IRVINE, Calif – The UC Irvine women's tennis team plays its home opener on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 9 AM against Big West opponent Hawai'i.

The 'Eaters are coming off an 8-1 win against Westmont last Saturday. 
 
STORYLINES

• The Anteaters swept the doubles matches against Westmont
• After losing the No. 1 singles match UCI swept the next five singles matches
• Jenna Schlatter didn't lose a point in her singles match against Westmont
• The match against Hawai'i is both the 'Eaters home opener and Big West conference opener
• Alyssia Fossorier won the Hawai'i singles state title her senior year and the state's doubles title her freshman year
• The 'Eaters lost the only match up of last season 1-6. The match was also in Irvine
• The Anteaters return 11 players from the roster last year
• Three returning Anteaters earned Scholar-Athlete Accolades last year including Dasee Carter, Shreya Pavani and Jessica Tsukiji
• UCI as a team overall, earned a 3.4 GPA for last year and were named an ITA All-Academic Team
• Three Anteaters earned Big West Honors last year. Stephanie Nguyen was named honorable mention in singles while the duo of Jessica Tsukiji and Flora Amiri earned honorable mention in doubles
• Head coach Elizabeth Ferris is in her fourth year at the head of Women's Tennis team.
• Halla Alajeely is a transfer from Irvine Valley College where she was a JUCO All-American in Singles and Doubles

FALL RECAP
UCI competed in four tournaments during the fall season. The 'Eaters started the tournament schedule off at the Long Beach Invitational with Alyssia Fossorier, Dana Mackensen, Jacqueline Tsodikova and Dasee Carter getting their first wins of the year.
The Anteaters would then play at the ITA Southwest Regional Tournament with four players earning wins at the tournament.
The team would then go on to play at the Jack Kramer Invitational with Stephanie Nguyen and Halla Alajeely claiming singles wins at the tournament.
The 'Eaters finished their tournament play at the SDSU Fall Classic II which saw the weekend be highlighted by Alyssia Fossorier who won the championship in her flight

THE OPPONENT

• Hawai'i comes off two loses at home to two nationally ranked programs.
• Hawai'i will face Stanford on the road on Thursday before heading down to the Anteater Tennis Stadium.
• The Rainbow Wahine boast a lot of international talent. Of the 10 players on the team, only two are from the United States.
• Of the eight international players, none are from the same country.
   

MEET THE NEWCOMERS
The UCI Women's Tennis team welcomes back eleven players from last year while only bringing in two new players. Junior Halla Alajeely is a transfer from Irvine Valley College where she was a JUCO All-American in singles and doubles as well as the ITA Rookie of the Year in 2018. Freshman Jenna Schlatter comes from Saint Helena, Calif and is a four-star recruit and the only freshman on the team.
12 out of the 13 Anteaters are from California while Alyssia Fossorier is from Hawaii.

ON HOME TURF
The Anteaters host their first home game of the season Saturday. This starts a streak where 5 of the next 7 games are in Irvine. The other two games are also local, staying in Orange County. Last season, UCI went 5-5 at home.