IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine (1-0) opened the tennis season with a victory over CSU Bakersfield (0-1), 7-0, at Anteater Tennis Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

Courtney Byron (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Notre Dame Prep HS), Kristina Smith (Laguna Niguel / Dana Hills HS), and newcomer Ali Facey (Cameron Park / Ponderosa HS) each played well in singles and doubles. Byron teamed up with Hannah Holladay (La Jolla / La Jolla HS) for an 8-0 sweep in doubles over the pair of Limpias and Veronica Dimas. Smith and partner Stephanie Hammel (Placentia / Valencia HS) followed suit over the duo of D. Dimas and Ramirez in Hammel's first action since 2010. Facey and sophomore Brooke Schweyer (Palos Verdes Estates / Palos Verdes HS) took care of the No. 3-spot over Buiuklianova and Hughes with an 8-1 victory for the doubles point for the 'Eaters.

Byron and Smith had little trouble in singles defeating Estefanis Limpias, 6-0,6-2, and Veronica Dimas, 6-1,6-0, respectively, as the No. 1 and No. 2. Facey fought through some ailments in her match, but managed the straight set victory, 6-3,6-4, over Nelli Buiuklianova.

Franziska Goettsching (Heitersheim, Germany / Faust-Gymnasium) was victorious as the No. 3, 6-1,6-2, over Nancy Ramirez. Ali's sister, Kat Facey (Cameron Park / Ponderosa HS) also made her debut with a 6-0,6-2 win over Daniela Dimas. Another freshman, Nakisa Vahdat (Irvine / Woodbridge HS) completed the sweep with a 6-1,6-0 win over Charlotte Hughes in the six-slot.

UCI now looks to its Friday match at No. 16 USC where they face four ranked singles players and the No. 3 doubles pair in a 1:30 p.m. tilt.

______________________________________________________________________

For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu.  For more information click here.

For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu.  For additional information, click here.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.