MALIBU, Calif. – The No. 50 UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis team saw its 2026 campaign come to a close Friday afternoon, falling 4-0 to No. 11 Pepperdine in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.

THE MATCH
Final: #50 UC Santa Barbara 0, #11 Pepperdine 4
Records: UC Santa Barbara (17-9, 9-0 Big West), Pepperdine (19-4, 7-0 WCC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Pepperdine secured the early edge by taking the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Lily Pradkin and Shanelle Iaconi fell 6-1 at the No. 2 spot, followed by a 6-4 decision on court three over My-Anh Holmes and Emma Tutoveanu to give the Waves a 1-0 lead. The top court pairing of Caroline Beard and Ekua Youri was left unfinished at 5-4 battling the No. 16 pair.

In singles, the Waves continued to apply pressure, picking up straight-set victories on courts four and six. Chantal Sauvant defeated Pradkin 6-3, 6-1, while Alexia Harmon topped Iaconi 6-1, 7-5 to extend the advantage to 3-0.

The clinching point came on court three, where No. 48 Sonja Zhiyenbayeva outlasted Tutoveanu in two tight sets, 7-5, 7-6(5), to seal the match.

Several courts remained in progress at the time of the decision. Isabella Wong was the only Gaucho to take a first set, edging out No. 35 Anastasiia Grechkina in a tiebreak before play was halted in the second. On court one, Youri responded after dropping the opening set to claim the second and force a third against No. 40 Ziva Falkner. Raphaelle Leroux also showed resilience on court five, rebounding from a first-set deficit to level the second set and push it to a tiebreak before play was stopped.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. #16 Sonja Zhiyenbayeva/Ziva Falkner (PEPP) vs. Ekua Youri/Caroline Beard (UCSB) 5-4, unfinished
2. Anastasiia Grechkina/Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) def. Lily Pradkin/Shanelle Iaconi (UCSB) 6-1
3. Shihomi Leong/Duru Soke (PEPP) def. My-Anh Holmes/Emma Tutoveanu (UCSB) 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles
1. #40 Ziva Falkner (PEPP) vs. Ekua Youri (UCSB) 6-3, 5-7, 1-1, unfinished
2. Isabella Wong (UCSB) vs. #35 Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) 7-6 (7-5), 4-5, unfinished
3. #48 Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) def. Emma Tutoveanu (UCSB) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) def. Lily Pradkin (UCSB) 6-3, 6-1
5. Raphaelle Leroux (UCSB) vs. #121 Duru Soke (PEPP) 6-1, 6-6 (2-3), unfinished
6. Alexia Harmon (PEPP) def. Shanelle Iaconi (UCSB) 6-1, 7-5

Order of finish: 4, 6, 3

SEASON NOTES
UC Santa Barbara closes the year with a 17-9 overall record and a perfect 9-0 mark in Big West play, capturing back-to-back Big West Championship titles while also securing the regular season crown. Ekua Youri was named Big West Player of the Year, while Head Coach Simon Thibodeau earned Big West Coach of the Year honors, highlighting a standout season for the Gauchos.