April 30, 2006

Indian Wells, Calif. - The Pacific men's tennis team just missed a chance for its second Big West Championship in three seasons as the Tigers fell to No. 1 seed, UC Santa Barbara, 4-3, on Sunday, Apr. 30.

The loss closes out Pacific's season at 14-8, while UC Santa Barbara advances to the NCAA Tournament with a record of 15-10.

The Tigers took an early advantage in the match as Pacific claimed the top two doubles spots to lead 1-0 in the match.

UC Santa Barbara, however, fought back with a quick victory at the No. 6 singles position to tie the match at 1-1.

The two teams traded singles victories as the match was tied 3-3 with the NCAA Tournament berth hinging on the match at No. 4.

Pacific freshman Tim Koniarski (Bad Abbach, Germany) took the first set of the match 6-0, but dropped set number two, 7-5 to UCSB's Elad Stern. In the third and decisive set, Stern broke Koniarski to take a 3-2 lead, then surged on to clinch the match 6-2.

IT is the sixth consecutive season that the Tigers have appeared in the Big West Championship match.

Current Results:
No. 1 UC Santa Barbara 4, No. 2 Pacific 3
April 30, 2006 -
Indian Wells, Calif.

Doubles (Pacific wins the Doubles point):

1. Sigurdsson / Zdravkovic (PAC) def. Brotman / Dolskov (UCSB), 8-1
2. Vestli / Koniarski (PAC) def. Throstensen / Hohenstein (UCSB), 8-3
3. Starke / Kelly (PAC) def. Stern / Hejazi (UCSB), DNF
Order of Finish: 1, 2

Singles:

1. Nick Brotman (UCSB) def. Arnar Sigurdsson (PAC), 7-6 (4), 0-6, 6-3
2. Bijan Hejazi (UCSB) def. Jorgen Vestli (PAC), 6-3, 6-1
3. Vladimir Zdravkovic (PAC) def. Anders Dolskov (UCSB), 6-4, 6-3
4. Elad Stern (UCSB) def. Tim Koniarski (PAC), 0-6, 7-5, 6-2
5. Moritz Starke (PAC) def. Scott Hohenstein (UCSB), 6-3, 6-1
6. Max Taylor (UCSB) def. Alan Kelly (PAC), 6-1, 6-2

Order of Finish
Singles: 6, 5, 2, 3, 1, 4