NCAA NOTORIETY
UC Irvine women's tennis was very prevalent in the NCAA postseason earning spots in the team and individual brackets. The team notched its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a hard-fougth, 4-2 victory over San Jose State. The 'Eaters followed with a sweep at the hands of USC to end its postseason run.
Kristina Smith continued on in the individual singles tournament taking 19th-ranked Maho Kowase of Georgia to a third set before falling. Smith was the first Anteater individual to represent since Maureen Diaz did in 2000.
DROP SHOTS
The squad finishes ranked 32nd in the nation. The 'Eaters were ranked 23rd earlier in the season, its highest ranking in Division I and first time in the top 30 since 2007. UCI also boasts the 85th-ranked singles and doubles players. Kristina Smith claims both while Franziska Goettsching joins her in doubles.
Kristina Smith defeated four ranked opponents; No. 112 Kaitlin Burns of LSU, No. 118 Klara Vyskocilova of Tulane, and No. 98 Edyta Cieplucha of SMU as her singles victims. Smith and partner Franziska Goettsching also took down fourth-ranked pair Guillermo/Issara of Pepperdine.
Smith took home the Southwest region ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award for the 'Eaters for the second year in a row following Stephanie Hammel's accolade in 2012.
UCI was well-represented in the All-Big West awards most notable with Kristina Smith earning player of the year and Coach Mike Edles earning co-coach of the year. Included on the all-conference squads in singles were Franziska Goettsching and Marivick Mamiit. The trio each scored doubles honors along with Sarah Stadfelt, Ali Facey, and Brooke Schweyer
UC Irvine has claimed the Big West Athlete of the Week award six times this season via Kristina Smith (twice), Franziska Goettsching, Sarah Gong, Marivick Mamiit and Ali Facey.
BREAK POINTS
UCI reached the Big West final for the 11th time in the last 15 years and its sixth consecutive year. Each of the last six meetings have come against LBSU with UCI winning just once in 2010.
SENIOR SOLIDARITY
Kristina Smith finishes her career third all-time with 75 career dual match wins and sixth with 59 career doubles wins.
Kristina Smith also has 33 career wins as the No. 1 singles ranking her fourth in 'Eater history.
Smith has 97 overall wins, second-most in Anteater history, and has eclipsed the 20-win mark in all four years at UC Irvine.
JUNIOR JUBILEE
UCI received some big support from its junior class in 2013. Marivick Mamiit manned the No. 2 position with an 11-10 record, 5-1 in the Big West. She teamed up with Sarah Stadfelt to go 11-8 in doubles. Franziska Goettsching went 11-9 in singles as the No. 3 while teaming up with Kristina Smith to go 17-6 in doubles.
HARDCORE SOPHOMORES
The sophomore class stepped up for the Anteaters in 2013. The Facey sisters combined to go 19-12 in dual matches and 7-3 in the Big West. Ali Facey even scored the clinching point in UCI's first NCAA win in program history. She and Brooke Schweyer partnered for an extremely successful doubles campaign going 17-7 including a stretch of 15 straight wins. Kat Facey filled in nicely at moments with a pair of doubles wins and went 5-4 in singles including four in a row to end the season
FRESH PRODUCE
Freshmen Sarah Gong and Sarah Stadfelt exploded onto the scene for UCI with 39 wins between the two, 29 in dual matches, and a sparkling 13-0 record in Big West matches. Gong, the team's No. 4, never lost consecutive matches on the year. Stadfelt had win streaks of six and 10 during the season. Each scored a singles win over their UCLA opponent. Stadfelt had the only significant doubles results of the two going 11-8 while teamed up with Mamiit.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Here's a look at the Anteaters' historical season:
1 - UCI's win over SJSU in the NCAA Tournament was the program's first ever
6 - UCI went a perfect 9-0 in the Big West and lost just six matches, 36-6 in singles and 24-0 in doubles
14 - UCI won all 14 of its home matches in 2013
20 - The squad set a program record with a 20-match win streak
5 - All five losses for UCI came against ranked opponents with rankings of 2, 4, 4, 5, and 41
11 - The 'Eaters came back to win 11 sets after dropping the first
1,960 - UCI totaled 1,960 points in all of their 2013 matches
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