DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team earned a Big West road win on Saturday, defeating UC Davis, 4-2, at Marya Welch Tennis Center.
 
With the victory, the Anteaters improved to 13-6 overall and 3-2 in conference play. UCI is currently fourth in the standings and will host second-place Hawai'i in its regular-season finale next Sunday, April 24.
 
The Aggies won at No. 3 doubles before Emmanuel Coste and Noah Zamora evened the playing field by upending Andrei Volgin/Mitchell Davis, 6-4, at the top of the lineup. The point then came down to a tiebreaker on court two where Matthew Sah/Lawee Sherif dropped a narrow 7-6 (7-4) decision to Brett Brinkman/Andras Necz.
 
UCD (14-13, 0-5 Big West) pulled ahead 2-0 with a win at No. 5 singles, but the 'Eaters responded with back-to-back straight-set victories. Mike Mkrtchian got UC Irvine on the board as he dispatched Davis, 6-1, 6-2, at the sixth position. Sherif followed with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Necz at No. 4.
 
The Anteaters kept the momentum with Riccardo Roberto coming from behind to defeat Ryan Torres, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2. Zamora also bounced back from a first-set loss to clinch the team victory with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win against Morgan on court three.
 
The 'Eaters will be back in action on Sunday, April 24, when they host Hawai'i on Senior Day.

NOTES
• UC Irvine, which hasn't lost to UC Davis since 2018, improved to 14-5 in the all-time series (since 2003).
• Riccardo Roberto extended his singles win streak to seven matches.
• Emmanuel Coste and Noah Zamora earned their first Big West doubles victory after their last four matches went unfinished.
• Zamora also earned his 10th dual-match singles win (10-2), making him the first 'Eater to reach double digits this season.