LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team dropped a 7-0 decision to No. 10 UCLA in its final non-conference match Wednesday afternoon at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts.

The 'Eaters put up a fight against their second ranked Pac-12 foe of the season. They previously faced then No. 10 USC on the road in January.

"We were competitive and showed signs that we can be a dangerous team," head coach Mike Saunders said. "But, we need to keep getting better at executing under pressure."

In doubles play, junior Luca Marquard and sophomore Mason Hansen took an early lead against the 16th-ranked tandem of Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu at No. 1. The Anteaters went up 3-2 before the Bruins won three-straight games. UC Irvine would cut the deficit to one but UCLA held on for the 6-4 victory.

Junior Sebastian Heim and sophomore Luis Lopez were also resilient at the No. 2 spot as they nearly climbed out of a 5-2 hole in what ended up being a close 6-4 setback to Gage Brymer/Austin Rapp.

"Once again we were in the doubles - we had ample chances, but were ultimately unable to convert the must-have points," Saunders said. "Today it came down to belief. We need to belive and trust ourselves on the big points."

UCLA (11-4), which had two nationally-ranked singles players in its lineup, eventually clinched the match on court two where No. 39 Redlicki defeated Marquard, 6-2, 6-3.  

At Nos. 3 and 4, both Lopez and Hansen forced a first-set tiebreaker but came up just short. Lopez fell to Zhu, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, while Hansen was on the wrong end of a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 score against Logan Staggs.

Heim, who was looking for his second win over a ranked opponent this year, also pushed No. 11 Gage Brymer to the brink in a 7-5, 7-5 loss at the top of the lineup.

UC Irvine (6-11) returns to action next Friday, April 7, when it makes its way to San Luis Obispo for its Big West opener at Cal Poly. First serve is set for 1 p.m.

No. 10 UCLA 7, UC Irvine 0

Singles
1. #11 Gage Brymer (UCLA) def. Sebastian Heim (UCI): 7-5, 7-5
2. #39 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. Luca Marquard (UCI): 6-2, 6-3
3. Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. Luis Lopez (UCI): 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
4. Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. Mason Hansen (UCI): 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
5. Austin Rapp (UCLA) def. Bruce Man-Son-Hing (UCI): 6-3, 6-1
6. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Vatsal Bajpai (UCI): 6-1, 6-2

Order of finish: 6, 5, 2*, 4, 3, 1

Doubles
1. #16 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. Hansen/Marquard (UCI): 6-4
2. Brymer/Rapp (UCLA) def. Heim/Lopez (UCI): 6-4
3. Bajpai/Man-Son-Hing (UCI) vs. Cressy/BenGoldberg (UCLA): 4-5, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 1