April 4, 2008

UC Santa Barbara, Calif. - The 56th-ranked UC Santa Barbara men's tennis team split six singles points with 53rd-ranked Fresno State, but the Bulldogs won the doubles point handing the Gauchos a 4-3 loss on Friday afternoon at the Recreational Center Courts.

"I figured it was going to be a close match and it was," coach Marty Davis said. "I really thought we played well, fought hard and represented ourselves well, but it was just the result that was disappointing."

The Bulldogs pulled ahead early winning two of the three doubles matches. The only win for the Gauchos came at the No. 2 slot where Alexander Konigsfeldt and Josh Finkelstein slipped past Fresno State's Denny Fafek and Taylor Leiby, 8-7.

In singles competition, Jack Hui briefly leveled the score at one apiece defeating Tejesvi Veerepalli 6-0, 7-6 at the No. 3 spot. Alex Konigsfeldt then rallied from 1-4 down in the first set to put the Gauchos ahead 2-1 with a solid 7-5, 6-3 win at the No. 4 spot. However, the Bulldogs quickly rallied back with wins at the No. 1 and 5 slots. Sophomore Philip Therp, who had won the last two out of three matches at the No. 1 spot, was looking to take the match into a third set, but could not close out a 5-3 lead in the second. With a 3-2 advantage, Mirco Zapletal took control of the third set against Bijan Hejazi sealing the win for the Bulldogs.

Max Taylor won his match in dramatic fashion against Sid Alapati, 7-6, 6-3, 7-6.

The loss drops UCSB to 9-6 while Fresno State improves to 14-7 on the year. The Gauchos will continue their busy weekend at home with an important conference match against UC Davis at 1 p.m.

Doubles
1. Siwy/Zapletal (FS) def. Therp/Hui (UCSB) 8-6
2. Konigsfeldt/Finkelstein (UCSB) def. Fafek/Leiby (FS) 8-7
3. Mollinedo/Veerepalli (FS) def. Hejazi/Barton (UCSB) 8-4

Singles
1. Rudy Siwy (FS) def. Philip Therp (UCSB) 6-4, 7-6
2. Mirko Zapletal (FS) def. Bijan Hejazi (UCSB) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
3. Jack Hui (UCSB) def. Tejesvi Veerepalli (FS) 6-0, 6-4
4. Alexander Konigsfeldt (UCSB) def. Denny Fafek (FS) 7-5, 6-3
5. Martin Nilsson (FS) def. Josh Finkelstein (UCSB) 6-3, 7-6
6. Max Taylor (UCSB) def. Sid Alapati (FS) 7-6, 6-3, 7-6