Idaho (5-3) at
UC Irvine (5-7)
Date: Tuesday, March 13
Time: 9:00 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium – Irvine, Calif.

Lehigh (5-2) at
UC Irvine (5-7)
Date: Tuesday, March 13
Time: 2:00 p.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium – Irvine, Calif.

Gonzaga (6-2) at
UC Irvine (5-7)
Date: Thursday, March 15
Time: 10:00 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium – Irvine, Calif.

Yale (9-4) at
UC Irvine (5-7)
Date: Friday, March 16
Time: 9:00 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium – Irvine, Calif.

Liberty (9-7) at
UC Irvine (5-7)
Date: Friday, March 16
Time: 2:00 p.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium – Irvine, Calif.


UC Irvine Match Notes
UCI continues its home stand, hosting five matches in four days at Anteater Tennis Stadium.

The 'Eaters kick off the week with a doubleheader Tuesday, March 13. UCI plays Idaho at 9 a.m. before facing Lehigh at 2 p.m. The Anteaters then return to the court for a match against Gonzaga Thursday, March 15 at 10 a.m. and round out the week with a doubleheader Friday, March 16 against Yale (9 a.m.) and Liberty (2 p.m.).

TOP 10 HITS
• The 'Eaters went 3-1 last week including 3-0 at home after defeating Boston College, Villanova and Boston U.
• UCI dropped a neutral site match to Loyola Marymount, 4-1.
• UCI has won two-straight matches, its longest winning streak of the year, after defeating Villanova and Boston U.
• The Anteaters also swept Villanova and Boston U, winning, 7-0, in both contests.
• Luis Lopez leads the Anteaters with seven dual-match wins this season followed by Daniel Gealer with five.
• Lopez is tied for first on the roster in doubles wins with four. Bruce Man-Son-Hing and Mason Hansen also have four doubles wins.
• Lopez, Gealer and Luca Marquard each won three out of four singles matches last week.
• Vatsal Bajpai earned the 'Eaters only singles win against LMU, defeating Diego Nava, 7-5, at No. 6 
• 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 30-32 career record at UCI.

LAST TIME OUT
UCI finished the week with a 3-1 record including a perfect 3-0 at home.

The Anteaters pulled out a gritty 4-3 win over Boston College.  Luca Marquard and Mason Hansen came in clutch at the top spot winning 7-5 to clinch the doubles point for UCI. In singles, Luis Lopez earned a dominating, 6-2, 6-1, at the top spot. Daniel Gealer followed winning on court five, 6-1, 7-6 (2). Marquard battled at No. 2 against BC's Heitmann and triumphed, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, to clinch the match.

In a neutral site against LMU, UCI was without it top player, Sebastian Heim and had several players compete through injury, ultimately suffering a 4-1 loss. Vatsal Bajpai highlighted the match, earning the Anteaters only win after defeating LMU's Diego Nava, 6-2, 7-5 in No. 6 singles.

UCI closed out the week sweeping two opponents, 7-0, to win two-straight matches. UCI's victory over Villanova was the first sweep for the Anteaters against a Division 1 opponent since last season when UCI earned a 4-0 victory over Hawai'i in the Big West Tournament quarterfinals. The Anteaters had no problem defeating Boston U in its final match of a busy week.

VERSUS THE OPPONENTS
Idaho is 5-3 on the season and a perfect 5-0 in the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals' duo of Mark Kovacs and Carlos Longhi Neto began the spring season at No. 36 in doubles in the ITA/Oracle rankings. Idaho is currently riding a five-game win streak. UCI is 5-0 all-time against the Vandals.

Lehigh (5-2) will play Azusa Pacific before making the trip to Irvine. The Mountain Hawks only losses of the season were against Drexel (4-3) and Washington in St. Luis (5-2). This will be the first meeting between the Mountain Hawks and Anteaters.

Gonzaga is 6-2 on the season and 0-1 in the West Coast Conference. The Zags will play San Diego and Santa Barbara before their meeting with the Anteaters. Gonzaga suffered its first losses of the season to Oregon (4-0) and Portland (4-0). UCI is 8-1 all-time against the Zags but dropped a 4-0 decision to Gonzaga last season.

Yale is 9-4 overall and visits Irvine behind a seven game win-streak. Most recently, the Bulldogs picked up wins against New Jersey Inst. of Tech (7-0), Marist (6-1) and Fairfield (7-0). UCI has a 5-2 lead in the all-time series. The two teams last met in 2009 with Yale earned a 4-3 victory.

Liberty is 9-7 on the season and 3-0 in the Big South. Last week, the Flames picked up victories against Gardner-Webb (4-3) and UNC Asheville (6-1). UCI is 1-0 all-time against Liberty after earning a 4-2 win in 2016.

LOPEZ LEADS
Junior Luis Lopez has filled in for an injured Sebastian Heim at No. 1 singles and owns a 5-1 record at the top spot. He currently leads the 'Eaters in singles with seven dual-match wins and is tied for first on the roster with four doubles wins. Last week, he won three singles matches at No.1. Earlier this season, he defeated No. 8 USC's Laurens Verboven, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 1-0 (12-10) at No. 3 singles.

ON THE DOUBLE
Currently the pair of Luis Lopez and Daniel Gealer as well as the duo of Vatsal Bajpai and Bruce Man-Son-Hing each have collected three doubles wins this season.

HOME COURT SUCCESS
UCI is 4-1 when playing at Anteater Tennis Stadium. Last week, the Anteaters earned back-to-back 7-0 wins against Boston College and Villanova.

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 Gealner comes to Irvine from UCLA, while junior Sasha Krasnov spent the past two years at Cerritos College. Antonie 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
UCI will take a break from action until Tuesday, March 27 for a non-conference tilt at No. 4 UCLA.