UC Irvine (4-2) at
No. 23 Pepperdine (4-4)
Date: Friday, March 12
Time: 5 p.m. (PST)
Location: Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center - Malibu, Calif.
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IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team takes a three-match win streak on the road this week as it heads to Malibu, Calif., for a 5 p.m. showdown with No. 23 Pepperdine on Friday, March 12.
 
STORYLINES
• Friday will mark UC Irvine's fifth road contest in its first seven dual matches.
• The 'Eaters won their third-straight match on Sunday, March 7, defeating Weber State, 5-2.
• Bjorn Hoffmann and Matthew Sah are both riding four-match win streaks in singles play.
• Hoffmann is 5-1 at No. 1 singles, including a signature 6-3, 7-6 victory over No. 60 August Holmgren of San Diego (Feb. 14).
• He was named the Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17.
• Sah is also 5-1 in singles, playing at the fourth and fifth positions.
• He has four straight-set wins, and has dropped only three sets this season.
• Jeremy Merville posted straight-set victories in each of his last two decisions.
• Merville, who joined UCI as a transfer from Nevada in 2019-20, has 16 overall career singles wins (9-3 dual).
• Graduate transfer Jonathan Star is coming off his first victory as an Anteater with a three-set triumph on Sunday.
• Ali Amiri delivered the final point in the season opener at LMU for his second career 4-3 match-clinching singles win.
• Bruce Man-Son-Hing owns a 47-25 (.653) career record in dual-match doubles.
• Man-Son-Hing's 47 victories are tied for 20th among UC Irvine's all-time doubles win leaders.
• In their Division I history, the Anteaters have made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• They have finished first in the Big West standings 17 times and won three Big West Tournament titles.
• UCI has been named an ITA All-Academic Team (minimum 3.2 team GPA) in each of the last four years.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine extended its win streak to three after taking down Weber State, 5-2, this past Sunday at Anteater Tennis Stadium. The 'Eaters stuck with their same doubles lineup for the third-straight match, and it paid off as they came out with a clean sweep. Jeremy Merville and Matthew Sah were first off the court with a 6-4 victory over Brendan Barr/Kris Van Wyk at No. 3. Mark Peneff and Thomas Smart then secured the doubles point with a 6-4 triumph over Bo-Han Li/Michiel Van Schoor at No. 2. Bjorn Hoffmann and Bruce Man-Son-Hing eventually finished off the dominant performance, upending Sebastian Buxman/Arthur Serafim, 7-6 (4), at the top of the lineup.
 
UCI carried the momentum into singles play, winning the first three decisions to clinch the team victory before the Wildcats got on the board. Merville put the home team up, 2-0, after topping Serafim, 6-3, 2-0, ret. Sah also dispatched Li, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 4 before Hoffmann closed it out with a gritty 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 triumph against Van Wyk at No. 1. The remaining courts finished out their matches with Jonathan Star adding a three-set (2-6, 6-4, 7-6) comeback win over Barr at the sixth position.
 
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine (4-4) entered the top-25 in the Oracle ITA Rankings following its 4-3 win over then No. 8 USC on March 5. The Waves, who have won five of their last six matches, also topped No. 14 Oklahoma State, 5-2, on Feb. 14. Pepperdine has eight returning letterwinners from last year's team that went 11-0 in a shortened season. Graduate student Adrian Oetzbach has played primarily at the top of the singles lineup where he is 3-3 with a couple victories over ranked opponents.
 
RETURN TO PLAY
On Sunday, Jan. 31, UC Irvine made its return to competition after an 11-month hiatus due to COVID-19 public health and safety concerns. In their first dual match in 328 days, the Anteaters earned a 4-3 victory at Loyola Marymount.
 
"We have a lot of gratitude that we get the opportunity to go out and compete," said sixth-year head coach Mike Saunders. "There have been a lot of people working really hard behind the scenes to give us that privilege and we are extremely grateful for that."
 
TWICE AS NICE
Bjorn Hoffmann earned his second-straight Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award on Feb. 17, making him the first Anteater to win back-to-back weekly awards since 2008. The 6-foot-2 graduate transfer from Cal, was recognized for his effort in a road battle at San Diego on Sunday, Feb. 14. Hoffmann earned a statement singles win, defeating the Toreros' 60th-ranked August Holmgren, 6-3, 7-5, at the top of the lineup. He was also tabbed the Big West Athlete of the Week on Feb. 10, after going 2-0 in singles and doubles in a season-opening team victory at LMU (Jan. 31). Hoffmann is 5-1 in singles, while playing all five matches at No. 1. His only loss came at top-ranked USC.
SAH POWER
Sophomore Matthew Sah, who has played at Nos. 4 and 5 in the lineup, is tied for the team lead with five singles wins. The San Diego native, who has dropped only three sets through six matches, earned straight-set victories against opponents from Weber State, San Diego State, USD and LMU, while also defeating Reece Falck of Fresno State, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in an epic three-set battle. Sah set the tone for his 2021 season with an impressive performance back in July, when he won the ITA Summer Circuit event at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego (July 11-13, 2020). Sah went 5-0 over the course of three days, finishing the tournament with a 3-6, 6-4, 15-13 comeback win over Ellis Short in the championship match.
 
DOUBLES SPECIALIST
Senior Bruce Man-Son-Hing is a two-time All-Big West doubles selection, earning first-team honors in 2018 and second-team recognition in 2019. In his UCI career, Man-Son-Hing has accumulated a 47-25 dual-match doubles record. His 47 wins are tied for 20th in school history.
 
STATEMENT MADE
Senior Jeremy Merville (Paris, France) has been a key contributor in the UC Irvine lineup ever since his arrival on campus prior to the 2019-20 campaign. In his first season with the 'Eaters, which was shortened due to the pandemic, the transfer from Nevada picked up 13 overall singles, and nine overall doubles wins. He owns a 9-3 career dual-match record at UCI, and was named the Big West Athlete of the Week on Feb. 19, 2020.
 
ANTEATER ROOTS
Graduate transfer Bjorn Hoffmann has returned to his Orange County roots for his final season of eligibility. A Newport Beach native, Hoffmann has strong ties to UC Irvine with his parents, Carsten and Biljana, and his uncle, Zoran Korac, all being Anteater tennis alums. Both his father and mother still rank among UCI's all-time win leaders. Hoffmann is looking to finish out a stellar collegiate career himself, as he was a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete as a member of the Cal men's tennis team. He was ranked 81st in singles and 22nd in doubles in the final Oracle/ITA Rankings of the 2019 fall season. Hoffmann finished his Golden Bear career with a 67-34 singles and 39-28 doubles record.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will face its second-straight ranked opponent next Tuesday, March 23, when it heads to No. 18 UCLA for an 11 a.m. showdown. The Anteaters are also set to host Portland State at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 24.