UC Irvine (1-3) at
San Diego State (1-3)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 11
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Aztec Tennis Center - San Diego, Calif.
Northern Arizona (0-2) at
UC Irvine (1-3)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 12
Time: 12 p.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
UC Irvine Match Notes
The UC Irvine men's tennis team will head south this weekend as it travels to San Diego State for an 11 a.m. showdown with the Aztecs on Saturday, Feb. 11. UCI then returns to Anteater Tennis Stadium to host Northern Arizona at noon on Sunday, Feb. 12.
QUICK HITS
• UC Irvine has claimed two of the four Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week awards this year.
• Luca Marquard earned this week's honor after a pair of straight-set wins at No. 2 singles on Saturday, Feb. 4.
• Marquard improved to 2-2 on the young season and 18-9 in his dual-match career at UCI.
• Sebastian Heim was also recognized following a signature win over No. 28 Logan Smith of USC (Jan. 21).
• It was his sixth career weekly honor, which ties him with Fabian Matthews for the most in program history.
• Heim was ranked 95th in the latest Oracle/ITA National Singles Rankings released on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
• UC Irvine men's tennis alum Mike Saunders was named the 'Eaters head coach on July 28, 2016.
• Saunders served as the Anteaters' interim head coach for the 2015-16 season.
IN THE RANKINGS: Junior Sebastian Heim was featured in this week's Oracle/ITA National Men's Singles Rankings as he came in at No. 95. Heim, who was unranked in the previous poll, cracked the top-100 following his win over No. 28 Logan Smith of USC on Jan. 21. The Speyer, Germany, native was also 79th in the preseason rankings during the fall, but after a strong showing at the ITA All-American Championships where he beat Stanford's Sameer Kumar (No. 118), he came down with an illness that sidelined him for the rest of the tournament season. A two-time first-team All-Big West selection, Heim was ranked as high as No. 55 last year.
MARQUARD NABS WEEKLY HONOR: Junior Luca Marquard was named the Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the second time in his career the conference office announced on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Marquard, who did not drop a set at No. 2 singles in last Saturday's doubleheader, opened with a dominating 6-2, 6-0 victory over Adrian Legarreta of Grand Canyon. He then came back a couple hours later to set the tone in a 4-0 sweep of UC San Diego as he gave UCI an early 1-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph vs. Alexandre Miaule.
LAST TIME OUT: UC Irvine split its doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 4, as it fell to Grand Canyon, 4-1, before bouncing back with a 4-0 sweep over UC San Diego at Anteater Tennis Stadium. GCU (4-2) got out to a quick start as it went up, 3-0, before Luca Marquard dispatched Adrian Legarreta, 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 2 spot. The Lopes would eventually clinch the match at No. 6 with sophomore Anil Patel falling to Gregoire Balenci, 6-1, 6-3.
The 'Eaters bounced right back with a 4-0 sweep of UC San Diego in their afternoon match. Marquard picked up where he left off earlier in the day as he defeated Alexandre Miaule, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2. Freshman Bruce Man-Son-Hing followed with his first collegiate singles win, topping Edvin Larsson, 6-3, 6-2, at the sixth spot. Sophomore Vatsal Bajpai then gave the home team a 3-0 lead with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 triumph on court four, and sophomore Mason Hansen delivered the final blow to the Tritons, taking down Marc Isaia, 6-3, 7-6 (2), at No. 5. Both senior Sebastian Heim (6-3, 2-6, 4-2) and sophomore Luis Lopez (7-6, 3-1) were ahead in their respective matches when Hansen clinched the sweep for the Anteaters.
SCOUTING THE AZTECS: San Diego State (1-3) won its season opener at Hawai'i, but has now dropped three in a row after falling to cross-town rival San Diego, 4-2, last Saturday. Senior Milen Ianakiev, who garnered All-Mountain West honors last year, is one of the Aztecs' top players in 2017 as he is a combined 2-2 at No. 1 and No. 2 singles.
LAST MEETING VS. SDSU: UC Irvine and San Diego State have not faced each other in three years. Their most recent meeting came on April 19, 2014, when the Aztecs pulled away with a 5-2 victory at Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach.
A GLANCE AT NORTHERN ARIZONA: Northern Arizona (0-2) is in the midst of an 11-match road stretch. The Lumberjacks fell at BYU, 4-2, and at Utah, 5-1, in their season-opening weekend. They will also play at San Diego State before making their way to Irvine. NAU returns seven letterwinners from last year's squad that went 13-12 overall. Sophomores Tim Handel and Lucas Taylor both garnered All-Big Sky honors in 2016.
LAST MEETING VS. NAU: This marks the third year in a row the 'Eaters will face Northern Arizona. In each of the last two seasons, UCI swept NAU, 7-0. In 2016, Sebastian Heim defeated Tim Handel, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 1, while Luca Marquard (No. 4) and Vatsal Bajpai (No. 5) also won in straight sets.
RECORD WATCH: Sebastian Heim earned his program-record tying sixth Big West Athlete of the Week award following a statement win over No. 28 Logan Smith of USC (Jan. 21). On the road and at the No. 1 spot, Heim came from behind to topple Smith, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4), ending the 10th-ranked Trojans' bid for their second-straight sweep. Heim is tied with Fabian Matthews for the most conference weekly honors in program history.
Heim also enters this weekend with the top dual-match singles win percentage in school history as he is 33-12 (.733) in his two-plus years at UC Irvine.
TRANSFER SUCCESS: Sophomore transfer Luis Lopez is off to a strong start at UCI as he is tied for the team lead with five overall singles victories. He opened the dual match season at No. 4 where he picked up a 7-6 (4), 1-6, 10-7 win over Jonas Maier of his former school, Utah State. Lopez then missed the Anteaters' match at USC before returning to the court against Grand Canyon and UC San Diego, where he led in both matches at the No. 3 spot when the team dual was clinched. Lopez also went 4-2 during the fall and advanced to the Round of 32 at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships.
UP NEXT: UC Irvine hits the road next weekend, traveling to Pepperdine (Feb. 17), before making its way to San Luis Obispo, Calif., for a neutral-site match against Pacific (Feb. 18).
