UPCOMING MATCHES
Big West Tournament (Indian Wells Tennis Garden)
Semifinal
(1) UC Irvine Anteaters vs (4) Cal Poly Mustangs
Date / Time: Fri. Apr. 24, 2015 / 3:00 PM
*Final
(1) UC Irvine Anteaters vs. Winner of (2) UC Davis vs. (3) UC Santa Barbara
Date / Time: Sun. Apr. 26, 2015 / 9:00 AM
* - if necessary
Big West Tournament Central | Tennis notes
ACES AND FAULTS
The Anteaters sprinted to the finish line last week dropping just one of 16 total sets in defeating Hawai'i and UC Davis to claim a share of the regular season title and the tournament's No. 1 seed.
It's the fifth regular season title for the Anteaters since it began in 2006. UCI shared the title in 2008, 2009, and 2013, and was the outright champion in 2011.
The Anteaters await their opening opponent as Cal Poly and UC Riverside will battle on Thursday with the winner taking on the 'Eaters at 3:00 p.m. Friday. Each opponent UCI defeated in a sweep during the regular season.
Should the Anteaters win Friday, they would earn their eighth appearance in the Big West Tournament final and first since 2011. Of its three possible finals opponents, the 'Eaters faced two at home dropping UCSB, 4-3, and UC Davis, 6-1. UCI's lone conference loss was 4-2 at Cal Poly.
The 'Eaters brought home titles in 2005, 2010, and 2011. UC Irvine also reached the first two Big West tourney finals in 1994 and 1995. Prior to 1994, the Big West champion was chosen through team scores which the 'Eaters placed first in 11 times (1978, 1981, 1983-85, 1987-90, 1992-93).
The tournament is being played at Indian Wells Tennis Garden for the 12th year. All-time, the 'Eaters are 11-8 in Indian Wells. The 'Eaters played Purdue last month earning a 4-2 victory as part of the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge Cup.
In Big West history at Indian Wells, UCI is a combined 7-0 against their projected first round opponent (4-0 vs. CP, 3-0 vs. UCR). The 'Eaters were swept by UC Davis last year in its only matchup with the Aggies. UCSB has had UCI's number winning four of five matchups. UCI has never faced Hawai'i in the Big West Tourney.
TOURNEY TALK
The 'Eater lineup has begun to take shape down the stretch of the season. Here is a projected tournament lineup complete with their record in Big West matches:
Singles Doubles
1 Sebastian Heim (4-1) (4-0) Justin Agbayani / Jonathan Poon 1
2 Tyler Pham (2-2) (2-2) Jonathan Hammel / Tyler Pham 2
3 Nico Mertens (4-1) (2-0) Sebastian Heim / Nico Mertens 3
4 Shuhei Shibahara (4-0)
5 Jonathan Hammel (4-1)
6 Rafael Davidian (2-2)
Agbayani and Poon have been paired in the last 10 doubles matches, six times as No. 1, going 5-1. Hammel and Pham have been paired 13 times this season, most on the team, and are 5-1 in the No. 2 spot. Heim has bounced between a few different partners waiting for Mertens be healthy enough to play doubles, but the duo is 7-2 as the No. 3 this season.
Heim has risen to 16-6 at No. 1. Eleven of his last 13 wins have been in straight sets while of his six losses, three have been to ranked opponents and three others went to a third set.
Pham has won his last two after streaks of four losses, 14 wins, and seven losses. Despite bouncing between positions 2, 3, and four, he has picked up nine No. 2 singles wins.
Mertens is returning to form having now won 12 of 13. He is also a perfect 7-0 at No. 3 singles having to go to a third set just once.
Shibahara has not put up any big streaks, but is 9-3 at No. 4 singles including winning all three times he's reached a third set at No. 4. The senior is also 4-0 with one unfinished match in Big West play.
Hammel played in 30 of 31 matches this season matching Mertens for the most matches played this season. His 10 wins at No. 5 were the second-most at any single position on the team.
Davidian is 4-1 at No. 6 singles. His Big West matches have gone every way you can think of; straight-set win vs. Hawai'i, straight-set loss vs. Cal Poly, three-set win vs. UCSB, and three-set loss vs. UC Davis.
BREAK POINTS
Sebastian Heim won Big West Athlete of the Week awards January 23 and February 11. The last time UC Irvine had two freshman weekly award-winners was 2009 when Steven Henderson and Fabian Matthews each claimed one. Juniors Tyler Pham and Nico Mertens have also taken home Big West Athlete of the Week honors doing it in consecutive weeks.
Jonathan Hammel has won four points when dropping the opening set. Shuhei Shibahara has three such wins while three other Anteaters have two each. When a match goes to a third set this season, the 'Eaters are 24-20.
UCI is 10-4 when it earns the early doubles point and 4-3 when losing it. When no doubles are played, UC Irvine is 3-4.
FALL FORWARD
The 'Eaters had some success over the summer, notably in the GCU Invite in Phoenix, Ariz. Junior transfer Nico Mertens took home the Flight 2 singles crown with four straight-set wins. Junior duo Tyler Pham and Jonathan Hammel followed suit with four doubles wins to take that crown as well.
Elsewhere, in the ITA West Regionals held in Malibu, Calif., Pham and freshman Sebastian Heim reached the round of 16 in singles beating USC and UCLA singles players along the way. Overall, UCI totaled a 27-18 singles record while coming up at 7-6 in doubles matches in the fall.
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