New Mexico (6-7) at
UC Irvine (4-7)
Date: Saturday, March 11
Time: 10 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

Harvard (7-6) at
UC Irvine (4-7)
Date: Monday, March 13
Time: 1 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

UC Irvine Match Notes

UC Irvine will look to extend its three-match win streak on Saturday, March 11, when it welcomes New Mexico to Anteater Tennis Stadium for a 10 a.m. showdown. The 'Eaters then return to the courts on Monday, March 13, as they host Harvard at 1 p.m.

QUICK HITS
• The 'Eaters have opened a season-long eight-match homestand with three consecutive wins.
• Luca Marquard has prevailed in each of his last four singles matches and owns a team-best seven victories.
• Marquard started his current streak by upending No. 79 Filip Vittek of San Diego at the No. 1 position.
• Sebastian Heim (5-2), who missed three matches with an injury, made his return to the singles lineup on March 7.
• Heim and Marquard have both been named the Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week this year.
• Heim earned his sixth career weekly honor, which ties him with Fabian Matthews for the most in program history.
• Luis Lopez is unbeaten in both singles and doubles in the last three outings.
• UCI 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 the Oracle/ITA National Men's Singles Top-125 for the third-straight week. Heim, who came in at No. 113, is 5-2 on the season. He first entered the rankings following an upset win over then No. 28 Logan Smith of USC on Jan. 21. The Speyer, Germany, native was also 79th in the fall preseason rankings, 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.

LAST TIME OUT: UC Irvine swept its doubleheader on Tuesday as it defeated Georgetown, 4-1, and Boston College, 4-3, at Anteater Tennis Stadium. In the opener, the 'Eaters bounced back from a tough doubles result to win the first four singles matches against the Hoyas. Sophomore Mason Hansen started the dominant performance with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph at No. 4. Junior Sebastian Heim then took down Peter Beatty at the top of the lineup, 6-3, 6-3. Junior Luca Marquard followed suit at No. 2 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory, while sophomore Luis Lopez eventually clinched the match on court three as he dispatched Marco Lam, 6-3, 6-2.

In the second match of the day, UC Irvine secured the doubles point before holding off Boston College's rally in singles to pull out the 4-3 victory. Heim made quick work of Aidan McNulty with a 6-0, 6-0 victory that gave the 'Eaters a 2-0 lead, but the Eagles battled back, taking a 3-2 advantage with wins at Nos. 4-6. In the two remaining singles contests, Lopez was up a set and a break at No. 3, while Marquard was also up a set at No. 2 before BC rallied to force a third frame in both matches. Lopez then delivered a clutch 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 victory to knot the dual at 3-3. Marquard was trailing 5-3 but pulled even at 6-6, and ultimately closed out the deciding tiebreaker for the 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 (9-7) win.

"Boston College would not say die, they are one of those very close teams who play for each other," Saunders said. "But, Sebastian, Luca and Luis rose to the moment today and showed what it means to compete with passion and courage."

SCOUTING THE LOBOS: New Mexico (6-7) has dropped its last two matches and will play at UC Santa Barbara before making its way to Irvine. Sophomore Ricky Hernandez-Tong leads the Lobos with a 7-3 dual-match singles record, playing at Nos. 1-3. UCI faced UNM last year in Malibu, and dropped a narrow 4-3 decision. Current 'Eaters Sebastian Heim (No. 1) and Luca Marquard (No. 4) each won their respective singles contests, but it came down to the third spot where New Mexico pulled out the 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

A GLANCE AT HARVARD: Harvard (7-6) has not played since a home doubleheader on Feb. 26 when it came up short against Memphis, 4-3, before rebounding with a 6-1 victory over Boston University. Junior Kenny Tao leads the Crimson with a 6-3 record at the top two spots. He has also teamed up with senior Brian Yeung to go 9-3 at No. 1 doubles. The duo is ranked 40th in the nation.

MAKING A STATEMENT: Junior Luca Marquard is on a four-match win streak in singles play where he owns a team-best seven victories. Marquard, who was filling in for an injured Sebastian Heim, stepped up at the top of the lineup against San Diego where he upended No. 79 Filip Vittek, 7-6, 1-6, 10-5, for his first win over a ranked opponent. He followed with straight-set triumphs against Villanova and Georgetown, and most recently prevailed 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 (9-7) to clinch UCI's 4-3 victory over Boston College. On Feb. 8, the Bensheim, Germany, native also earned his second career Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award.

RECORD WATCH: Sebastian Heim earned his program-record tying sixth Big West Athlete of the Week award after a signature win over No. 28 Logan Smith of 10th-ranked USC. On the road and at the No. 1 spot, Heim came from behind to topple Smith, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4). Heim is tied with Fabian Matthews for the most conference weekly honors in program history. He also enters this weekend with the Anteaters' top dual-match singles win percentage as he is 37-12 (.755) in his two-plus years at UC Irvine. Heim is currently on a four-match win streak.

TRANSFER SUCCESS: Sophomore transfer Luis Lopez is off to a strong start at UC Irvine as he is 6-2 in dual-match singles. Lopez recently extended his win streak to three with a gritty 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 victory over Hank Workman of Boston College. Lopez also went 4-2 during the fall and advanced to the Round of 32 at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships.

THREE AMIGOS: Juniors Sebastian Heim and Luca Marquard, and sophomore Luis Lopez have combined for 18 of the Anteaters' 26 singles victories during the dual campaign. The trio has not dropped a match since Lopez's 6-4, 3-6, 9-11 defeat at San Diego on Feb. 25.

UP NEXT: UC Irvine closes out its homestand next weekend when it hosts Lamar (March 16), Gonzaga (March 17) and Boise State (March 19).