July 29, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara sophomore tennis player Taylor Chavez-Goggin, polished off the field at the ITA Summer Circuit event at Cal Poly Pomona last weekend, winning the singles title in convincing fashion. Chavez-Goggin lost just two games in the singles final.

The win at Pomona, combined with solid semi-final performances at Ventura and Riviera Country Club, catapulted the Santa Barbara native past UCLA's Alex Brigham and into the Western Region ITA Summer Circuit Title. As Western Region Champion, the ITA will fly Chavez-Goggin to the ITA Summer Circuit National Championships in Bloomington, Ind., on Aug. 11 to compete against the other regional champions. The winner of the National event will earn a wild card into the ITA All-American Championships this fall.

UCSB made its presence felt all summer during the ITA Circuit. Incoming Gauchos, Andy Benson and Evan Jurgensen, took three ITA Summer Circuit doubles titles. Jurgensen, who will be transferring to UCSB after a successful season at College of the Desert, partnered with Matt Stith to win the ITA stop at Ventura College on July 14th, and then won the Riviera Tennis Club event the following week with Christian Isip.

Benson, who will be trying out for the UCSB Squad in September, bolstered his resume by taking the doubles title at the ITA Summer Circuit event at University of Denver partnering Will Vasos. In addition, he won the consolation singles draw without losing a set.