HARBATISUK EXTENDS WINNING STREAK AS MEN'S TENNIS FALLS TO UCSB

4/17/2010

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Kiryl Harbatsiuk extended his school-record winning streak to 24 matches but was the only bright spot for Sacramento State in a 6-1 loss at UC Santa Barbara in men's tennis action on Saturday.

The loss was the second for Sacramento State this week and dropped the team to 15-11 overall. The 60th-ranked Gauchos improved to 12-10. Nine of the Hornets' 11 losses have come against ranked opponents this season. The team enters next weekend's Big Sky championship as the top seed and is in search of its third-straight conference tournament title.

Harbatsiuk defeated Philip Therp, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 1. The junior is now 25-1 on the year with his lone loss coming on Jan. 23 against Stanford.

UCSB took an early lead with two doubles victories. The Gauchos earned wins from Scott Hohenstein and Evan Jurgensen at No. 3, 8-3, and then from Taylor Chavez Goggin and Alex Konigsfeldt, at No. 1, 8-3. The Hornets' tandem of Holden Ching and Anton Stryhas was victorious at No. 2, 8-5.

In singles play, all six matches were decided in straight sets. Hohenstein topped Tim Lantin, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 6 to give the Gauchos a 2-0 lead. The lead was the extended following a 6-2, 7-5, win from Konigsfeldt over Jason Smith at No. 3. The deciding point of the match came at No. 5 where Mathieu Forget downed Marko Starcevic, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

After Harbatsiuk earned his win at No. 1, Lucas Sudow battled past Ching, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, at No. 4. Benjamin Recknagel completed play with a 6-4, 6-3, win over Stryhas at No. 2.

Sacramento State will begin defense of its Big Sky title on Saturday afternoon against the fourth seed. The championship will be held on Sunday at the Gold River Racquet Club.

#60 UC Santa Barbara 6, Sacramento State 1

Singles competition
1. #84 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Philip Therp (UCSB) 6-2, 6-3
2. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) def. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) 6-4, 6-3
3. Alex Konigsfeldt (UCSB) def. SMITH, Jason (SAC) 6-2, 7-5
4. Lucas Sudow (UCSB) def. CHING, Holden (SAC) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
5. Mathieu Forget (UCSB) def. STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Scott Hohenstein (UCSB) def. LANTIN, Tim (SAC) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Taylor Chavez Goggin/Alex Konigsfeldt (UCSB) def. #60 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) 8-3
2. CHING, Holden/STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. Lucas Sudow/Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) 8-5
3. Scott Hohenstein/Evan Jurgensen (UCSB) def. SMITH, Jason/ROBERTS, Jimmy (SAC) 8-3

Match Notes:
Sacramento State 15-11
UC Santa Barbara 12-10; National ranking #60
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,5,1,4,2)