IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's tennis team came up short in its season opener, falling to Utah State, 6-1, Saturday afternoon at Anteater Tennis Stadium.

"Tough opener against Utah State, they played well and earned the win," head coach Mike Saunders said. "We started off strong; we were up a break in all three doubles but didn't execute well enough to get the point."

The 'Eaters began the day with sophomore Vatsal Bajpai and freshman Bruce Man-Son-Hing teaming up to defeat Jaime Barajas/Sergiu Bucur, 6-3, at No. 3. Utah State then rallied for wins at No. 1 and 2 to claim the doubles point. Sophomores Luis Lopez and Mason Hansen fell to Jack Swindells/Jonas Maier at the top spot, while juniors Sebastian Heim and Luca Marquard dropped a 6-4 decision to Kai Wehnelt/Samuel Serrano.

In singles, Utah State (1-0) clinched the match with victories at No. 3, 6 and 5. Lopez accounted for the Anteaters' win at the fourth position where he edged Jonas Maier, 7-6, 1-6, 10-7.

"Luis won a tough match at No. 4," Saunders said. "He played with courage on the big points and raised his level in those must-have points."

Heim went the distance at No. 1 against Kai Wehnelt, but came out on the wrong end of a 7-6, 1-6, 10-7 score. Wehnelt is ranked second in the Mountain Region.

"Sebastian lost a match he normally wins," Saunders said. "He's a little rusty after being sick all fall. The good news is he's healthy for the first time since last March."

Also falling in the season opener were Marquard at No. 2 (6-2, 6-4), Bajpai at No. 3 (6-1, 6-1), Man-Son-Hing at No. 5 (6-3, 6-0) and Hansen at No. 6 (6-1, 6-1).

UC Irvine (0-1) will return to action next Saturday, Jan. 21, when it heads to No. 10 USC for a 2 p.m. non-conference match.

_________________________________________________________________

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.