This weekend the UCSB women’s tennis team traveled into Potato Country to compete in the Boise State University four-team tournament in Idaho. The Gauchos embarked on their trip in hopes of improving their 2-4 overall record.

On Friday, Santa Barbara opened up play versus the host, #54 Boise State. The Gauchos lost a 5-2 decision to the Broncos at the Boas Indoor Tennis Center. The only points for Santa Barbara came from singles victories by sophomore #2 singles Andrea Pintar and senior #3 singles Jen Kuhle. Pintar defeated her Bronco opponent senior Erin Polowski in three sets 5-7, 6-0, 10-6. Kuhle slammed her #3 seeded counterpart junior Alissa Ayling by taking her to a decisive tiebreaker set 6-4, 1-6, 13-11. The Broncos swept the doubles matches to pick up the doubles point.

Saturday morning UCSB rebounded to blast Montana State 7-0 as the Gauchos didn’t lose a single point to the Bobcats. #1 seeded singles player sophomore Marielle Gruenig defeated Montana’s #1 netter sophomore Vera Vasileva 6-1, 6-2. Montana State failed to keep many of the matches even at a respectable score. The only match that even made it past the second set was sophomore #4 singles sophomore Amy Vyhnis’ victory over Bobcat foe freshman Remy Clark 6-2, 3-6, 10-3. The Gauchos also swept all three doubles matches to pick up the doubles point.

Sunday’s finale with Colorado State ended with a disappointing 6-1 loss at the hands of the Rams. Kuhle won the Gauchos’ lone point when she defeated CSU opponent junior] Alexandra Paganetti 6-1, 6-2. Despite the loss, Kuhle has been nearly unstoppable as of late, winning all three of her singles matches over the weekend and six straight decisions. Doubles tandem senior Chelsea Dillon and Marielle Gruenig won their doubles match convincingly against their Ram opponents 8-1. However, their victory was ultimately in futility when Colorado State won the other two doubles matches to pick up the doubles point. The loss left UCSB with a disappointing 1-2 record for the tournament and a 3-5 overall record.

The Gauchos take to the road again this weekend for nonconference battles with Northern California foes San JosZ State and Santa Clara. UCSB resumes Big West play against rival UC Irvine on March 7 at the Rob Gym Courts.

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