UC Irvine (4-16, 1-6 Big West) at
UC Riverside (5-11, 0-6 Big West)
Date: Thursday, April 20
Time: 1:30 p.m. (PDT)
Location: SRC Tennis Courts - Riverside, Calif.
UC Irvine (4-16, 1-6 Big West) at
No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (21-0, 6-0 SCIAC)
Date: Saturday, April 22
Time: 1 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Biszantz Family Tennis Center - Claremont, Calif.
UC Irvine Match Notes
The UC Irvine women's tennis team will conclude the regular season with a pair of road matches this week. The 'Eaters first head to the Inland Empire where they are set to face UC Riverside in their Big West finale at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 20. UCI then travels to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, April 22 for a 1 p.m. non-conference showdown.
QUICK HITS
• Nine of the Anteaters' duals have been decided by one point and they are 3-6 in those contests.
• The 'Eaters have a young team with five freshmen, including three who have seen significant playing time.
• Freshman Constance Branstine has played in 18 matches, all at the top of the lineup in both singles and doubles.
• She is tied for the team lead in singles victories (7) with fellow freshman Stephanie Nguyen.
• Junior Vivien Dvali is UCI's active career leader with 29 overall singles wins.
• Interim head coach Elizabeth Ferris is in her first year at the helm of the program.
• Ferris spent the last three seasons as an assistant under long-time UC Irvine head coach Mike Edles.
LAST TIME OUT: UC Irvine was resilient throughout the day and junior Ashlynn Hall capped off a gutsy performance with a three-set victory that clinched the Anteaters' 4-3 win over CSUN last Thursday at Matador Tennis Complex.
"Ashlynn did an incredible job of coming from behind in the third set and dealing with the pressure of the match on her shoulders," interim head coach Elizabeth Ferris said. "She was coachable, gutsy and inspired. There was tremendous personal growth for everyone today."
The 'Eaters opened doubles play with a win at No. 1 as freshman Constance Branstine and sophomore Stephanie Hazell rolled to a 6-2 victory over Mickey Hsu/Emma Roenholt. The Matadors pulled even on court three, setting up a decisive nail-biter at the No. 2 spot. Senior Hali Dickson and junior Vivien Dvali were in a 3-0 hole against Kiryang Kim/Elisa Elhadj, but battled back and eventually tied it up at 6-6. Dickson and Dvali then turned it up a notch as they led wire-to-wire in the tiebreaker for the 7-6 (3) triumph.
UCI went up 2-0 early in singles play with Dvali claiming the first set, 6-4, before her opponent retired at No. 2. CSUN then mounted a comeback, taking a 3-2 lead with wins at Nos. 3, 4 and 6. UC Irvine would not be outdone, however, as Constance Branstine prevailed, 7-6 (4), 7-5, over Hsu in a hard-fought match at the top of the lineup. It then came down to No. 5 where Hall and Roenholt were locked in a three-set battle. Hall had won the first set handily at 6-1, before falling just short in the second frame. She also found herself down in the third before storming back for the 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 clincher.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS: UC Riverside (5-11, 0-6 Big West) is on a three-match skid, most recently falling to Cal Poly, 4-3, last Saturday. Sophomore Tracy Van and freshman Lauren Wolfe lead the Highlanders with five singles victories each. UC Irvine is 16-0 against UCR since the Highlanders became an NCAA Division I affiliate in 2002-03. The 'Eaters have registered 11-straight shutout victories in the series.
A GLANCE AT CMS: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (21-0, 6-0 SCIAC) is looking to keep its perfect record intact when it entertains Pomona-Pitzer and UC Irvine this week. CMS is second in the Oracle/ITA Division III National Team Rankings. The 'Eaters will be the Athenas' second Division I opponent this season as they also faced Lehigh on March 15.
UNFAMILIAR ROAD: The 'Eaters, who hit the road for the first time in over a month on April 8, will wrap up the regular season with three consecutive away matches. UCI played its first four contests of the 2017 campaign in Irvine and hosted a season-long eight-match homestand from March 2-April 2. Overall, UC Irvine will have played 13 of its 22 dual matches at Anteater Tennis Stadium and Palisades Tennis Club (Newport Beach).
CALIFORNIA GIRLS: Every member of the UC Irvine women's tennis team hails from the state of California. In addition, five grew up locally in the Orange County area.
BACK FOR MORE: Junior Vivien Dvali has made a statement in her return to the lineup after missing five matches with an injury. In her first appearance in four weeks, Dvali teamed up with Hali Dickson to defeat UC Davis' Sam Martino/Nikita Pradeep. She then got the 'Eaters on the board against the Aggies in singles, making quick work of Lani-Rae Green at No. 2 (6-3, 6-2). Since that match on April 2, the Valley Village, Calif., native is 3-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. Dvali is UCI's active career leader with 29 singles victories, including 22 in dual-match play. In 2016, she was named to the All-Big West Team, earning second-team recognition in singles.
BLUE CHIP RECRUIT: Freshman Constance Branstine is a five-star blue chip recruit out of Villa Park High School. In her first year at UC Irvine, she has been at No. 1 singles and doubles in all 18 duals in which she has played. Branstine, who is tied for first on the team with seven singles victories, has earned several signature wins in conference action. On March 4, she climbed out of a 4-0 hole in the third set to prevail over Long Beach State's two-time Big West Player of the Year Maeva Razakasoa, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The Orange, Calif., native then took down Susanne Boyden of Cal Poly, 5-7, 7-6, 11-9, and Mickey Hsu of CSUN, 7-6 (4), 7-5. Branstine also secured a dual-clinching 6-2, 6-7 (5), 10-8 triumph vs. Sacramento State in a non-conference match.
NGUYEN WINS: Freshman Stephanie Nguyen is tied with Branstine for the team lead with seven singles victories, but has not played since April 2. In her first two conference matches, she came from behind to upend Karla Portalatin of then undefeated Cal State Fullerton, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 10-5, and Maren Helgo of defending Big West regular season champion Long Beach State, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot. Her biggest victory of year came at Portland State where she clinched UCI's first team win with a 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-4 triumph at No. 2.
DOUBLES QUEEN: Senior Hali Dickson leads the Anteaters in doubles with a 9-8 record. Most of her success has come with junior Vivien Dvali, while she has also posted multiple wins with senior Cassidy Branstine and junior Ashlynn Hall. Dickson/Dvali are currently on a four-match win streak and are 4-1 in conference play. Against defending Big West regular season champion Long Beach State, the 'Eater duo pulled out a 7-6 (8-6) victory that clinched the doubles point. They also defeated the No. 3 team from UC Davis and the No. 2 teams from Hawai'i and CSUN. Dickson has made an appearance in the singles lineup four times where she is 2-2.
UP NEXT: The Big West Tournament is set for April 27-30 at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
