UC Irvine (0-1) at
San Francisco (2-3)
Date: Friday, Feb. 7
Time: 12 p.m. (PST)
Location: Cal Club - San Francisco, Calif.

UC Irvine (0-1) at
Saint Mary's (2-1)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 9
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Timothy Korth Tennis Complex - Moraga, Calif.

Match Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team is set to begin a five-match road stretch with a trip to Northern California. The Anteaters will start the weekend at San Francisco on Friday, Feb. 7 (12 p.m.), before making their way to Moraga for an 11 a.m. showdown at Saint Mary's on Sunday, Feb. 9.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine returns six letterwinners from a 2019 squad that went 15-8 and made its fifth-straight appearance in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament. The Anteaters also welcome four newcomers with two freshmen and two transfers.
 
• Senior Daniel Gealer came from behind to defeat Aaro Pollanen (SDSU), 1-6, 6-4, 10-4, at No. 3 singles in UCI's season opener vs. San Diego State last Saturday. It was Gealer's 30th career dual-match singles victory, making him the Anteaters' active wins leader.
 
• All 10 'Eaters saw action during the fall tournament season. They combined for 47 singles and 18 doubles victories.
 
• Junior Mateusz Smolicki and sophomore Mike Mkrtchian led the way with eight singles wins each.
 
• Smolicki took home the consolation championship at the ITA Southwest Regionals in Malibu. After falling in the Round of 128, he won five consecutive matches to claim the back draw title. He also came out on top in his flight's consolation bracket at the Aztec Fall Invitational.
 
• Mkrtchian finished with a team-best 8-2 record, picking up impressive wins over opponents from Pac-12 schools UCLA and Utah. In addition, he claimed the State Flight consolation championship at the Aztec Fall Invitational.
 
• In doubles, sophomore Aaron Bailey and freshman Ali Amiri partnered for a team-leading 5-3 mark. They got out to a hot start, winning their first three matches to secure the Flight B Championship at the season-opening Aztec Fall Invitational. Amiri/Bailey upended fellow Anteaters Antoine Barthe/Mike Mkrtchian in the final.
 
• The LMU Invitational was a four-team tournament with each school squaring off in both singles and doubles over the course of three days (Nov. 8-10). Although the team results did not count, UCI went 3-0, defeating Pac-12 member Utah, Utah State and host Loyola Marymount.
 
• In its Division I history, the 'Eaters have made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, while winning 17 Big West regular-season championships and three Big West Tournament titles.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine fell to San Diego State, 5-2, in its dual-match opener last Saturday, Feb. 1, at Anteater Tennis Stadium. The Aztecs took the early lead, winning a hard-fought doubles point that went down to the wire. After Jeremy Merville and Matthew Sah came up short on court two, Antoine Barthe and Daniel Gealer evened the playing field with a 6-4 victory over Rafael Gonzalez/Jan Kirchhoff at No. 3. All eyes then turned to the top of the lineup where Bruce Man-Son-Hing and Mateusz Smolicki were locked in a back-and-forth battle against Ignacio Martinez/Aaro Pollanen. The 'Eaters went up, 6-5, before the visitors fought back for the 7-6 (3) win. In singles, Mark Peneff dispatched Kirchhoff at No. 2, 6-2, 6-4, while Gealer earned a 1-6, 6-4, 10-4 comeback victory over Pollanen at the third spot.
 
SCOUTING THE DONS
San Francisco (2-3) split a pair of road matches last weekend, falling at Arizona, 6-1, and at Grand Canyon, 5-2. Sophomore Nitzan Ricklis has led the Dons early in the season with a 4-1 record at No. 1 singles. He recently entered the ITA singles rankings at No. 88. Ori Maior is also 4-1 at Nos. 3-5.
 
A GLANCE AT SAINT MARY'S
Saint Mary's (2-1) opened its dual-match season with a 6-0 win over Sacramento State on Jan. 26. The Gaels are currently in the Aloha State where they defeated Hawai'i Pacific, 4-3, and fell to Big West member Hawai'i, 5-2. SMC will play UH again on Wednesday, Feb. 5, and travels to UC Davis (Feb. 8) before welcoming the Anteaters to Moraga. Senior Damon Kesaris is the Gaels' top returner after going 7-6 at No. 1 singles in 2019. He came in at No. 9 in the latest ITA singles rankings released on Feb. 5.
 
SERIES RECORDS
Since 1997, UC Irvine is 5-0 against San Francisco. The two teams squared off last year in Irvine with the 'Eaters winning 4-1. UCI is also 5-1 against Saint Mary's, but the Gaels took the last meeting, 7-0, in Moraga on March 2, 2013.
 
DOUBLES KING
Senior Bruce Man-Son-Hing is a two-time All-Big West doubles selection. He earned first-team honors in 2018 and second-team recognition in 2019. In three-plus years, he has accumulated a 39-22 record. His next doubles win will put him in a tie for 30th in school history.
 
SENIOR LEADER
Senior Daniel Gealer is the Anteaters' active singles wins leader. In two-plus seasons at UCI, the UCLA transfer is 30-11 (.732) in dual-match play.
 
MAKING AN IMPRESSION
In his first season with the 'Eaters, junior Mateusz Smolicki earned All-Big West honorable mention nods in both singles and doubles. Smolicki finished with 12 dual-match singles wins, and partnered with recent graduate Vatsal Bajpai to earn eight of his nine doubles victories at the top of the lineup. Smolicki transferred from USC prior to the 2018-19 campaign.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will head back to Northern California next weekend to face Sonoma State (Feb. 15) and Pacific (Feb. 16).