Pacific Coast Doubles Championship
Dates: Friday, March 3 - Sunday, March 5
Location: La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club - La Jolla, Calif.
Villanova (2-2) at
UC Irvine (1-7)
Date: Monday, March 6
Time: 1 p.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Georgetown (2-3) at
UC Irvine (1-7)
Date: Tuesday, March 7
Time: 10 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Boston College (3-5) at
UC Irvine (1-7)
Date: Tuesday, March 7
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
UC Irvine Match Notes | Pacific Coast Doubles Championship Info
The UC Irvine men's tennis team will travel to La Jolla, Calif., this weekend for the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship, March 3-5. UCI then returns to Anteater Tennis Stadium for three matches in two days as it hosts Villanova at 1 p.m. on Monday, March 6, before entertaining Georgetown and Boston College in a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 7.
QUICK HITS
• Luca Marquard defeated his first ranked foe last week as he upended No. 79 Filip Vittek of USD at the top spot.
• UC Irvine has claimed two Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week awards this year.
• Sebastian Heim was 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.
• Marquard also earned the accolade on Feb. 8, following straight-set wins at No. 2 singles vs. GCU and UCSD.
• Heim was 99th in the latest Oracle/ITA National Singles Rankings released on Feb. 21.
• 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 remained in the top-100 in the latest Oracle/ITA National Men's Singles Rankings released on Feb. 21. Heim, who came in at No. 99, is 3-2 on the season. His biggest win came on Jan. 21, when Heim, who was unranked at the time, upset No. 28 Logan Smith of USC. 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.
PAC COAST DOUBLES: The 128th annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship will be held at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. Three rounds will be played on Friday, using a shortened match format (8-game Pro Set). On Saturday and Sunday, the match format will be the best two of three sets.
All five of UC Irvine's doubles teams will begin play on Friday in the Round of 128. The Anteater tandems entered in this weekend's tournament are: Andrew Gong/Anil Patel, Sebastian Heim/Luis Lopez, Mason Hansen/Tyler Pham, Vatsal Bajpai/Derek Chen and Bruce Man-Son-Hing/Luca Marquard.
A GLANCE AT VILLANOVA: Villanova (2-2) will be participating in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship, while it is also set to take on both UC San Diego and Youngstown State before facing the 'Eaters on Monday. Sophomore Thomas Dodson was recently named the BIG EAST Athlete of the Week after clinching the Wildcats' 5-2 win over Navy.
SCOUTING THE HOYAS: Georgetown (2-3), which is coming off a 4-3 loss to Monmouth, will play at UC San Diego before making its way to Irvine. Sophomore Michael Chen and junior Mac Rechan lead the Hoyas with four dual-match singles wins each.
MORE ON BOSTON COLLEGE: Boston College dropped to 3-5 on the year with a 6-1 loss at Dartmouth on Sunday, Feb. 26. The Eagles are also taking part in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship this weekend. Freshman Derek Austin is tops on the team with a 5-0 record at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, while senior Aidan McNulty is 4-3 at No. 1.
MAKING A STATEMENT: Junior Luca Marquard has filled in for an injured Sebastian Heim at No. 1 singles in each of the last two matches. Marquard stepped up to the challenge against San Diego where he upended No. 79 Filip Vittek, 7-6, 1-6, 10-5, for his first win over a ranked opponent. On Feb. 8, the Bensheim, Germany, native also earned his second career Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award. Marquard, who did not drop a set at No. 2 singles in a Saturday 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 advantage with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph.
RECORD WATCH: Sebastian Heim earned his program-record tying sixth Big West Athlete of the Week award following a 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 the sweep. 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 35-12 (.745) in his two-plus years at UC Irvine. Heim has missed the last two matches with an injury.
GETTING HEALTHY: It hasn't been an easy road for Heim over the last 12 months. As a sophomore, he was sidelined for 10 matches with a hip injury that also kept him from training over the summer. Heim made his return to the court in the fall and opened the campaign with a strong showing at the ITA All-American Championships where he defeated No. 118 Sameer Kumar of Stanford in his first match in six months. He then came down with an illness that kept him out of competition and practice for the remainder of the season.
TRANSFER SUCCESS: Sophomore transfer Luis Lopez is off to a strong start at UC Irvine as he is 3-2 in dual-match singles and is tied for first on the team with seven overall victories. Lopez opened the 2017 season at No. 4 where he defeated Jonas Maier of his former school, Utah State, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 10-7. The Chula Vista, Calif., native added two more victories at the No. 3 position at San Diego State and vs. Northern Arizona. 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 returns to Anteater Tennis Stadium on Saturday, March 11, when it hosts New Mexico at 10 a.m.
