No. 72 Hawai'i (11-4, 4-1 Big West) at
UC Irvine (13-6, 3-2 Big West)
Date: Sunday, April 24
Time: 12 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team hosts No. 72 Hawai'i in its regular-season finale on Sunday, April 24, with first serve set for 12 p.m. at Anteater Tennis Stadium.

The 'Eaters will recognize their three seniors following the match, while a couple UCI men's tennis alums will also be providing free pizza to fans at the match while supplies last.
 
STORYLINES
• UCI has been tough to beat at Anteater Tennis Stadium in recent years, owning a 39-9 (.813) home record since 2018.
• The 'Eaters went unbeaten from Feb. 19-March 30 for their first 10-match win streak since 2015.
• At 13-6, they have secured the program's fifth consecutive winning season.
• All six of UC Irvine's losses have come to teams that were ranked or later made their way into the ITA's top-75.
• Emmanuel Coste has been featured in each of the last seven ITA Singles Top-125 Rankings.
• He had a high ranking of No. 60, and most recently came in at No. 82 (April 20).
• Coste, who has faced two top-10 opponents this year, is 9-3 at No. 1 singles.
• The graduate transfer kicked off the 2022 season by upsetting the NCAA's top-ranked singles player at the time.
• On Jan. 21, he took down then No. 1 August Holmgren of San Diego, 6-3, 0-6, 7-5.
• Coste was named the Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week for his effort (Jan. 26).
• Noah Zamora is the first 'Eater to reach double digits in the win column with a team-best 10-2 dual-match singles record.
• Riccardo Roberto and Mike Mkrtchian are also tied for third on the team with eight singles victories each.
• Roberto owns UCI's longest active win streak as he has come out on top in his last seven decisions.
• In his 2022 debut, Ali Amiri defeated Paul Barretto of ninth-ranked USC, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7, at the sixth position.
• In their Division I history, the Anteaters have made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• They have placed first in the Big West standings 17 times and won three Big West Tournament titles.
• UC Irvine has been named an ITA All-Academic Team (minimum 3.2 team GPA) in each of the last five years.
 
BIG WEST STANDINGS
UC Irvine is currently fourth in the Big West standings behind Cal Poly (5-0), UC Santa Barbara (4-1) and Hawai'i (4-1). The Anteaters can move into a three-way tie for second with a win and a UCSB loss. A win coupled with a Gaucho victory would result in the 'Eaters earning the No. 3 seed, while a loss to the 'Bows would make them the fourth seed.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine earned a Big West road win on Saturday, April 16, defeating UC Davis, 4-2, at Marya Welch Tennis Center. 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 pulled ahead 2-0 with a victory at No. 5 singles, but the 'Eaters responded with back-to-back straight-set wins. Mike Mkrtchian got UCI 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. UC Irvine 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 Ryan Morgan on court three.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
UC Irvine has made two appearances in the ITA National Team Rankings, coming in at No. 70 on March 2 and No. 74 on April 6. Emmanuel Coste has also been a staple in the ITA Singles Top-125 this season. Coste, who has been ranked as high as 60th in the nation, came in at No. 82 in the latest ITA poll (April 20). The graduate transfer made his way into the first rankings of the spring after picking up a signature 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 win over then No. 1 August Holmgren of San Diego in the dual-match opener on Jan. 21. He is 9-3 on the season with his only losses coming to UCSB's Phillip Jordan, UCLA's Drew Baird and USC's Stefan Dostanic, who remains unbeaten in dual match play and is ranked fifth in the nation.

SCOUTING THE 'BOWS
No. 72 Hawai'i (11-4, 4-1 Big West) saw its three-match win streak snapped with two losses at No. 48 UCLA last week.  Andre Ilagan, who was ranked 34th in the latest ITA Singles Top-125 Poll, leads the Rainbow Warriors with an 8-3 record at the top of the lineup. Ilagan has also teamed up with Karl Collins to go 7-1 at No. 1 doubles.
 
MARCHING ON
The Anteaters went 7-0 in March, marking their first undefeated month with at least five matches played since 2000. That run extended their win streak to 10 before a 4-2 defeat against No. 61 Cal Poly on April 3. On the year, UC Irvine is 13-6, with all six of its losses coming to teams that have been ranked among the ITA's Top-75 at some point this season.
 
SINGLES STREAKS
Riccardo Roberto owns UCI's longest active singles win streak at seven matches. Roberto has not lost since the Anteaters' Feb. 13 match at UCLA. Noah Zamora recently saw his season-long eight-match win streak snapped against Cal Poly on April 3, while Emmanuel Coste's six-match win streak came to an end at UC Santa Barbara on April 10.
 
MATCH CLINCHERS
Six different 'Eaters have delivered the match-clinching point in the team's 13 victories this season. Emmanuel Coste has ended the match on five separate occasions, including in a 4-3 triumph at then No. 72 San Francisco. The first collegiate dual-match wins for both Rithvik Krishna and Lawee Sherif were also match clinchers, while Noah Zamora had a thrilling 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) triumph to secure UCI's 4-3 victory against Dartmouth.
 
SENIOR YEAR
Through three-plus seasons at UC Irvine, which included two shortened campaigns due to the pandemic, senior Mike Mkrtchian has posted a 36-25 overall singles record. He is 21-13 in dual-match play, and a remarkable 10-1 against Big West opponents. His first and only regular-season conference loss to date came on Sunday, April 10, at No. 57 UC Santa Barbara.

UP NEXT
The Big West Championships will begin with first-round matches on Friday, April 29, at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.