Cal Poly women’s tennis saw its strong season come to an end with a 4-1 loss to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Tournament Championship on Saturday, Apr. 30.
The No. 73 Mustangs (17-7, 8-1 Big West) fell to the No. 23 Gauchos (20-6, 9-0 Big West), who they also lost to for the Big West regular-season title earlier in the year.
UCSB started off the match by securing the doubles point with wins at both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.
In singles, the Gauchos jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but redshirt sophomore Melissa LaMette responded by winning at the No. 3 spot, 6-0 and 6-3. LaMette finished the season with the second-best record on the team at 14-7.
However, UCSB responded right back and finished things off after taking victories at the No. 2 and No. 1 spots to take home the Big West title for the second straight year.
While not the ideal ending, the Mustangs’ 17-7 record is the program’s best season since 2003. Cal Poly has also finished second in the conference for two consecutive years.
In both individual and duo play, the team also performed well. Five players had at least ten wins in singles, while all of the doubles pairings finished with at least ten wins.
The redshirt junior duo of Emily Ackerman and Kim Bhunu ended the season with a 15-8 record, which is the fifth most wins for a pairing in the program’s history. Rounding out the accolades, freshman Peyton Dunkle’s 16-win season ranks as the 10th most wins in a single season in Cal Poly history.