UC Santa Barbara’s men’s tennis team wrapped up its season in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center in San Diego.

No. 35 Gauchos lost to No. 17 University of San Diego in a single-elimination match on Friday, May 1. Despite falling short 2-4 to the Toreros, the Gauchos have many accomplishments to celebrate this season, including the Big West regular and championship titles. 

Off to an unpromising start, the Gauchos were unable to secure the doubles point after losses on courts one and three. Facing a tough matchup against the Toreros No. 34 doubles pair, UCSB’s No. 67 junior Miguel Avendano and senior Lucca Liu lost 2-6. Court three followed, ending in a 4-6 defeat of freshman Lorenzo Brunkow and senior Diogo Morais. With the point secured by the Toreros, court two was unfinished.

Entering the singles matches, the Gauchos remained behind with a loss on court six, where junior Carson Lee was defeated 1-6, 3-6.

Behind 0-2, the Gauchos gained momentum with a powerful comeback on court two. After falling the first set 1-6, Morais stormed back to take the next sets 6-1, 6-1. 

Hoping to tie the match, Liu lost a tight battle on court one 3-6, 4-6. 

With the Gauchos behind 1-3 and the match on the line, Avendano gained the Gauchos their second victory of the day. Pushing back on court four, he lost the first set 4-6 but climbed back, defeating the Toreros 6-2 and 6-4. 

Down 2-3, the match was decided on court five, where sophomore Charlie Underwood went down in three sets. Rallying back, Underwood lost the first set 3-6, won the second 6-4, but couldn’t clinch the third and lost 4-6.

With the match decided, court three was left unfinished during a tight third set. 

Despite exiting the NCAA tournament early, the Gauchos finished their 2026 season with a spectacular 18-8 overall and 5-1 Big West records. Impressively, their only Big West loss was to California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in a tight match, 3-4, in April.

Distinguished victories include a 4-1 win over then-No. 10 UC Los Angeles during the ITA kickoff weekend in January. 

The UCSB men’s tennis season concluded after a loss to UCSD. Courtesy of UCSB Athletics.

The end of the 2026 season marks a transition for the Gauchos. The program will compete in its last Big West conference season next year and face new competition in 2027. Leaving the Big West conference, the Gauchos will join the West Coast conference as the 12th member on July 1, 2027.