IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's tennis team toppled Villanova, 6-1, Monday at Anteater Tennis Stadium.

The 'Eaters cruised through doubles play before winning five of six singles matches. They improved to 2-7 on the season, while the Wildcats dropped to 3-4.

"Winning today without Sebastian in the singles lineup is a sign we are growing and getting better," UCI head coach Mike Saunders said. "Vatsal played more intelligent tennis today and Bruce played with more confidence. It was also good to see Anil get his first dual-match win."

Sophomores Vatsal Bajpai and Mason Hansen shut out Thomas Dodson/Tommy Mulflur, 6-0, at No. 3, before junior Luca Marquard and freshman Bruce Man-Son-Hing clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 victory over Tyler Roth/Stefan Suarez at the No. 2 position. Junior Sebastian Heim and sophomore Luis Lopez then made it a clean sweep by taking down Will Elmore and Luis Miranda, 6-4, at the top spot.

The Anteaters kept the momentum in singles play with three straight-set wins. Marquard earned his team-leading fifth victory with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Miranda at No. 1. Man-Son-Hing also dispatched Dodson, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 5, while Bajpai defeated Dylan Flanagan, 6-1, 6-4, on court four.

Sophomore Anil Patel started and finished strong at the sixth spot where he outlasted Alastair Hurry, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6. Lopez also won 6-4, 6-7, 10-4 at No. 2.

UC Irvine returns to action on Tuesday, March 7, when it welcomes Georgetown (10 a.m.) and Boston College (2 p.m.) to Anteater Tennis Stadium for a doubleheader.

"Tomorrow is going to be a good test," Saunders added. "We will need to embrace the battle as it will be a long, tough day. We will need to be the better competitors to win both matches. We will need to be prepared to go the distance and dig deep mentally, physically, and emotionally, and find inspiration from each other."

UC Irvine 6, Villanova 1

Singles
1. Luca Marquard (UCI) def. Luis Miranda (VILL): 6-3, 6-1
2. Luis Lopez (UCI) def. Stefan Suarez (VILL): 6-4, 6-7, 10-4
3. Tyler Roth (VILL) def. Derek Chen (UCI): 6-2, 6-3
4. Vatsal Bajpai (UCI) def. Dylan Flanagan (VILL): 6-1, 6-4
5. Bruce Man-Son-Hing (UCI) def. Thomas Dodson (VILL): 6-3, 6-2
6. Anil Patel (UCI) def. Alastair Hurry (VILL): 6-3, 5-7, 10-6

Doubles
1. Sebastian Heim/Lopez (UCI) def. Will Elmore/Miranda (VILL): 6-4
2. Man-Son-Hing/Marquard (UCI) def. Roth/Suarez (VILL): 6-1
3. Bajpai/Hansen (UCI) def. Dodson/Tommy Mulflur (VILL): 6-0