The UCSB women’s tennis team finished off its season with a loss – a 7-0 sweep by #48 Long Beach State.

Although a victory would have sent the Gauchos (10-10 overall, 4-3 in the Big West) into the Big West Tournament on a positive note, a win was not necessary, as the squad had already secured the fourth seed and faced only a slight possibility of improving its position in the tournament.

Long Beach (14-8, 6-1 Big West) achieved its sweep with ease, winning all of the matches in two sets. In singles matches, no Gaucho was able to win more than three games in a match, with the exception of freshman Bryanna Ojeda who lost 6-2, 7-5 playing in the #6 spot. In total, the 49ers outscored Santa Barbara 94 games to 26 games within the match, completing an effective dismantling of the Gaucho squad.

Long Beach started the game off on the right foot by sweeping all three of the doubles matches, thus earning the first point of the match. Juniors Charlotte Scatliffe and Marta Simic lost 8-2 playing in the #1 position. Following in a similar vein, freshman Asagi Onaga and Carina Bjornstrom were pummeled 8-1, while the #3 duo of freshman Tova Hausman and junior Brittany Kausen fell 8-3.

In singles, Simic retired in the second set down 3-0 after losing the first set 6-1.

Bjornstrom, who usually plays in the #2 spot, did not play in a singles match against Long Beach. Instead, Scatliffe moved up a spot, where she lost 6-2, 6-1.

Both Onaga and Hausman have been dependable this season. Earlier in the year, Head Coach Pete Kirkwood credited the two players as the reason the squad was winning. However, the 49ers dominated match play this time, trampling Onaga and Hausman 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-2, respectively.

As expected, the Gauchos finished fourth in the Big West while Long Beach posted the second best conference record.

Next up for Santa Barbara is the Big West Tournament where the squad will face Cal Poly (7-10, 3-4 Big West) in a first round matchup. The tournament is set to begin Wednesday, April 26, and will be held in Indian Wells, Calif.