Hui Helps Gauchos Move Into First Place

UC Santa Barbara senior Jack Hui (Hong Kong) garnered Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors as he notched a combined 5-1 record in singles and doubles, helping the Gauchos to a pair of key wins over conference foes.

At the No. 3 singles position, Hui extended his winning streak to six straight with three victories.  In a narrow 4-3 team loss to No. 53 Fresno State, Hui accounted for one UCSB point with his 6-0, 6-4 win against Tejesvi Veerepalli.

Following the tough loss to Fresno State, the Gauchos regrouped and won twice against Big West opposition to move into sole possession of first place in league play.  Hui supported that effort as the Gauchos defeated UC Davis and Pacific by identical 6-1 scores last Saturday and Sunday.

Hui won 6-2, 6-4 over UCD's Nick Lopez and then survived a first set defeat against Pacific's Renan Delsin to prevail 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.  The Gauchos handed the Tigers their first conference setback on Senior Day at the UCSB Rec Center Courts.

In addition, Hui teamed with Philip Therp to record a pair of victories at No. 1 doubles.  The duo toppled the Aggie tandem of Daniel Elefant and Michael Reiser, 8-5, before outlasting Moritz Starke and David Gonzalez of Pacific, 8-7.

UC Irvine's Bernhard Wins Second Straight Award

Senior Becky Bernhard (Roseville, Calif./Oakmont HS) collected her second straight Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honor, delivering two wins apiece in singles and doubles for her UC Irvine squad.

Bernhard, who now has a Big West record 11 athlete of the week citations over her four-year career, went 2-0 at No. 1 singles as the Anteaters rolled to wins over UC Davis (6-1) and Pacific (5-2).

She started out the week with a 6-3, 6-1 win versus the Aggies' Randi Schuler.  Pacific's Jolanta Twarowska took Bernhard to three sets, but Bernhard outlasted her No. 1 counterpart, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.

Success also come at No. 1 doubles with partner Inna Agababian.  The UCI duo battled their way to a 9-8 victory over UCD's Herzyl Legaspi and Schuler, then eked out an 8-7 triumph over the Tiger tandem of Svenja Arens and Kateryna Nezhura.

Bernhard has won seven straight singles matches at the No. 1 position and is now 9-8 overall on the year.