Results

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team earned its second-straight Big West road win with a 4-3 victory over UC Riverside Thursday afternoon at the SRC Tennis Courts.
 
The Anteaters (7-5, 2-1 Big West), who secured the match at 4-1 before dropping the final two singles contests, improved to 26-0 against the Highlanders since 1997.
 
The 'Eaters swept through doubles play as Jeremy Merville and Matthew Sah set the tone by dispatching Jayson Blando/Michael Blando, 6-1, at No. 3. Bjorn Hoffmann and Mateusz Smolicki then clinched the point with a 6-3 triumph over Gilbert Chung/Joshua Roth on court one. Bruce Man-Son-Hing and Mark Peneff followed suit, taking down Antreas Djakouris/Nolan McCaig, 6-3, at No. 2.
 
In singles, UCR (1-7, 0-2 Big West) evened the score with Merville unable to finish his match against McCaig at the third position, but his teammates picked him up as UCI won the next three.
 
Mike Mkrtchian stayed hot, earning his fourth-straight victory by way of a 6-1, 6-2 score over Michael Blando at No. 6. On court two, Smolicki made quick work of Bingru Chen, 6-1, 6-3, to extend his win streak to three. No. 67 Bjorn Hoffmann then delivered the final blow at the top of the lineup where he defeated Chung, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
 
Sah and Peneff both dropped three-set battles at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
 
UC Irvine returns to Anteater Tennis Stadium for its Big West home opener against UC Santa Barbara at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 11.  Spectators are not permitted at this time.
 
 
NOTES
• UCI improved to 6-1 when winning the doubles point.
• Bruce Man-Son-Hing now owns a 49-27 career dual-match doubles record.
• He needs one more victory to become the 16th 'Eater in program history with 50+ doubles wins.
• Bjorn Hoffmann has played every match at the top of the doubles (6-5) and singles (8-4) lineup.
• Mike Mkrtchian is second on the team with a 6-3 singles record.
• Mkrtchian has won four matches in a row, which is the Anteaters' longest active win streak.
• Mateusz Smolicki, who played at No. 2 for the first time this season, improved to 3-1.
• Matthew Sah played in his first match since March 23.
• Sah and Jeremy Merville did not miss a beat in doubles as the pair moved to 4-1 on the season.