UC Irvine (1-5) at
San Francisco (2-5)
Date: Friday, Feb. 23
Time: 1:00 p.m. (PST)
Location: Cal Club – San Francisco, Calif.

UC Irvine (1-5) at
Pacific (1-8)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 24
Time: 12:00 p.m. (PST)
Location: Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center – Stockton, Calif.

UC Irvine Match Notes

The Anteaters continue their non-conference slate with a trip to northern California this weekend. UCI will face San Francisco Friday, February 23 at 1 p.m. before traveling to Stockton for a match against Pacific Saturday, February 24 at 12 p.m.

TOP 10 HITS
• Sebastian Heim missed last week's matches in Utah and has only seen action in one match this season.
• The 'Eaters are looking for their first Division I win after starting the season 0-5 against DI opponents.  
• UCI took one singles match against Utah and one singles match against Utah State last weekend.
• Freshman Sasha Krasnov earned his first career win after defeating Utah's Slava Shainyan on court three.
• Luis Lopez defeated Utah State's Sergiu Bucur in No. 2 singles, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, netting him his second singles victory of the season.
• Lopez also teamed up with Daniel Gealer in No. 3 doubles against the Aggies. The duo won, 6-4.
• UC Irvine welcomes back six letterwinners, including four All-Big West selections from a 2017 squad that finished with a 9-15 record.
• Senior Sebastian Heim earned an ITA preseason ranking of No. 114.
• Heim has 44 career dual-match wins, good for 33^rd all-time. He needs at least 50 wins to crack in to UCI's top-25 all-time dual-match wins.
• Head coach Mike Saunders is in his third year at the helm and boasts a 27-29 career record at UCI.

LAST TIME OUT
UCI dropped a pair of matches on a trip to Utah. In just his third dual-match as an Anteater, Krasnov defeated the Utes' Slava Shainyan in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 10-3, on court three.The pair of Luca Marquard and Mason Hansen got UCI off to a good start winning No. 1 doubles by a score of 6-3 against Randy Cory/Russel Benkaim. However, the 'Eaters fell on court two and three to ultimately drop the doubles point.

Against Utah State, Luis Lopez won his singles match to lead the 'Eaters. 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.

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 in Nos 1-2 to clinch the point.

VERSUS THE OPPONENTS
The Dons enter the weekend with a 2-5 record with wins against George Washington and New Mexico State. UCI is a perfect 3-0 over USF in the all-time series. The last meeting between the two teams came in 2010 with the Anteaters earning a 4-3 victory.  

Pacific is 1-8 on the season with its only win coming against George Washington, 7-0. The Anteaters hold a 14-11 advantages over the Tigers in the all-time series. UCI took a 4-2 decision over Pacific in its last meeting in 2013.

LOPEZ LEADS
Junior Luis Lopez is currently leading the 'Eaters in singles with two dual-match wins. He earned one last weekend against Utah State, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, at the No. 2 spot. The week prior, he defeated USC's Laurens Verboven, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 1-0 (12-10) at No. 3 singles.

DYNAMIC DUO
The pair of Vatsal Bajpai and Bruce Man-Son-Hing lead UCI in doubles with a 2-3 record. The duo earned wins against UC San Diego (6-1) and Grand Canyon (6-3). Last weekend they dropped two tough matches against Utah and Utah State by scores of 7-6 and 7-6 (7-4), respectively.

LEAVE IT ALL ON THE COURT
After missing 21 matches over the last two seasons due to injury, senior Sebastian Heim is ready to make his last campaign as an Anteater one to remember. The Speyer, Germany native earned an ITA preseason ranking of No. 114 and will look to lead UCI at the top of the lineup.

SUMMER HOMEWORK
Junior Luis Lopez competed in the 2017 ITA Summer Circuit where he won three of six Southern California tournaments to advance to the ITA National Summer Championships.

GET TO KNOW THE 'EATERS
UC Irvine returns six players and welcomes three newcomers, including one freshman and two transfers. Sophomore Daniel Gealer comes to Irvine from UCLA, while junior Sasha Krasnov spent the past two years at Cerritos College. Antoine Barthe is the only true freshman in the mix, hailing from Rueil-Malmaison, France.

Five of the nine Anteaters on the roster are California natives, with the remaining four players are international products. Heim and Marquard are natives of Germany while Barthe comes from France and Krasnov is a product of Ukraine.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will play in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship March 1-4 in La Jolla.