NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. --- A primetime match Friday evening at Newport Beach Tennis Club came down to the final point as the FGCU Eagles held off the late-charging Anteaters, 4-3.
Florida Gulf Coast (7-5) commanded a spirited doubles point taking the 1-0 lead off 6-4 and 7-6 wins at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.
Each side scored an early point via FGCU's No. 107 Jordi Vives at No. 1 singles and Tyler Pham of UC Irvine (6-9, 1-0) taking No. 4 singles.
The Eagles began to pull away with a sweep at No. 3 singles to take the 3-1 lead.
Rafael Davidian and Jonathan Hammel snagged huge tiebreaker wins in their first sets to give UCI life. Hammel surged to a 6-0 second set to gain the 'Eaters' second point. Davidian, who took the first set despite falling behind 5-2, battled for the third point winning, 7-6, 6-3.
The burden fell on Nico Mertens at No. 2 singles. After dropping the initial set, he seesawed through the second set losing a 3-0 lead to trail 4-3 before finishing strong with a 7-5 set win. However, the junior could not take advantage of a pair of break points giving up the final point ending the match at 4-3.
UCI's short win streak ends dropping them to 6-9, but a chance to get back in the win column comes Sunday with a pair of matches. The No. 72 'Eaters begin March 8 at 11:00 a.m. with Grand Canyon University at Anteater Stadium. They pick it back up at Newport Beach Tennis Club at 5:00 p.m. with UC San Diego.
FLORIDA GULF COAST 4, No. 72 UC IRVINE 3
UCI (6-9, 1-0) | FGCU (7-5)
March 6, 2015
Newport Beach Tennis Club
Doubles
1 A. Alfonzo/Vives (FGCU) def. Davidian/Poon (UCI) – 6-4
2 Vaz/Ventura (FGCU) def. Hammel/Pham (UCI) – 7-6
3 Heim/Mertens (UCI) vs. Bao/Bates (FGCU) – 6-6 (unf.)
Florida Gulf Coast wins the doubles point
Singles
1 No. 107 Jordi Vives (FGCU) def. Sebastian Heim (UCI) – 6-1, 6-1
2 Andres Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Nico Mertens (UCI) – 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
3 Ricky Ventura (FGCU) def. Shuhei Shibahara (UCI) – 6-2, 6-2
4 Tyler Pham (UCI) def. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) – 6-0, 6-1
5 Rafael Davidian (UCI) def. Eduardo Alfonzo (FGCU) – 7-6, 6-3
6 Jonathan Hammel (UCI) def. Austin Bates (FGCU) – 7-6, 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles – 1, 2 | Singles – 1, 4, 3, 6, 5, 2
_________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mailathletics.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, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.
