UC Irvine women's tennis started their season last weekend, and get into matches that count this weekend traveling to UC Davis and Santa Clara.

Storylines

• UCI opens the 2022 dual match season this week looking to win the opener for the second time under head coach Elizabeth Ferris joining the 2020 win vs. Westmont
• UCI's last season-opening win over a Division I opponent came in 2016 over Grand Canyon
• The Anteaters open with a Big West opponent for the second time in their history; the other came in 2019 which opened the Winter slate against Hawai'i
• Sunday's match at Santa Clara can be viewed via the online video stream with live stats for fans to follow the action
• The women's tennis squad finished the fall quarter with the highest grade point average in UCI athletics. "This team takes great pride in their studies and I'm so happy they are being recognized for all their efforts. This is quite an impressive accomplishment," praised coach Ferris.
• Five Anteaters were among the 113 student-athletes on the Fall 2021 Dean's List - Dasee Carter, Megan Mansonhing, Shreya Pavani, Mia Totah, and Jessica Tsukiji - by taking 12 or more units with a 3.500 GPA or higher

Last Week's Results

• The Anteaters kicked off 2022 action at the CSUF Spring Invite from January 21-23.
• Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico excelled in her 2022 debut winning two of three singles matches and earning a doubles point with partner Jenna Schlatter
• Jessica Tsukiji scored a big Sunday win avenging a loss in the fall to Cal State Fullerton's Eira Tobrand
• Alyssia Fossorier picked up UCI's fourth singles win on the weekend. She teamed up with Tsukiji for UCI's second and final doubles victory Sunday

UC Davis Aggies
The first dual match of the season for the Anteaters will also be a Big West matchup playing at UC Davis. The 2021 Aggies were 8-8 overall highlighted with wins at Pacific and Santa Clara. UC Davis was fourth with a 5-3 mark in Big West play which included a 4-0 sweep of UC Irvine. The four-seed was upended in its opening match of the Big West Tournament to Hawai'i.

The 2022 Aggies are one match into their season falling, 7-0, to No. 16 Stanford. Two other matches at Arizona State and Northern Arizona were also canceled because of COVID cases within the program.

Leading the squad are returners junior Yana Gurevich and senior Sara Tsukamoto who won 12 singles matches between them last season and five at No. 1 singles. Each also earned a win in their most recent tournament, the ITA Regionals, in November. and Gurevich teamed up with freshman Arianna Stavropolous to reach the Round of 16 in doubles.

Santa Clara Broncos
UCI finishes the weekend at Santa Clara before heading back down to Southern California with a Sunday morning match. The Broncos mirrored the Anteaters with just two wins in 2021 going 2-14 with 11 losses to end the season. The Broncos also went 0-8 in WCC matches. The programs last met in 2014 where UCI took a 4-1 win at home.

The 2022 Broncos will begin dual matches this weekend like the Anteaters hosting Nevada on Saturday with the Wolfpack swapping with UCI and playing UC Davis the next day. Santa Clara was part of the Cal Winter Invitational last weekend much like UCI's start as they matched up with Cal Saint Mary's, and Cal Poly.

The Broncos bring back nearly their entire 2021 roster led by sophomore JennaMarie Gordon who brings four singles wins from last year with three at No. 1. She teamed with Giulia Hayer to go 7-7 in doubles. The No. 1 doubles duo of sophomore Katherine Petty and Finley Kalinic are also back also bringing a combined 11 singles wins in 2021. Gordon has five wins so far in 2021-22 tournaments to lead the team alongside freshman Kacey Feng. At Cal, Kalinic took the No. 1 position going 0-3 while Gordon won 2 of 3 with one loss coming to a ranked foe.