Women’s tennis celebrates a point against Cal Poly

UC Santa Barbara No. 48-ranked Women’s Tennis team faced No. 73 California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo at Ronca Tennis Center on Saturday, April 18. In a blue-green rivalry match, UCSB delivered a 4-0 sweep.

Ending the regular season with back-to-back matches, UCSB carried the momentum from their match on Friday, April 17, where they defeated California State University, Northridge 4-0 on the Gaucho’s home turf.

The Gauchos dominated the Big West conference this season, sweeping UC Riverside in a 7-0 win, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 7-0 and both CSUN and Cal Poly 4-0. The team ended the season undefeated in the Big West Conference, going 15-8 overall (9-0 Big West), claiming the regular-season Big West championship title. Their opponents for Saturday’s match, Cal Poly, went 12-9 overall and 7-2 in the Big West.

The match started off strong on courts one and two. The No. 2 doubles, sophomore Lily Pradkin and graduate student Shanelle Laconi, who dominated the court in a 6-1 victory. No. 1 doubles junior Ekua Youri and freshman Caroline Beard followed, beating the Mustangs 7-6 with a 7-3 tiebreaker win. 

Going 1-0 over the Mustangs, the single matches secured the Gauchos with a 4-0 sweep. All singles matches were completed in straight sets. Finishing first, singles sophomore Emma Tutoveanu won 6-2 and 6-1. Following up, singles sophomore Raphaelle Leroux continued the Gauchos’ dominance with a 6-1 and 6-3 win. 

With the championship at stake, No.4 singles Pradkin shut out the Mustangs with a 6-2 and 7-6 win with a 7-3 tiebreaker. This victory earned the Gauchos the Big West regular-season championship title for the 2025-26 season. 

With the results secured, singles No.1, 2 and 5 were not finished. 

The only loss of the day was No.3 doubles, sophomore Emma Tutoveanu and freshman My-Anh Holmes, who were defeated 6-2 by the Mustangs.

The Gauchos clinched the top seed in the Big West Championship, which will take place at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, April 22-25. Securing the top seed pushes the Gauchos to a semifinals spot on April 24 at 10 a.m.