision on court one where No. 89 Lucca Liu was topped, giving the Waves a 3-1 advantage.

Charlie Underwood kept the Gauchos within reach with a steady 6-4, 6-4 win on court five, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Karel Fromel delivered a gritty performance on court six, battling through three sets and continuing to fight deep into the third before narrowly falling 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, as Pepperdine secured the clinching point. The match on court four between Avendano and Maxi Homberg was left unfinished in the third set, with Avendano up 40-30, looking to even it up in the third set.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. Edward Winter/David Fix (PEPP) def. #55 Miguel Avendano/Lucca Liu (UCSB) 6-2
2. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida/Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Conrad Brown/Dominique Rolland (UCSB) 6-2
3. Diogo Morais/Lorenzo Brunkow (UCSB) vs. Aleksa Pisaric/Maxi Homberg 5-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles
1. Edward Winter (PEPP) def. #89 Lucca Liu (UCSB) 6-1, 6-4
2. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. #57 Dominique Rolland (UCSB) 6-3, 6-0
3. Diogo Morais (UCSB) def. Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) 6-1, 6-1
4. Miguel Avendano (UCSB) vs. Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 5-7, 6-4, 3-4, unfinished
5. Charlie Underwood (UCSB) def. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP) 6-4, 6-4
6. David Fix (PEPP) def. Karel Fromel (UCSB) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

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

UP NEXT
Despite sharing the regular season title with UC Irvine and Cal Poly, the Gauchos earned the No. 1 seed in the Big West Championship, securing a double bye into the semifinals. UC Santa Barbara will compete at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego on Apr. 25, with their opponent to be determined.