UC Santa Barbara Notches Fourth Straight Men's Tennis Championship

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Max Taylor had every reason to smile as his victory at No. 4 singles clinched the fourth consecutive Big West Men's Tennis Championship for UC Santa Barbara.

The 2009 Big West Men's Tennis Tournament champion UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.

No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara captured its fourth straight men's tennis tournament title with a 4-2 win against top-seeded UC Irvine in the finals of the Big West Championship on Sunday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The win also means that UC Santa Barbara will be competing in its fourth straight NCAA Championship.  The Gauchos improved to 11-12 on the year while the Anteaters concluded their season at 12-15.

UCSB broke out on top 1-0 in the match by winning the doubles point.  The Gauchos were victorious at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, with Josh Finkelstein and Alex Konigsfeldt winning 8-6 over the Anteater tandem of Sam Gould and Khunpol Issara at No. 1 to clinch the point.

Issara quickly responded for the Anteaters with a solid 6-3, 6-3 victory against UCSB's Scott Hohenstein at No. 3 singles.  However, UCSB received huge contributions at No. 1 and No. 6 as Konigsfeldt and Mathieu Forget wrapped up wins.

UCI was not done as freshman Fabian Matthews posted a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over Finkelstein at No. 2, cutting the Anteater deficit to 3-2.

Max Taylor, who won in three sets against his opponent from Pacific to help the Gauchos into the finals, finished out the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Stephen Stege at No. 4.

BIG WEST MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN • INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2009 • FINALS
NO. 4 UC SANTA BARBARA 4, NO. 2 UC IRVINE 2

DOUBLES
1. Finkelstein/Konigsfeldt (UCSB) def. Gould/Issara (UCI) - 8-6
2. Hohenstein/Evan Jurgensen (UCSB) def. Jon Kazaraian/Tsai (UCI) - 8-3
3. Henderson/Gautam Vaidyanathan (UCI) vs. Nick Caledonia/Chavez Goggin (UCSB) - DNF

Order of Finish: 2, 1

SINGLES
1. Alex Konigsfeldt (UCSB) def. Steven Henderson (UCI) - 6-2, 6-4
2. Fabian Matthews (UCI) def. Josh Finkelstein (UCSB) - 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
3. Khunpol Issara (UCI) def. Scott Hohenstein (UCSB) - 6-3, 6-3
4. Max Taylor (UCSB) def. Stephen Stege (UCI) - 6-4, 6-3
5. Sam Gould (UCI) vs. Taylor Chavez Goggin (UCSB) - DNF
6. Mathieu Forget (UCSB) def. Zac Tsai (UCI) - 6-3, 6-1

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 6, 2, 4