INDIAN WELLS, Calif. --- UC Irvine kept up with the No. 65 Gauchos, but could not win the third-set tiebreakers in a 4-2 defeat Saturday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
UCI (7-17, 3-2) got on the board early with dominant doubles wins to lead, 1-0, heading into singles.
UCSB (14-9, 4-1) took the lead after two straight-set singles wins. Sam Gould got the 'Eaters back even at 2-2 with a straight set win, but #99 Fabian Matthews dropped the third set to give UCSB the lead back.
Ryan Cheung and Jacob Jung would be the last hopes for UCI as they not only went to a third set, but each went to a third-set tiebreaker. Jung looked good early, but Cheung fell behind early and lost, 7-4, to give UCSB the clinching point.
UC Irvine finishes the year at 7-17. Gould won his final four matches as a senior finishing the year at 13-11. Matthews finished ranked 99th in the nation with a record of 12-8 including three wins against ranked opponents. Jon Kazarian fell in straight sets in his final match to finish his senior season at 5-13.
(2) #65 UCSB 4, (3) UC IRVINE 2
April 28, 2012 – Indian Wells, Calif.
Indian Wells Tennis Garden
Big West Tournament Semifinal
Doubles
No. 1 – Gould/Jung (UCI) def. Forget/Recknagel (UCSB) – 8-3
No. 2 – Cheung/Kazarian (UCI) vs. Johnson/Ndimande (UCSB) – DNF
No. 3 – Matthews/Shibahara (UCI) def. Gryaznov/Sultan (UCSB) – 8-5
UC Irvine wins the doubles point
Singles
No. 1 - #124 Mathieu Forget (UCSB) def. #99 Fabian Matthews (UCI) – 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
No. 2 – Sam Gould (UCI) def. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) – 7-5, 6-4
No. 3 – Jacob Jung (UCI) vs. Mbonisi Ndimande (UCSB) – DNF
No. 4 – Ziad Sultan (UCSB) def. Jon Kazarian (UCI) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 – Sasha Gryaznov (UCSB) def. Shuhei Shibahara (UCI) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Max Glenn (UCSB) def. Ryan Cheung (UCI) – 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4)
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