UC Santa Barbara Team Page
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- The UCSB Women’s Tennis Team will be starting out their regular duel match season tomorrow, Friday, February 1st at home against Northern Arizona University.
The Gauchos will be hosting three home matches this weekend, beginning with Northern Arizona University on Friday morning at 10am, followed by matches on Saturday against San Jose State, and Sunday against San Francisco State.
The Women’s Team will be welcoming back five returning players, April Scatliffe, Paola Cos, Kirsten Meehan, Stacy Yam, and their only senior, Erica Cano. These five will be joined with some fresh additions to the team, Sophomore Megan Carter, and Freshmen Carolina Keika, Priscila Garcia, and Alexandra Porath.
Also new to the Gaucho team, is head coach Simon Thibodeau, who steered the women’s tennis team at Fresno State to multiple victories in years past. “This is a year of opportunity, we will be exposed to a lot of competition, and it gives the girls a chance to prove themselves and shine individually”.
Coach Thibodeau seems confident in his team, and is impressed at how well they are able to work together, “The girls have great team chemistry. They embrace working hard, they never complain, and I want to push them into a new direction this season.”
“We need to take things one match at a time since this will be our first match working together.” Coach Thibodeau comments “We need to work hard as a team. The girls need to play disciplined tennis like they know how to play, they need to take care of business on their own court, and keep a winning attitude.”
“The girls have taken in a lot of hours, a lot of balls, and are under no pressure. We are a young team this year, but they learn quickly, and we will remain a tough Gaucho team.”
The weekend starts off Friday, February 1st, at 10am against Northern Arizona at the Rec Cen courts. This will be followed by an 11am match, Saturday, February 2nd against San Jose State, and an 11am match on Sunday, February 3rd against San Francisco State. All three matches will be played at the Recreation Center Courts here at UCSB.
