With the end of the season in the near future, the UCSB women’s tennis team looks to capture two necessary conference wins this weekend against Long Beach St. and UC Riverside.

Long Beach St. has had a superb year and after their victory against Sacramento St. last Thursday finds themselves with an overall record of 13-2 and a conference record of 4-0. As a result, the 49ers also finds themselves atop the Big West standings. Santa Barbara has an overall record of 5-13 with a conference record of 2-2.

LBSU has indeed been a strong contender against all opponents this year with their only losses coming from Washington and Pepperdine University. The 49ers have displayed their dominance and hope to maintain their first place hold on the Big West as they will try to separate themselves from second place UC Irvine.

Freshman Maeva Razakasoa started at the first singles spot three matches ago and has been perfect, beating every opponents she had faced. Long Beach, consequently, finds itself on a four game win streak.

The Gauchos will certainly be challenged by the league’s best tomorrow. However, Santa Barbara find itself playing its best tennis right now, winning two out of its last three matches. In their last match against Sacramento St., UCSB displayed dominance in its singles’ play, winning five of the six matches.

After tomorrow’s tough test against Long Beach, UCSB will then take on UC Riverside on Saturday. Riverside looks to be a much more comfortable opponent for Santa Barbara as the Highlanders have had a season of complete dismay with an overall record of 0-14 while holding a 0-3 conference record.

It has been a season-long struggle for Riverside, which hasn’t gained more than three individual victories in any of its 14 matches played. If the Gauchos maintain the same level of skill in their play as they have been producing in previous weeks, then a victory against Riverside should be very attainable.

The Gauchos have still been in pursuit of their best lineup, with each of their last three matches having different starters at the top three singles spots. Regardless of these changes, the Gauchos are playing their strongest tennis at this point in the season.

Fridays match is set to begin at 1 p.m. and Saturday’s match is set for noon. Both matches will take place at the Recreational Center Tennis Courts.

This article is an online exclusive and did not appear in the print edition of the Daily Nexus.

Photo by Kenneth Song of the Daily Nexus.