UCI Set for Matches Against Utah and Chapman

Saturday, February 15

Irvine, Calif.

10:00 AM

UC Irvine

Utah

UCI Set for Matches Against Utah and Chapman

February 12, 2020 | Women's Tennis

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's tennis team plays a home and away double header on Saturday, Feb. 15. UCI plays Utah at home (10 a.m.) followed by Chapman on the road (1 p.m.).

STORYLINES

The matches will be the second same day double header this year
The Anteaters return 11 players from the roster last year
The doubles pair of Stephanie Nguyen and Alyssia Fossorier are 3-1 playing at the No. 2 position
Jessica Tsukiji is undefeated in singles with a 2-0 record
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
Jenna Schlatter is the only freshman on the team
12 out of the 13 Anteaters are from California while Alyssia Fossorier is from Hawaii.

LAST TIME OUT

UCI played three matches last weekend finishing with a 1-2 record
The 'Eaters took the doubles point in both Saturday match-ups, against both Grand Canyon and Hope International
UCI swept HIU, finishing 7-0
Arianna Tilbury finished the weekend 3-1 with doubles wins against Grand Canyon and HIU as well as a No. 1 singles win against HIU

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 OPPONENTS

Utah is 5-2 on the season but has dropped its last two matches
After battling UCI on Saturday, the Utes will play Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles
Of the nine players on Utah's roster, six are sophomores
Chapman plays its season opener on Tuesday against Marymount California
Chapman will play its conference opener on Sunday, Feb. 16
Chapman is a DIII school and competes in the SCIAC conference

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.

UP NEXT
UCI hosts UC San Diego on Feb. 20 at 2 P.M.