Anteaters Host Saint Mary's, UCSD This Weekend

Friday, February 1

Irvine, CA

1:00 PM

UC Irvine

Saint Mary's

Anteaters Host Saint Mary's, UCSD This Weekend

January 31, 2019 | Men's Tennis

Saint Mary's (0-1) at
UC Irvine (0-2)
Date: Friday, Feb. 1
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium

UC San Diego (0-0) at
UC Irvine (0-2)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 2
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium

UC Irvine Match Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - After falling to San Diego State this past weekend, UC Irvine will look to snap out of its two-game skid within the friendly confines of Anteater Tennis Stadium, beginning with Saint Mary's (0-1) at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1. The following day, the 'Eaters will host UC San Diego (0-0) at noon.

STORYLINES
• Sasha Krasnov remained unbeaten in dual-match singles play with his second-straight win at the No. 2 spot last week.
• UC Irvine welcomes back seven letterwinners from a 2017-18 squad that finished with a 16-12 record.
• The 'Eaters made their fourth-straight appearance in the Big West semifinals last year.
• Senior Luis Lopez earned first-team All-Big West accolades in singles with a 15-8 record.
• Thirteen of his 15 dual-match wins came at the No. 1 position.
• Lopez played most of the doubles season alongside junior Daniel Gealer.
• The duo received an All-Big West Honorable Mention nod after going 10-5 in dual matches.
• Gealer, a junior transfer from UCLA, tied Lopez for the team lead with 15 wins in singles play.
• Krasnov garnered 2018 All-Big West Honorable Mention recognition in singles.
• Krasnov went 11-10, and put together a six-match winning streak in the month of March.
• Senior Vatsal Bajpai and junior Bruce Man-Son-Hing look to continue their strong performance in doubles action.
• The pair took home first-team All-Big West honors with a 9-4 record at No. 2 last year.
• Graduate student Mason Hansen earned his second-straight All-Big West Second Team award in doubles.
• Hansen compiled nine wins at the No. 1 spot with recent graduate Luca Marquard.
• UCI was a 2017-18 ITA All-Academic Team with six players earning individual Scholar-Athlete honors.
• Head coach Mike Saunders is in his fourth year at the helm and owns a 42-38 career record at UCI.

LAST TIME OUT
On Saturday, Jan. 26, UC Irvine came up just short in a 4-3 loss at San Diego State. The Anteaters started off strong by taking the doubles point as Vatsal Bajpai/Bruce Man-Son-Hing defeated Ignacio Martinez/Jan Kirchoff, and Daniel Gealer/Mason Hansen defeated Arnaud Restifo/Fabian Roensdorf, both by a score of 6-3. However, UCI was unable to take advantage of the early lead, dropping four of six singles matches. Sasha Krasnov improved to 2-0 in dual-match singles competition, defeating Martinez 6-7, 6-3, 6-1. Hansen recorded his first victory of 2019, topping Restifo in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

FALL RECAP
UC Irvine was the only school that was represented in all four championship flights at the SDSU Fall Invitational. Daniel Gealer took second place in the Warrior Flight Singles, while Luis Lopez made it to the Aztec Flight Singles final, losing a close match to Lorenzo Fucile of Grand Canyon (6-4, 6-4). Lopez also teamed up with Mateusz Smolicki to win the Red Flight Doubles championship over the GCU tandem of Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah. Gealer and Bruce Man-Son-Hing came up just short in the Black Flight Doubles championship against Jonathan Morales and Juan Erro of Southern Utah.

GET TO KNOW THE NEWCOMERS
UC Irvine welcomes two freshmen and one transfer in 2018-19. Sophomore Mateusz Smolicki (Warsaw, Poland) played at USC in 2017-18 when the Trojans went 20-9 overall and finished the campaign ranked 11th in the nation. Smolicki adds to the Anteaters' current international talent of Antoine Barthe (France) and Sasha Krasnov (Ukraine).

Freshman Aaron Bailey joins the 'Eaters from Las Vegas, Nev., where he helped Faith Lutheran High School to a state title. Fellow freshman Mike Mkrtchian made the trip down the 5 Freeway from Reseda, Calif. Mkrtchian was ranked among the top-five in the Southern California sectional rankings and was among the top-75 in the national rankings.

VERSUS THE OPPONENTS
Saint Mary's (0-1) kicked off their season on the road, falling 7-0 against #10 Stanford. The Gaels add five freshmen (two redshirts) to a squad that went 4-17 last year. Saint Mary's is led by junior Damon Kesaris, who was named to the 2019 All-WCC Preseason Men's Team after going 13-5 at the No. 1 singles position in 2017-18. UC Irvine is 5-1 overall against Saint Mary's. The Gaels swept the Anteaters the last time they met in 2013.

UC San Diego begins its 2019 campaign against UCI on Saturday. The Tritons return seven letterwinners from last year's squad that went 9-9. Since 1996-97, the Anteaters are 7-0 vs. UCSD. They defeated the Tritons, 4-0, in 2018.

LOOKING AHEAD
Next week, the 'Eaters will host San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 9. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at Anteater Tennis Stadium.