Middlebury (5-0) at
UC Irvine (9-4)
Date: Monday, March 25
Time: 12 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

Eastern Washington (3-8) at
UC Irvine (9-4)
Date: Thursday, March 28
Time: 10 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

UC Irvine (9-4, 0-0 Big West) at
Cal Poly (7-5, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Saturday, March 30
Time: 12 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Mustang Tennis Complex - San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - In a tough three-day stretch, the Anteaters picked up three victories before suffering their first loss since February 15. The team will look to bounce back as they complete their nine-match home stand this week, facing Middlebury on Monday at 12:00 p.m. and Eastern Washington on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. The 'Eaters will then hit the road for their Big West opener, visiting the Cal Poly Mustangs on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
 
STORYLINES
• Senior Luis Lopez has won three of his last four singles matches, with all three of those victories coming at No. 1.
• Lopez earned his third career Big West Player of the Week award on March 13.
• He led UC Irvine to wins over Boston College and Villanova with an unbeaten week in singles and doubles.
• Lopez has teamed up with junior Bruce Man-Son-Hing to go a combined 8-0 at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles this year.
• Senior Sasha Krasnov, who won his first three singles matches of the season, is now 5-3 in dual competition.
• Krasnov has played at the top-two spots and owns a 4-0 record at No. 2.
• Graduate student Mason Hansen is also 3-0 when playing at the third spot.
• UC Irvine has seven returning letterwinners from a 2017-18 squad that finished with a 16-12 record.
• Leading the way are Lopez and Krasnov, who were All-Big West singles performers last year.
• Lopez, Man-Son-Hing, Daniel Gealer, Vatsal Bajpai and Mason Hansen also earned all-conference honors in doubles.
• UCI was a 2017-18 ITA All-Academic Team with six players earning individual Scholar-Athlete honors.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine began a tough three-day stretch with a 4-3 victory over Gonzaga. Bruce Man-Son-Hing and Luis Lopez started with a win over Kyle Everly/Vincent Rettke, 6-4, but the Anteaters ended up dropping the doubles point. After splitting the first two singles matches with the Bulldogs, UCI tied the match when Sasha Krasnov defeated Sam Feit, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The match came down to the very end, but it was Lopez who sealed the victory for the 'Eaters with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 triumph over Ruadhan O'Sullivan. Lopez showed tremendous grit and composure, coming back from being down 5-2 in the decisive third set.
 
On March 12, the Anteaters hosted a double-header against Navy and Quinnipiac. In the first matchup, UC Irvine dominated the Midshipmen, 4-0. The 'Eaters won the doubles point behind strong play from Vatsal Bajpai/Mateusz Smolicki and Krasnov/Aaron Bailey. In singles, Smolicki, Bajpai and Daniel Gealer all dispatched their opponents in straight sets to secure the win. In the afternoon match, UCI extended its winning streak to seven with a 4-1 victory over Quinnipiac. The doubles pairings of Bajpai/Smolicki and Lopez/Man-Son-Hing each won 6-4 to claim the doubles point. Bajpai and Gealer went on to take their singles matches 6-1, 6-1, and this time, Krasnov sealed the win for UC Irvine with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Aleksa Martinovic.
 
At the end of the tough three-day stretch, the Anteaters' winning streak came to an end with a 7-0 loss to Pac-12 member Utah. UCI was unable to gain any traction against the Utes (13-5) who were ranked 50th in the nation.
 
VERSUS THE OPPONENTS
Middlebury (5-0) set a program single-season record with 25 wins last season, and return two highly-decorated seniors - two-time All American Lubomir Cuba and 2016 NESCAC Player of the Year Noah Farrell.
 
Eastern Washington (3-8) will look to earn its first win against UCI behind senior captain Jeremy Field, who was named to the All-Big Sky Singles Second Team last year.
 
Cal Poly (7-5, 0-0 BWC), which is on a four-match win streak, hopes to improve on a second place finish in the Big West last season. The Mustangs are led by senior Josh Ortlip, who is 7-4 at No. 1 singles.  Freshman Gary Vardanyan (8-1) and sophomore Alex Stater (8-3) have also been strong in the middle of CP's lineup. Since 1997, the Anteaters are 18-8 overall against the Mustangs. Cal Poly picked up a 5-3 win last season.
 
LOPEZ EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
Luis Lopez earned his third career Big West Athlete of the Week award on March 13. Lopez was recognized after going unbeaten in wins over Boston College and Villanova. The Chula Vista native had two straight-set victories at No. 1 singles, including a match-clinching 7-6, 7-5 triumph over the Eagles' Derek Austin. In doubles, Lopez and Bruce Man-Son-Hing snagged 6-2 wins on court three in both matches.
 
DOUBLES STRONG
The Anteaters have won the doubles point in six of their last eight matches. Leading the charge has been the tandem of Luis Lopez and Bruce Man-Son-Hing, who are undefeated at 8-0. Vatsal Bajpai and Mateusz Smolicki have also won five times at the top of the lineup, while Daniel Gealer and Mason Hansen are 4-1 at No. 2.
 
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
Three 'Eaters hail from Europe - Antoine Barthe (France), Sasha Krasnov (Ukraine) and Mateusz Smolicki (Poland).

LOOKING AHEAD
The Anteaters continue Big West play in the Aloha State next week, traveling to Honolulu to face UC Riverside (April 5) and Hawai'i (April 6).