Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The UC Irvine women's tennis team shined on the first day of its east coast trip. UCI earned a 5-1 decision over La Salle in a neutral site match before topping St. Joseph's 4-3 in the night cap.
 
With the wins, the Anteaters improve to 4-4 on the season.
 
"Big wins for us today," said head coach Elizabeth Ferris. "We have been faced with a lot of adversity right from the start of the trip. Long travel day yesterday, time zone change, cold weather, playing indoor and a long doubleheader that went late into the night. We could've easily used all of those as excuses in our second match tonight."
 
UC Irvine 5, La Salle 1
The teams played 1-6 singles first as UCI clinched the match at No. 2 singles.
 
Danielle Garrido sealed the win for the 'Eaters on court two and also picked up her first dual-match victory of the season with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Brittany Poje.
 
Stephanie Nguyen got things started for UCI earning a 6-2, 6-1 victory at the No. 1 spot while Arianna Tilbury followed winning on court five, 6-3, 6-0.
 
In the No. 6 spot, Jacqueline Tsodikova defeated the Explorers' Jayla Smith, 6-0-6-3. Freshman Yulin Chen picked up her third dual-match win of the season earning a 7-5, 6-2 victory on court three.
 
Freshman Flora Amiri dropped a tough 6-2, 2-6, 10-3 match in the No. 4 spot.
 
Singles 
1. Stephanie Nguyen (UCI) def. Tiffany Theophil (LS) 6-2, 6-1 
2. Danielle Garrido (UCI) def. Brittany Poje (LS) 6-2, 6-2 
3. Yulin Chen (UCI) def. Ali Snyder (LS) 7-5, 6-2
4. Jade Smith (LS) def. Flora Amiri (UCI) 6-2, 2-6, 10-3 
5. Arianna Tilbury (UCI) def. Hana Crranillo (LS) 6-3, 6-0 
6. Jacqueline Tsodikova (UCI) def. Jayla Smith (LS) 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 5, 6, 4, 2, 3
 
UC Irvine 4, Saint Joseph's 3
UCI came from behind to clinch its match against SJU.
 
"Saint Joseph's started off strong playing their games with energy and intensity. We had to work ourselves into some of the matches and find the winning strategies. I could not be more proudof how determined we were. When we were down we didn't lose faith, when we were up we stuck to the game plan. This was an icredible college match."
 
Despite dropping the doubles point, the Anteaters won four straight singles matches to seal the victory.
 
Nguyen defeated the Hawks' Devlin, 6-3, 6-3, in No. 2 singles while Yulin Chen won on court four, 6-4, 6-4.
 
"The team fought really hard today," said Nguyen. "I think we really just focused on what we practiced and it really translated into how we played."
 
Arianna Tilbury pulled out a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory in No. 5 singles and Jacqueline Tsodikova grabbed a 6-3, 6-2 win on court six.
 
"I was pulled into the match today at the last minute and I was able to pump myself up," said Tsodikova. The support from the team really helped me get through our late night match and we were able to come out on top!"
 
UCI will round out its east coast trip with a game against Lafayette Saturday at 11 a.m.


Doubles
1. Nava/Gill-Reid (SJU) def. Hazell/Garrido (UCI) 6-2
2. Gomez/Sprinckmolles (SJU) def. Chen/Tilbury (UCI) 6-0
3. Nguyen/Tilbury (UCI) vs. Devlin/Devlin (SJU) 5-4 DNF
 
Singles
1. Nava (SJU) def. Hazell (UCI) 6-2, 6-2
2. Nguyen (UCI) def. Devlin (SJU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Gomez (SJU) def. Garrido (UCI) 7-6 (9-7),
4. Chen (UCI) def. Gill-Reid (SJU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Tilbury (UCI) def. Sprinckmolles (SJU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
6. Tsodikova (UCI) def. Devlin (SJU) 6-3, 6-2