March 31, 2008

Sophomore Philip Therp had an impressive showing in his return to No. 1 singles last week, leading the UC Santa Barbara men's tennis team to home victories over No. 43 Harvard and Santa Clara.

After losing his doubles match with partner Jack Hui, Therp bounced back to defeat the Crimson's Ashwin Kumar 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 singles last Tuesday. The native of Birkeroed, Denmark was playing at No. 1 singles for just the second time in 2008 - and first since the season opener - and the victory proved to set the tone as the Gauchos went on to record a 4-3 win.

Therp was excellent against Santa Clara on Thursday, teaming with Hui to post an 8-4 doubles victory over the Broncos' Jay Wong and Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong to kick off what became an easy win for Santa Barbara. Later in No. 1 singles action, Therp defeated Jay Wong 6-4, 6-4, continuing to get it done in the top spot. With the sophomore leading the way, UCSB defeated SCU 7-0 to record its sixth consecutive win.

Unfortunately, the Gauchos' streak came to an end Saturday, when 52nd-ranked San Diego State came to town and handed UCSB a 5-2 defeat. Therp and Hui lost their doubles match 8-1 and Therp fell 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to the Aztec's Bartosz Golas at No. 1 singles.

The Gauchos will look to get back on track this Friday, April 4 when they host No. 50 Fresno State at 1:30 p.m. at the RecCen courts.