Results

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The 74th-ranked UC Irvine men's tennis team fell to No. 57 UC Santa Barbara, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at Arnhold Tennis Center.
 
The Anteaters are now 12-6 overall and 2-2 in Big West play. All six of their losses have come to teams that have either been ranked or later made their way into the ITA's top-75.
 
The Gauchos (14-5, 3-1 Big West) won the doubles point as Pablo Masjuan/Kai Brady took the first match over Ali Amiri and Riccardo Roberto at No. 2. Gianluca Brunkow/Stefano Tsorotiotis then outlasted Matthew Sah and Lawee Sherif, 7-6 (7-4), on court three for the early lead.
 
Emmanuel Coste and Noah Zamora were locked in a 5-5 tie with Phillip Jordan/Victor Krustev at No. 1 when their match was abandoned.
 
UCSB kicked off singles play with a pair of straight-set wins. Sah fell to Brunkow, 6-1, 7-5, at No. 6, before Coste dropped a 6-1, 6-4 decision to Jordan at the top of the lineup. Coste saw his seven-match win streak come to an end.
 
Despite being in a 3-0 hole, the 'Eaters kept their comeback hopes alive on the four remaining courts.
 
Roberto, Mike Mkrtchian and Zamora all won their opening sets, while Sherif bounced back from a narrow 7-5 loss with a 6-2 victory in the second frame. But, UC Santa Barbara was eventually able to close out the match at the fifth position, where Alejandro Vedri overcame the one-set deficit to defeat Mkrtchian, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.
 
Zamora was up 7-6, 4-3 (15-0) against Krustev at No. 3 when the Gauchos clinched.
 
UC Irvine, which has two Big West regular-season matches remaining, will be back in action on Saturday, April 16, when it makes the trip to UC Davis.