TUCSON, Ariz. --- UC Irvine's long, winding weekend at the Arizona Kickoff Classic finished up Monday afternoon with a 4-1 defeat to No. 61 New Mexico.

Early sweeps put the 'Eaters (2-4) down 2-0. Three 'Eaters battled to a third set including Sebastian Heim at No. 2, however, his streak was finally ended, and dropped UCI down, 3-0.

Shuhei Shibahara earned his first win of the season breaking up the shutout before Tyler Pham succumbed to Bart Van Leijsen, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6, to end the match in favor of New Mexico, 4-1.

The Anteaters finish the weekend in Tucson with a 2-4 record, and are on to their final match of the week with a visit to No. 4 UCLA on Wed. Jan. 22.

No. 61 NEW MEXICO 4, UC IRVINE 1

January 19, 2015
Tucson, Ariz. – Arizona Kickoff Classic

Singles
1 Nico Mertens (UCI) vs. Mitchell McDaniels (UNM) – 5-7, 0-4 (unf.)
2 Hayden Sabatka (UNM) def. Sebastian Heim (UCI) – 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
3 Bart Van Leijsen (UNM) def. Tyler Pham (UCI) – 7-5, 5-7, 7-6
4 Shuhei Shibahara (UCI) def. James Hignett (UNM) – 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
5 Augustus Ge (UNM) def. Jonathan Hammel (UCI) – 6-3, 6-2
6 Jorge Escutia (UNM) def. Jonathan Poon (UCI) – 6-1, 6-4

Order of finish: 6, 5, 2, 4, 3
UCI 2-4 | No. 61 UNM 4-2

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