SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara women's tennis returns home for a pair of matches this weekend after downing Weber St. and BYU last week in Utah.
The Broncos (10-7, 3-3) host the West Coast Conference-rival University of San Francisco Dons (5-10, 3-3) Saturday at noon, before facing the No. 75-ranked UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (13-7) in a nonconference matchup Sunday at 11 a.m.
Santa Clara will look to slow down the streaking Dons who have won five of their last six matches, including the last three. The two teams share league records of 3-3, giving the match WCC Tournament seeding implications with only the top six schools advancing.
"USF is a good team; they struggled a little bit early but have had some good wins lately," head coach Ben Cabell said. "This match has some big conference standing implications; we know we have to win to keep ourselves in the middle to top half of the standings."
Santa Clara faces another hot opponent in the Gauchos who have won seven of their last eight matches, including the last three. UCSB holds a 4-1 record on the road, and boast the No. 21-ranked doubles duo of Palina Dubavets and Stefani Stojic. The two teams were originally supposed to meet Friday, March 4, but rain postponed that contest.
"They're another really good team and they are ranked right now," Cabell said of the Gauchos. "If we can beat them it will help our chances of finishing the year in the top-75, which is a goal of ours."
For the Broncos, Daniella Silva has continued her strong year, winning six of her last seven individual matches, and playing at the No. 1 position in the team's last five contests. Madison Clarke has also played well, winning her last four duals playing at the No. 3 & 4 positions.
On the doubles side, Silva and Nabila Farah have continued their solid play at the No. 1 spot, beating three of their last four opponents.
In last year's contests, the Broncos fell 5-2 when they traveled to USF, but were 4-1 winners when they hosted UCSB.
Parking & Admission: Admission is free to Degheri Tennis Center. Metered parking should be available in the Leavey Center lot (free on Saturday and Sunday), which is adjacent to the tennis center. Click here for a campus map and parking information.
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