LOGAN, Utah – The UC Irvine men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to Utah State Sunday at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club in Logan.
 
Luis Lopez won his singles match to lead the 'Eaters. This marks the second dual-match win of the season for Lopez. He pulled of a 7-6 win in the first set before taking a 6-2 decision in the second set to defeat the Aggies' Sergiu Bucur in No. 2 singles.

"I was very proud of our effort today with out Sebastian (Heim) in the lineup," said head coach Mike Saunders. "We were one point away from clinching the doubles point. Luis played a superb match, utilizing all the tools in the toolbox. Sasha battled courageously to the very last point against a very talented player and was one point away from victory. Bruce was up a set and in command at 6. So despite the 1-5 team score, we had chances to win and will certainly take the positive from these matches. While it has been a rough start, we have yet to play a match with all of our starters and Sebastian has only played once in six matches, we are improving and this adversity has brought us closer together."
 
Sasha Krasnov went the distance with Valdemar Holm in the third spot, but was unable to finish off his opponent in a tough 3-6, 7-6, 5-7 loss.
 
Luca Marquard fell in the top spot to Jaime Barajas by scores of 5-7, 2-6 while Mason Hansen and Vatsal Bajpai dropped decisions on courts four and five, respectively.
 
Bruce Man-Son-Hing had a 6-4, 2-1 lead over Felipe Acosta on court six but the match was called off before completion as the Aggies clinched the victory with a win at the No. 3 spot.
 
In doubles play, Daniel Gealer and Lopez held on to win 6-4 in the third spot but the Aggies pulled out wins on courts one and two to clinch the point.
 
The loss drops UCI to 1-5 on the season. Utah State improves to 6-3 on the season.
 
Next, the Anteaters will be in Northern California for two matches, against San Francisco (Feb. 23) and Pacific (Feb. 24).
 
Singles
1. Jaime Barajas (USU) def. Luca Marquard (UCI) 7-5, 6-2
2. Luis Lopez (UCI) def. Sergiu Bucur (USU) 7-6 (7-0), 6-2
3. Valdemar Holm (USU) def. Sasha Krasnov (UCI) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5
4. Samuel Serrano (USU) def. Mason Hansen (UCI) 6-3, 6-3
5. Jose Carvajal (USU) def. Vatsal Bajpai (UCI) 6-2, 7-5
6. Felipe Acosta (USU) vs. Bruce Man-Son-Hing (UCI) 4-6, 1-2, unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5
 
Doubles
1. Jaime Barajas/Jose Carvajal (USU) def. Mason Hansen/Luca Marquard (UCI) 6-1
2. Valdemar Holm/Samuel Serrano (USU) def. Vatsal Bajpai/Bruce Man-Son-Hing (UCI) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Daniel Gealer/Luis Lopez (UCI) def. Sergiu Bucur/Andrew Nakajima (USU) 6-4