Gauchos Ruffle Feathers Against Eagles

Amit Lev Ari (Photo by Tony Mastres)
Amit Lev Ari (Photo by Tony Mastres)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- In its penultimate non-conference home matchup, the UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis team crushed Marquette with a 6-1 win on Wednesday afternoon to improve to 6-5 on the year.

UCSB continued its doubles dominance with three duos wins against the Golden Eagles headlined by a 6-0 demolition by Amit Lev Ari and Lise Sentenac over the Eagles' Elisabeth Desmarais and Milica Novakovic.

"Amit and Lise have developed some great chemistry lately," said Head Coach Simon Thibodeau. "With Steph out today, they earned the jump to court two."

Lev Ari and Sentenac are 4-0 in their last four doubles matches and have allowed a collective 3 points against over the four matches.

In their first duos match together this season, Tiffany Lagarde and Elizaveta Volodko came away with a 6-4 victory against Isabella Franks and Lesley Foe to secure the doubles point for UCSB.

Finishing just minutes later, Anastasia Goncharova and Juliana Valero defeated Fleur Eggink and Natalija Popovic with a 6-4 finish for a Gaucho sweep of all three doubles matches on the day.

Singles play had more of the same in store for Santa Barbara.

Lev Ari displayed sheer dominance with a 6-0, 6-2 rout over Popovic from the second spot to improve to 3-1 in her last four singles matches on court two.

Following suit, Goncharova knocked off Foe with a 6-0, 6-2 win in her second consecutive singles win to put UCSB in the lead by three.

For the clincher, Volodko cracked Eggink with 6-3, 6-3 triumph to deliver the win for UCSB.

On court five, Lise Sentenac picked up a 6-3, 6-3 two-set sweep against Franks to extend the lead to 5-0 for the Gauchos.

To close out the day, Valero bested Alexandrina Chinkova in a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-6 three-set thriller to secure her first win of the year on court four. The junior is now 5-3 in dual match singles play.

The sole sparkle of the day for the Eagles was Novakovic's 6-4, 2-6, 11-9 defeat against Lagarde on court three.

UCSB's 6-1 win over Marquette is the Gaucho's most dominant win this season with a five-point differential in the victory.

The win helped UCSB gain momentum heading into a match against Sophia Whittle and No. 38 Gonzaga on Thursday afternoon at 12 p.m.

Match Results:

UC Santa Barbara 6, Marquette 1

Singles Competition:

1. Elizaveta Volodko (UCSB) def. Fleur Eggink (MU) 6-3, 6-3

2. Amit Lev Ari (UCSB) def. Natalija Popovic (MU) 6-0, 6-2

3. Milica Novakovic (MU) def. Tiffany Lagarde (UCSB) 4-6, 6-2, 11-9

4. Juliana Valero (UCSB) def. Alexandrina Chinkova (MU) 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-6

5. Lise Sentenac (UCSB) def. Isabella Franks (MU) 6-3, 6-3

6. Anastasia Goncharova (UCSB) def. Lesley Foe 6-0, 6-2

Doubles Competition:

1. Anastasia Goncharova/Juliana Valero (UCSB) def. Fleur Eggink and Natalija Popovic (MU) 6-4

2. Amit Lev Ari/Lise Sentenac (UCSB) def. Elisabeth Desmarais and Milica Novakovic (MU) 6-2

3. Tiffany Lagarde/Elizaveta Volodko (UCSB) def. Lesley Foe/Isabella Franks 6-4

Match Notes:

UCSB 6-5

Marquette 8-6

Order of finish: Singles (2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 4) Doubles (2, 3, 1)