Cal Poly Women’s Tennis suffered a heartbreaking 4-0 loss to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Championship on Saturday, May 1. The loss ends their Big West Tournament run and their best season since 2011.
The Gauchos (13-3) opened the match securing the doubles point over the Mustangs (14-3). UCSB’s No. 3 pairing of Camille Kiss and Marta Gonzalez-Balbe beat freshman Dominique Stone and junior MacKenzie Worsnop 6-2. The Gauchos clinched the point after their No. 2 duo of Kira Reuter and Shakhnoza Khatamova narrowly defeated freshmen Delanie Dunkle and Melissa LaMette 6-4.
In singles, the Gauchos’ Lise Sentenac defeated Dunkle 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 4 spot to give the Gauchos a 2-0 lead.
At the No. 3 spot, Khatamova beat LaMette in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to extend the lead to 3-0.
UCSB then clinched the victory after Reuter won at the No. 5 spot over sophomore Emily Ackerman 6-2, 6-3.
Despite the loss, the Mustangs had a historic season. Cal Poly finished with a 14-3 record which is the program’s most wins in a season since 2011. This was also their first championship appearance since 2007.
A few Mustangs had incredible years in both singles and doubles. Sophomore Emily Ackerman (13-2) and LaMette (13-4) were tied for the most singles wins on the team. In addition, Ackerman and sophomore Kim Bhunu finished the season undefeated as doubles partners as they went 9-0.