ONE-POINT WONDERS
UCI's trip to Hawai'i was a fruitful one surviving inclement weather, a tough Division II opponent in Hawai'i-Pacific, and upending No. 53 Hawai'i at home to move to 7-2 and 2-0 in Big West play
The 'Eaters were delayed nearly six hours on Saturday before taking on HPU. In an attempt to speed the match along, singles were played first, but each squad claim three points forcing the match to doubles.
UCI swept doubles to break the string of doubles point winners to lose the match. The 'Eaters followed suit against No. 53 Hawai'i taking two of three doubles matches before clinching the match early with the first three singles points.
UCI is now 1-1 against ranked schools with the win over No. 53 Hawai'i joining the 4-0 defeat to No. 64 Kansas State. UCI also has wins over No. 43 San Diego State and No. 73 Marshall who were previous unranked in their meetings.
Kat Facey remained unbeaten in singles now at 8-0. She jumped to No. 26 in all-time singles wins with 40. Ali Facey rose to a tie for No. 14 with 43 career doubles wins
Arisha Ladhani became the second 'Eater to win a singles match after dropping the opening set. She joins Sarah Gong who did it in the team's win over Marshall.
The crew stuck with the same lineup from the previous week. Ali Facey and Mazy Watrous' switch between No. 4 and 5 singles remains the only lineup adjustment this season.
Singles Doubles
1 Sarah Gong Ali Facey and Kat Facey 1
2 Arisha Ladhani Sarah Gong and Arisha Ladhani 2
3 Kat Facey Vivien Dvali and Mazy Watrous 3
4 Ali Facey
5 Mazy Watrous
6 Vivien Dvali
RANKINGS ROULETTE
Another seismic shift in the rankings came on Tuesday. The Anteaters who entered the week unranked jumped all the way to No. 49 in the nation grouped with No. 46 Long Beach State and No. 48 Hawai'i.
Other movement has seen San Diego State, Marshall, and UC Santa Barbara enter the rankings after previously unranked at Nos. 43, 55, and 65.
No. 22 Dartmouth and No. 51 Denver also remain on the docket.
The 'Eaters began the season with three ranked singles on their agenda; that list is currently at five.
Fresno State's Sophie Watts remains the highest at No. 31. Two Big West opponents slide into the rankings in No. 93 Maeva Razakasoa of LBSU and freshman Lou Adler who stands at No. 109.
Lastly, the emergence of Dartmouth's Taylor Ng who is currently ranked No. 85 and is paired up with Kristina Mathis as doubles No. 60.
SPRING SELECTIONS
Lots to look forward to coming out of the fall slate. With a good mix of veterans and newcomers, the 'Eaters went 53-44 in singles matches led by Sarah Gong. Her 8-1 mark included winning the SDSU Invite Red Flight, consolation title at the ITA West Regionals, and an upset of No. 13 Michaela Cappanolo from Pepperdine. Andrea Duva also put up eight singles wins while newcomers Cassidy Branstine and Alex Harrigan impressed with six each.
EASTERN AND PACIFIC TIME
UC Irvine welcomes a new face from the MAC and an old friend from the WCC this weekend.
Eastern Michigan rolls in for a Friday match sporting a 1-7 record. The Eagles will be at CSUN on Tuesday and Cal State Fullerton on Thursday before heading to Irvine. EMU is coming off a 15-9 season in 2014 reaching the MAC Tournament Final. The Eagles' lone win this season came against IPFW.
The first four singles slots have not changed with Klara Supejova going 4-4 as No. 1 singles. Ani Gogvadze at No. 2 has had the most success at 5-3 while Andrea Martinovska and Daphne Friedrichs round out the usual suspects.
The 'Eaters turn around and face Pacific on Sunday. The Tigers are 4-2 with wins over UC Davis and Nevada while losing to Kansas and Fresno State. The Tigers visit Cal State Fullerton on Saturday before heading to UCI.
Iveta Masarova was ranked at No. 122 in the nation before falling out of the rankings this week. She sits and No. 1 singles followed down the line by Hana Ritterova, Sheila Smiley, Cristina Saenz de Buruaga, Gergana Boncheva, and Antonella Santeusanio
Pacific finished 2015 with an 8-15 record.
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