March 29, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The 64th-ranked UC Santa Barbara men's tennis team had its six-match winning streak ended on Saturday afternoon by visiting San Diego State, the 52nd-ranked team, 5-2.

The loss was also the Gauchos' first at home this season after six consecutive wins.

SDSU won the doubles point, winning all three matches. At No. 1, Bartosz Golas and Juan Gomez recorded a quick 8-1 win over Philip Therp and Jack Hui. The point was decided at No. 3 when Danny Heidecker and Andre Feliz topped Bijan Hejazi and Nigel Barton, 8-4.

The Aztecs remained in command at the outset of singles play, winning quickly at No. 2 and No. 4. At No. 2, Hejazi, who was had the flu and was unable to play singles on Thursday against Santa Clara, dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Matan Shitrit. Heidecker defeated Aelx Konigsfeldt in the No. 4 slot, 6-1, 6-3.

While UCSB players dropped the first set at No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6, two of them came back to win their matches.

At No. 3, Hui lost the first set to Gomez, 3-6, before winning 6-3, 7-6 in the final two sets. At No. 5, Max Taylor lost 6-7 in the first set before rallying to win 6-3, 6-4 in sets two and three. At No. 6, Taylor Chavez-Goggin dropped a tough one to Tim Schulz van Endert, 6-3, 6-7, (10-3).

The result at No. 1 singles was the opposite of the others as UCSB's Therp won the first set, 2-6, before dropping the final two to Golas, 6-3, 6-2. The Aztec ace ran-off six straight points in the final game to seal the victory.

"We really dug in our heals to make this a great match," said Gaucho head coach Marty Davis. "There was a point where it could have been one of the great comeback wins in school history, but then Bartosz Golas rolled off six straight games on center court to end it (the comeback)."

The loss drops UCSB to 9-5 on the year. The Gauchos remain at home for their next three matches. On Friday, April 4, they host No. 50 Fresno State at 1:30 p.m. at the Recreation Center Courts. Santa Barbara will close the campaign by hosting Big West opponents UC Davis (Saturday, April 5 at 1:00 p.m.), and Pacific (Sunday, April 6 at noon). All of the final home matches are at the Recreation Center Courts.

No. 52 San Diego State 5, No. 64 UC Santa Barbara 2

Doubles
No. 1 Golas/Gomez def. Therp/Hui (UCSB) 8-1
No. 2 Ceban/Schulz van Endert def. Konigsfeldt/Finkelstein 8-7
No. 3 Heidecker/Feliz def. Hejazi/Barton 8-4
Singles
No. 1 Bartosz Golas def. Philip Therp (UCSB) 2-6,6-3,6-2
No. 2 Matan Shitrit def. Bijan Hejazi (UCSB) 6-2,6-1
No. 3 Jack Hui (UCSB) def. Juan Gomez 3-6,6-3,7-6
No. 4 Danny Heidecker def. Alex Konigsfeldt (UCSB) 6-1,6-3
No. 5 Max Taylor (UCSB) def. Andre Feliz 6-7,6-3,6-4
No. 6 Tim Schulz van Endert def. Taylor Chavez Goggin (UCSB) 6-3,6-7 (10-3)