UC Santa Barbara
Mustangs Host Showdown with No. 48 UCSB Saturday for Big West Regular Season Title
4/17/2026 12:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The No. 1 seed in the Big West Championships and a conference regular season title will be up for grabs when Cal Poly women’s tennis hosts a regular-season finale showdown against Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
The pivotal match starts at 1 p.m. at the Ronca Tennis Center, and live scoring is available HERE. It’s also Senior Day for the Mustangs and the team will honor its three seniors — Kennedy Buntrock, Sarah MacCallum and Alexandra Ozerets — immediately following the conclusion of the match.
With a victory over No. 48 UCSB (13-8) on Saturday, Cal Poly would secure the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament next week in San Diego and earn at least a share of the Big West regular season championship. The Gauchos, who sit one match in front of the Mustangs in the conference standings with a 7-0 Big West record, can clinch at least a share of the Big West regular season title with a home victory over CSUN on Friday. If UCSB loses to the Matadors (13-6, 4-3 BW) Friday, the winner of Saturday’s Blue-Green rivalry match would win the conference regular season crown title outright and earn the top seed in the Big West Championships.
Cal Poly and UCSB have already locked up the top two seeds in the Big West Championships, allowing them to secure double-byes to the conference championship semifinals next Friday at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
Saturday’s showdown will be a rematch of last year’s Big West Championship match, that saw the second-seeded Mustangs fall just short to No. 1 seed UCSB 4-2 in a hard-fought battle. Cal Poly also dropped last year’s regular season contest in Santa Barbara 4-2.
The Mustangs (12-8, 7-1 BW) are fresh off a dominant 7-0 home victory over UC Riverside on Wednesday that saw Kennedy Buntrock (No. 1), Jessica MacCallum (No. 2), Alexandra Ozerets (No. 4), Natalie Lynch (No. 5) and Sarah MacCallum (No. 6) all earn straight-set singles victories. Candela Aparisi also won in three sets at No. 3, securing her sixth straight singles victory and improving to 12-7 on the year.
Aparisi is one of five Mustangs with 10 or more dual singles victories this season. Ozerets is 12-8, Buntrock 11-6, Lynch 11-7 and Jessica MacCallum 10-8. Sarah MacCallum is an impressive 7-1 in conference matches this year.
In doubles, Aparisi and Lynch played at the No. 1 spot in the lineup for just the second time in Wednesday’s win over UCR, clinching the doubles point with a 6-3 win to improve to a team-best 11-5 this season and 5-0 in Big West play.
UCSB is currently on a five-match winning streak and earlier this season beat No. 22 Texas Tech 4-3. They are led by Emma Tutoveanu, who is 13-4 this season in singles and 9-0 at No. 4, and My-Anh Holmes, who is 10-3 while playing primarily at No. 5.
As part of its Alumni Weekend festivities, the Cal Poly women’s tennis program is inviting all high school girls interested in learning more about college tennis and future career paths to a free alumni panel at 4 p.m. Friday inside the Mott Athletics Center classroom on the second floor of the facility. The discussion will be led by former Mustang Nancy Abrams, developer of the USTA Women in Coaching Cohort, and feature alums Brittany Blalock, Jennifer Azevedo, Sandra Bainter and more. You can sign-up to attend the free alumni panel HERE.
Following Saturday’s regular season finale, Cal Poly will travel to the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego for the Big West Championship semifinals on Friday. The conference tournament final will be held at 10 a.m. next Saturday, April 25.
