Irvine, Calif. – No. 57 UC Irvine defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Anteater Tennis Stadium, 4-1.
The Anteaters took the early lead after earning the doubles point and followed it up with three wins at singles winning the fourth point and clinching the match.
The Zags battled it out with the 'Eaters in doubles splitting the first two matches. No. 2 Emilio Moreno and Ruadhan O'Sullivan of Gonzaga defeated Jonathan Hammel and Tyler Pham, 6-4. Meanwhile, Luca Marquard and Nico Mertens took the 6-4 win over Ronzai Saurombe and Vincente Varas at flight three leaving the fate of the doubles point up to the match at No. 1. Justin Agbayani and Jonathan Poon tangled back and forth with Hayden Smith and Jordan Smith leaving it up to a tie-breaker where Agbayani and Poon took the set and the doubles point 7-6 (7-2).
Vatsal Bajpai quickly defeated Saurombe (6-2, 6-2) at flight six putting the Anteaters up 2-0.
UCI continued to battle the Bulldogs in all of the singles spots as many tie-breakers played out. Agbayani defeated Varas 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) at the No. 5 spot after which, Pham came away with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-0) win over J. Smith clinching the fourth and final point for the 'Eaters.
Marquard battled at No. 2 as O'Sullivan took the 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) win just as UC Irvine clinched the game winning point leaving the matches at Nos. 1 and 4 unfinished.
UC Irvine turns right around to face Liberty Wednesday (Mar. 9) at 2:00 p.m. at the Anteater Tennis Stadium.
_________________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.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.
