Tennis Final Release
YEAR IN REVIEW NOTEBOOK
UC SANTA BARBARA MEN GET OVER THE HUMP
The UC Santa Barbara men’s tennis team broke through in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the 20-year head coaching tenure of Marty Davis.
After going 0-11 in previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the Gauchos upset No. 22-ranked Texas Tech in this year’s first round. The 4-1 victory over the Red Raiders gave Davis his first NCAA Tournament triumph. Prior to this season, UCSB’s last NCAA Tournament win came in 1998 when Don Lowry was the head coach.
The win capped off an impressive season for UCSB, which finished 17-7 overall, including two wins over top 25 opponents – the other being then-No. 17 Oregon on March 14. UCSB lost its second round NCAA matchup against host and No. 12 Stanford, but the 4-0 score was closer than indicated as the Gauchos were up in the third set at three singles positions when the match ended.
GAUCHOS CONTINUE BIG WEST DOMINANCE
The UC Santa Barbara men’s tennis program sustained its tear as the Big West’s most dominant of the decade. The Gauchos achieved the following this season:
• Finished 5-0 in Big West play to win the regular season crown for the fourth straight season.
• Extended its winning streak against Big West opponents in the regular season to 21 straight. The Gauchos have not lost a regular season conference match since April 11, 2015.
• Extended its winning streak versus Big West foes – counting regular season and tournament contests – to 32 in a row.
• Won a record fifth straight Big West Tournament title, including the last four as the No. 1 seed. The Gauchos have won 10 times in the 16 years the tournament has been held at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
• Ran tournament winning streak to 11 straight at IWTG. Last loss at the facility came in the 2014 semifinals.
LONG BEACH STATE BACK IN WINNER’S CIRCLE
After missing the finals for three consecutive seasons, Long Beach State attempted to return to championship form at a place that had been witnessed so many first place trophy ceremonies – Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The Beach women’s tennis program won 12 titles during a 15-year period from 2001-15, appearing in the championship match in each of those 15 years. Eleven of those 12 titles occurred at Indian Wells.
Three freshmen and two sophomores comprised the majority of LBSU’s revamped singles lineup. Youth did not prevent the squad from claiming championship No. 13 as the third-seeded Beach throttled No. 6 seed Cal Poly and No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton before holding off defending champion and fourth-seeded Hawai‘i, 4-3, in the final.
ALL-AMERICAN GAUCHO
UC Santa Barbara senior Nicolas Moreno de Alboran capped off a brilliant collegiate career with his selection as a 2019 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American.
Moreno de Alboran was one of 49 men’s players across all of Division I to earn the prestigious award. Of the 49 honorees, Moreno de Alboran was one of just 27 singles players to make the list. He qualified as an All-American after meeting two criteria – as a top 16 seed at the NCAA Singles Championships and landing within the top 20 of the final ITA singles rankings.
Moreno de Alboran earned a No. 9-16 seed at this year’s NCAA Singles Championships and boasted a final ranking of No. 19 in the ITA poll.
He is the first Big West player to be named an ITA All-American since Cal Poly’s Andre Dome in 2013. Moreno de Alboran, a two-time Big West Player of the Year and one of just six individuals in league history to earn four first-team all-conference selections, becomes just the third Gaucho All-American. The New York native follows David Decret (1992) and Kip Brady (1989) on the esteemed list.
MELOUNOVA NAMED ALL-AMERICAN
Hawai‘i junior Petra Melounova imprinted her name on the Big West record book after becoming one of the most decorated players in conference history to highlight the 2019 season.
Melounova earned Big West Women’s Player of the Year accolades for the third straight season, becoming just the third three-time honoree in league history. As the Big West’s highest-ranked individual in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, Melounova secured an automatic berth into the NCAA Singles Championships for the third year in a row. Melounova was ranked No. 61 in the country entering the NCAA’s.
Melounova won two matches at this year’s event to reach the round of 16, topping LSU’s Jessica Golovin and Michigan’s Chiara Lommer before falling to Texas Tech’s Felicity Maltby. Melounova earned All-American honors by virtue of advancing to the final 16 in the singles championship.
A review of her extensive accomplishments in 2019:
• The first Big West player to compete in three straight NCAA Singles Tournaments since Jean Okada of UC Santa Barbara and Marianne Vallin of UNLV in 1996
• The first Big West player to advance to the round of 16 in NCAA postseason play since Okada in 1996
• The first UH player to advance to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 and play in three straight NCAA events
• Defeated five ranked opponents this season – No. 34 Salma Ewing (USC), No. 30 Julia Rosenqvist (California), No. 86 Maddie Pothoff (Santa Clara), No. 60 Jessica Golvin (LSU) and No. 47 Chiara Lommer (Michigan)
• Posted a 15-5 overall record, including 13-2 in dual matches all at the No. 1 position while using a drop serve due to a shoulder injury sustained in the fall
UCSB SUCCEEDS IN SINGLES, DOUBLES TOURNEY
UCSB junior Joseph Guillin earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Men’s Singles Championship, a first for the Big West since 2000. Guillin, who finished the season with a national ITA ranking of No. 53, picked up a win in the first round over No. 43 Gabriel Decamps of UCF.
Guillin became the second straight Gaucho to record a victory in the singles championship, following teammate Nicolas Moreno de Alboran in 2018. Unfortunately, Moreno de Alboran, one of 16 national seeds for this year’s tournament, lost his first round contest to Hady Habib of Texas A&M.
UCSB’s Nicolas Moreno de Alboran and Anders Holm became the first pair in school history to win a match at the NCAA Men’s Doubles Championship, knocking off the No. 14 tandem in the nation, Martin Joyce and Hunter Tubert of Ohio State (6-3, 5-7, 10-8). They were the first Big West pair to win in NCAA doubles competition since 2012.