IRVINE, Calif. - The Highlanders would not go down without a fight, but ultimately saw their 2021 season come to a close with a 0-4 defeat to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Championships at the Orange County Great Park.
Sixth-seeded UCR ends its season at 2-12 overall.
"I just want to congratulate UC Santa Barbara," Highlanders head coach Mattias Johansson said. "We for sure had a different season, but at the of the day they were just too good,"
UC Riverside dropped the doubles point on Friday, but did not go down without a fight as both Highlander doubles tandems fell 4-6. Nolan McCaig and UCR Big West 2020 Scholar Athlete of the Year Gilbert Chung were the first on the day to fall.
Chung, who teamed up with newcomer Joshua Roth in the Highlanders' previous matchup with the Gauchos, paired with McCaig for Friday's Big West Championships opener.
Antreas Djakouris and Bingru Chen weren't far behind their counterparts at 2-4 on court two when the match was abandoned.
Roth and McCaig were deep into set one during singles when play was halted, as both newcomers were within earshot at 3-4 each. The duo eventually fell 5-7 and 5-6 in the first set of singles, respectively.
