San Francisco (1-1) at
UC Irvine (1-2)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 9
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium

UC Irvine Match Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - Coming off a convincing win over Saint Mary's last week, the UC Irvine men's tennis team will look to continue its strong play against visiting San Francisco at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9.

STORYLINES
• Senior Sasha Krasnov has gotten off to a hot start in 2019 as he is 3-0 in dual-match singles.
• Last week, he played at No. 1 for the first time in his UCI career, and  earned a 7-6, 6-3 win to remain undefeated.
• Freshman Aaron Bailey, who has played at No. 5 and 6, ranks second on the team with two singles victories.
• 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 play 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 after compiling 11 victories.
• Senior Vatsal Bajpai and junior Bruce Man-Son-Hing took home first-team All-Big West honors in doubles 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 43-38 career record at UCI.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Last Friday, UC Irvine hosted Saint Mary's for an afternoon matchup. The Anteaters started the match by sweeping doubles play, behind dominant efforts from Mateusz Smolicki/Vatsal Bajpai, Mason Hansen/Daniel Gealer and Luis Lopez/Bruce Man-Son-Hing. In singles play, the 'Eaters won four of the six matches to seal the victory over the Gaels. Sasha Krasnov led the way by defeating Damon Kesaris 7-6 (5-0), 6-3, at the top of the lineup. Lopez secured his first singles win of the dual season, prevailing in a back-and-forth match over Matis Bot, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 at No. 2. Smolicki and Aaron Bailey added straight-set wins at the third and fifth spots, respectively.
 
EARLY HIGHLIGHTS
Senior Sasha Krasnov continued his strong play in dual-match singles action, as he improved to 3-0 after his victory on Friday against Saint Mary's. It was his first career win from the No. 1 position, and it came over Damon Kesaris, who had been named to the All-WCC Preseason Men's Team.
 
Sophomore transfer Mateusz Smolicki earned his first victory with the Anteaters on Friday as well, defeating the Gaels' Daniel Krutik in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
 
Junior Daniel Gealer and graduate student Mason Hansen remained undefeated in the young dual doubles season, moving to 3-0 with a win over the SMC tandem of Daniel Krutik and Brian Lee, 6-4. 
 
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
San Francisco (1-1) visits Anteater Tennis Stadium with a young team, and will lean on senior Ryan Marker and junior Paul Girard to lead their newcomers this season. In their first spring match on Jan. 18, the Dons swept singles action to defeat Sonoma State. However on Feb. 1, San Francisco was unable to generate any momentum, falling to USC, 7-0. Before UC Irvine, the Dons will take on Cal Poly at 1 p.m. on Friday.
 
The Anteaters are 4-0 in previous matches against the Dons. Last season, the two squads were locked up in a tight match, with UC Irvine ultimately prevailing 4-3.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Next week, the Anteaters will travel to Utah for a weekend series beginning with BYU (4-2) on Friday, followed by matches against Weber State (0-4) and Idaho State (0-1) on Saturday.