UC San Diego (0-7, 0-4 Big West) at
UC Irvine (8-5, 3-1 Big West)
Date: Saturday, April 17
Time: 3:30 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium (Spectators are not permitted)

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team looks to extend a six-match home winning streak when it hosts UC San Diego in a 3:30 p.m. Big West showdown on Saturday, April 17. Spectators are currently not permitted at Anteater Tennis Stadium.
 
UCI's non-conference match vs. Northern Arizona, which was scheduled for Sunday, April 18, has been canceled.
 
STORYLINES
• Bjorn Hoffmann has been featured among the Oracle ITA Singles Top-125 since March 24, with a high ranking of 60th.
• Hoffmann, who has played every match at the top of the lineup, is 8-5 overall and 2-2 against ranked opponents.
• His first ranked victory came at San Diego (Feb. 14), where he took down then No. 60 August Holmgren, 6-3, 7-5.
• He also defeated No. 77 Alex Stater of Cal Poly, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, in UCI's Big West opener on March 27.
• Hoffmann has been named the Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week three times this season.
• Mike Mkrtchian owns the squad's longest active singles win streak at five matches. He has not lost since March 12.
• Mkrtchian, who has played at Nos. 4-6, is now 7-3 on the season with his seven victories ranking second on the team.
• Since making his season debut on March 12, Mateusz Smolicki is 4-1 in singles and 5-2 in doubles.
• 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 50-27 (.649) career record in dual-match doubles.
• After going 2-0 last week, Man-Son-Hing became the 16th 'Eater in program history to reach the 50-win milestone.
• 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 won its third-straight Big West match this past Sunday as it took down UC Santa Barbara, 5-2, at Anteater Tennis Stadium. The Gauchos, who were short-handed with only five available players, put up a fight by sending four of the five contested singles matches to three sets. But, the 'Eaters, who were also without two key components to their lineup in Jeremy Merville and Mark Peneff, stepped up to end UCSB's 35-match win streak against Big West opponents. UCI won the doubles point with Bruce Man-Son-Hing and Matthew Sah securing the early lead on court two, after the visitors forfeited at No. 3. Playing together for the first time this season, Man-Son-Hing and Sah didn't miss a beat, cruising to a 6-2 victory. UC Irvine then started singles play with a 2-0 lead as Santa Barbara had to forfeit again at No. 6. Ali Amiri quickly added to the Anteaters' advantage as he dispatched Josh Williams, 6-1, 6-2, at the fifth position. Mike Mkrtchian then delivered the point that clinched UCI's first team victory over UCSB since 2015. Mkrtchian bounced back from a tough first set for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 triumph. Both squads continued to battle it out with Mateusz Smolicki contributing another point following a 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 marathon win at No. 2.
 
HOME COOKING
UC Irvine is 4-0 at Anteater Tennis Stadium this season. The 'Eaters have not lost at home since Feb. 1, 2020.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
Bjorn Hoffmann came in at No. 100 in the latest Oracle ITA Men's Tennis Singles Rankings (April 14). He has been ranked as high as 60th this year. Hoffmann is 8-5 at the top of the lineup, with a 6-3, 7-5 marquee win over then No. 60 August Holmgren of San Diego on Feb. 14. He also picked up a three-set victory over No. 77 Alex Stater of Cal Poly on March 27. Hoffmann is in his first season at UCI as a grad transfer from Cal. In his time with the Golden Bears, he was ranked as high as 81st in singles and 22nd in doubles. He is the first Anteater to be featured in the Oracle ITA Singles Top-125 in four years.
 
BIG WEST TRIFECTA
Bjorn Hoffmann has been named the Big West Athlete of the Week three times this season, earning the recognition on Feb. 10, Feb. 17 and March 31. He is the first Big West player to collect three men's tennis weekly awards in one season since 2018, and the first Anteater to accomplish the feat since Sebastian Heim in 2015.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS
UC San Diego (0-7, 0-4 Big West), which made the move up from NCAA Division II this season, is still in search of its first win as a DI program after falling to Cal Poly, 4-0, on Thursday. Since 1997, the Anteaters are 7-0 against the Tritons. The two teams last met on Jan. 21, 2018, with UCI winning, 4-0, in Irvine.
 
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 50-27 dual-match doubles record. His 50 wins rank 16th in school history.
 
STREAK STAYS ALIVE
Junior Mike Mkrtchian has won five singles matches in a row, marking the Anteaters' longest active win streak. Four of his seven total victories have come at the fifth position, but last week he played at No. 4 for the first time this season and stepped up to the challenge, delivering the match-clinching point in a 5-2 win over UC Santa Barbara.
 
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 a team-leading 13 overall singles wins. He owns an 11-7 career dual-match record at UCI, and was named the Big West Athlete of the Week on Feb. 19, 2020.
 
SAH POWER
Sophomore Matthew Sah, who has played at Nos. 3-5 in the lineup, is tied for third on the team with five singles wins. 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.
 
ALL-BIG WEST RETURNER
Senior Mateusz Smolicki, who played one season at USC, is in his third year with the Anteaters. As a sophomore in 2019, the Warsaw, Poland, native earned All-Big West honorable mention recognition in both singles and doubles. Last year, Smolicki played primarily at the top of the lineup and tied for second on the squad with 10 overall singles victories. Smolicki made his 2021 season debut in doubles at Pepperdine on March 12. Since his return to the court, Smolicki is 5-2 in doubles and 4-1 in singles.
 
ANTEATER ROOTS
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 Hoffmann and Biljana Longman, 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 finished his Golden Bear career with a 67-34 singles and 39-28 doubles record.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will host UC Davis in its regular-season finale next Saturday, April 24.