Gauchos women’s tennis comes up just short against #22 Stanford

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - The UC Santa Barbara women's tennis team nearly defeated their second top 25 team of the season but, fell to No. 22 Stanford 4-3 on Saturday. UC Santa Barbara secured the doubles point with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, but was unable to hold the lead in singles play.

THE MATCH
FINAL: UC Santa Barbara 3, #22 Stanford 4
Records: UC Santa Barbara (4-4), #22 Stanford (4-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara secured the doubles point with victories on courts two and three. Shachf Liebermann and Ekua Youri opened with a 6-4 win over Sein Myoung and Morgan Shaffer at No. 3 doubles. The decisive point came from Shanelle Iaconi and Isabella Wong, who triumphed 7-6(7-5) against Alyssa Ahn and Tianmei Wang at No. 2 doubles. The Cardinal responded with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles by Monika Ekstrand and Caroline Driscoll over My-Anh Holmes and Lily Pradkin.

In singles, Stanford's #17 Alyssa Ahn put the visitors on the board first with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Wong at No. 2 singles.

#44 Monika Ekstrand then added another point for the Cardinal with a 6-4, 7-6(7-2) win against #100 Youri at No. 1 singles.

UC Santa Barbara's Liebermann responded at No. 3 singles, defeating #113 Driscoll 7-5, 6-3.

Emma Tutoveanu evened the match for UC Santa Barbara with a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Wang at No. 4 singles. However, the Cardinal clinched the match with consecutive wins at No. 6 and No. 5 singles. Shaffer edged Caroline Beard 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 at No. 6 singles, and Emma Sun sealed the overall victory for Stanford with a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 win over Holmes at No. 5 singles.

RESULTS
Doubles
Monika Ekstrand/Caroline Driscoll (STAN) def. My-Anh Holmes/Lily Pradkin (UCSB) 6-4
Alyssa Ahn/Tianmei Wang (STAN) vs. Shanelle Iaconi/Isabella Wong (UCSB) 6-7(5) (unfinished)
Shachf Liebermann/Ekua Youri (UCSB) def. Sein Myoung/Morgan Shaffer (STAN) 6-4

Singles

Singles 
#44 Monika Ekstrand (STAN) def. #100 Ekua Youri(UCSB) 6-4, 7-6(2) 
#17 Alyssa Ahn (STAN) def. Isabella Wong (UCSB) 6-4, 6-4 
Shachf Liebermann (UCSB) def. #113 Caroline Driscoll (STAN) 7-5, 6-3 
Emma Tutoveanu(UCSB) def. Tianmei Wang (STAN) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 
Emma Sun (STAN) def. My-Anh Holmes (UCSB) 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3 
Morgan Shaffer (STAN) def. Caroline Beard (UCSB) 1-6, 7-5, 6-1

UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will play their second Big West match on Wednesday, Feb. 18, against UC Riverside. The Gauchos and Highlanders will play at 2 p.m. at Arnhold Tennis Center.

(Article courtesy UCSB Athletics; Video courtesy Scott Hennessee)