The UCSB men’s tennis team played at the Pacific Coast Doubles Open this past weekend in La Jolla, squaring of against the likes of Stanford, UCLA and Notre Dame.

Playing against such formidable opponents, none of the Gauchos’ doubles teams advanced past the first round of the tournament. UCSB Head Coach Marty Davis also took part in the tournament, playing well enough to advance to the second round.

Fortunately, the doubles results do not calculate into Santa Barbara’s season record, and the tournament gave the Gauchos a chance to relax and just play tennis.

“On the court we were trying very hard,” freshman Mike Placek said. “But off the court, everybody was more relaxed.”

“[The Pacific Coast tournament] was more like fun than anything else,” junior co-captain Marcio Pepe said. “[La Jolla] was unbelievable. They had some really nice courts. We all had fun.”

Santa Barbara will get back to business this weekend, traveling to the University of the Pacific and Fresno State in two important matches. Santa Barbara will battle Big West conference foe UOP in Stockton on Friday in a match that will greatly impact UCSB’s seeding in the Big West tournament.
“Our ranking for the Big West tournament will depend on how we play against [the University of the Pacific],” sophomore Michael Faust said. “[UOP] is a big match for us. Everyone is playing well. We’re all very confident. It should be a tight match.”

The Gauchos will then head to Fresno State to face the Bulldogs in another crucial match Saturday.

UCSB knows that playing well this weekend is of the utmost importance, with the season entering the stretch run.

“Our next two matches are a good shot for us to start playing better,” Placek said. “We’re pretty hungry. Pacific is important because they’re in the Big West and Fresno is a big match because we know we can beat them.”

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