Box Score

Playing against UC Santa Barbara for the 17th time in program history, the Lions (7-6) posted the program's first victory over the #51 Gauchos (9-6), 4-3, from the Mulholland Tennis Club on Friday afternoon.

LMU had to play from behind in singles play after dropping the doubles point, but the Lions answered the call with four victories. Cody Rakela of UCSB defeated Luke Bohuslav on court five to make it 2-0 UCSB, but LMU began the comeback from there, as Lukas Moenter defeated Oliver Sec, 6-2, 6-2, on court six to put LMU on the board.

Following a Nathan Eshmade victory over Charles Boyce on the top court, UCSB was a win away from defeating the Lions for the 17th time in as many matches, but Joat Farah kept the Lions alive with a 7-6 (4), 6-4, victory over Anders Holm on court four.

Needing victories on courts two and three, LMU received the first win from Cristobal Rivera on court two. Rivera won the opening set, 6-1, but dropped a second set, 6-4, to force a third. There, Rivera outlasted Nicolas Moreno in a tiebreaking third set, 7-6 (6), to turn all the attention to court three.

Errol Smith and Morgan Mays had already split the first two sets of their match on court three, and the pair was busy battling in a close third set. Tied at 5-5, Smith managed to win the 11th game of the set before defeating Mays 7-5 to hand LMU its first victory over the Gauchos.

LMU will return to action on April 1 at 1 p.m. when it travels to Pacific for a West Coast Conference match.

UC Santa Barbara vs LMU (Mar 25, 2016)
LMU 4, #51 UC Santa Barbara 3
Mar 25, 2016 at Los Angeles, Calif. (Mulholland Tennis Club)

Singles competition
1. Nathan Eshmade (UCSB) def. Charles Boyce (LMU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
2. Cristobal Rivera (LMU) def. Nicolas Moreno (UCSB) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6)
3. Errol Smith (LMU) def. Morgan Mays (UCSB) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
4. Joat Farah (LMU) def. Anders Holm (UCSB) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
5. Cody Rakela (UCSB) def. Luke Bohuslav (LMU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Lukas Moenter (LMU) def. Oliver Sec (UCSB) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #34 Nathan Eshmade/Miles Seemann (UCSB) def. Joat Farah/Errol Smith (LMU) 6-2
2. Charles Boyce/Cristobal Rivera (LMU) def. Nicolas Moreno/Anders Holm (UCSB) 6-4
3. Morgan Mays/Andrew Riminton (UCSB) def. Luke Bohuslav/Lukas Moenter (LMU) 6-4

Match Notes
UC Santa Barbara 9-6; National ranking #51
LMU 7-6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,6,1,4,2,3)