IRVINE, Calif. – Dropping a 6-1 final score at home, UC Irvine women's tennis. (11-7, 2-4) fell to #43 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

UCI won an exhilarating doubles point that came down to a seven-point tiebreaker, coming back from dropping its first doubles match of the day. After dropping the No. 3 line match, the Anteaters rallied to win on the No. 1 line with Carolyna Fowler and Amanda Perez claiming a 6-4 victory to even the doubles score. After tying doubles 1-1, Yen Nhi Huynh and Maily Huynh went down to the wire against UCSB (12-8, 6-0) on the No. 2 line. After falling down 6-5, the Huynh's tied the match at 6 and claimed a victory on a 7-4 tiebreaker to win the doubles point for the 'Eaters.

In singles play, UC Irvine didn't fare as well, dropping all six matches to fall to UC Santa Barbara by a final score of 6-1. 

From Assistant Coach Hermont Legaspi:
"I thought that we as a team showed a lot more energy and grit today than in our previous matches against CSUN. It was a thriller showing for us in doubles play. We've been focusing more this past week on keeping ourselves calm and grounded with shots being hit with direct pace to us, as well as daring to poach and put pressure on the other side; today's doubles matches reflected our progress in that aspect. Amanda and Lyna were adjusting with their positioning and leads towards their net play, but I give credit to them for backing themselves up and working as a team to be rock solid at the net and supporting each other through various moments of adversity! Yen and Maily came in clutch today, notably after being relentless on the deuce point at 4-5 down and throughout the tiebreaker. 

Singles was a different story and the scores did not truly reflect the quality of the matches in their entirety, but I honestly give a lot of credit to the Gauchos for being the players that they are at their respective spots. They were steady with their game plans and made us work to get points for ourselves as opposed to waiting for one to miss and give points away. We as a team could do better with creating pressure in the mid-court to translate towards effective offensive shots on our terms, but overall we did the best that we could. 

Like I said for the previous matches, I'm super proud with how far this team has come this year and how they support each other! These matches today are a good test for us to be ready for Cal Poly tomorrow, as well as the final home showing for our seniors!"

From Yen Nhi Huynh: 
"We had really good energy coming in doubles and everyone fought so hard for every ball and that's how we got the doubles point. UCSB went into singles strong and kept their momentum strong until the end. There was a lot of good tennis today. Even though it ended in a loss we learned a lot and will carry those lessons going forward tomorrow. Go 'Eaters!"

From Amanda Perez:
"Today was a tough one, but I'm proud of the team for the grit and energy in every match. I'm especially proud of the girls for winning the doubles point. Even though courts 1 and 2 were down, we all had belief in our training and one another to pull through. 'Lyna and I have been working hard together this whole season and I'm really happy of our performance. With our last home match and Senior Day, I'm excited to play one last time with my girls! Go 'Eaters!"

SINGLES RESULTS

1. Ekua Youri (UCSB) def. Yen Nhi Huynh (UCI) 6-4, 7-5

2. Emma Tutoveanu (UCSB) def. Amanda Perez 6-0, 6-3

3. Isabella Wong (UCSB) def. Haily Huynh (UCI) 6-1, 6-1

4. Lily Pradkin (UCSB) def. Isabella Pitchford (UCI) 6-1, 6-0

5. My-Anh Holmes (UCSB) def. Maily Huynh (UCI) 6-3, 6-1

6. Caroline Beard (UCSB) def. Sayuri Parandian (UCI) 6-3, 6-3

DOUBLES RESULTS

1. Carolyna Fowler/Amanda Perez (UCI) def. Shanelle Iaconi/Wong (UCSB) 6-4

2. Maily Huynh/Yen Nhi Huynh (UCI) def. Youri/Beard (UCSB) 7-6 (7-4)

3. Tutoveanu/Holmes (UCSB) def. Bella Pitchford/Quin Brady (UCI) 6-0

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2*); Singles (3, 4, 2, 6*, 5, 1)

UP NEXT

The Anteaters finish their home season with a match against #73 Cal Poly with an 11:00 a.m. first serve. The match will be Senior Day for UC Irvine's four seniors: Amanda Perez, Carolyna Fowler, Nour Khayat and Haily Huynh.