All-Big West Teams and Major Awards

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's tennis head coach Mike Saunders was named the Big West Coach of the Year, and Noah Zamora was tabbed the co-Freshman of the Year to highlight the Anteaters' postseason accolades that were announced Wednesday afternoon.
 
Graduate students Emmanuel Coste and Riccardo Roberto were also first-team All-Big West singles selections, while Zamora earned second-team honors. In addition, Coste and Zamora received first-team all-conference distinction in doubles.
 
Mike Saunders, who is in his seventh year at the helm, garnered his first Big West Coach of the Year award. He recently led the 'Eaters to their fourth Big West Tournament title and first since 2011. UCI defeated UC Davis in the opening round, before taking down the top two seeds in Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara for the championship. UC Irvine is 17-6 overall, and has beaten four ranked teams this year. The Anteaters have their sixth winning campaign under Saunders, while the 17 victories are their most in a season since 2016.
 
Noah Zamora is UCI's first Big West Freshman of the Year since Sebastian Heim in 2015. Zamora leads the team with a 13-2 mark in dual matches where he saw action at Nos. 1-5. He went 6-1 against Big West opponents with three of those victories coming in the conference tournament. In the championship match against UCSB, Zamora was down 5-2 in the third set before coming all the way back for a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4) triumph. The San Diego native also delivered under pressure during the regular season with a trio of three-set match-clinching wins against Weber State (4-2), Dartmouth (4-3) and UC Davis (4-2).
 
Emmanuel Coste has been featured in every ITA Top-125 Singles Ranking in 2022, most recently coming in at No. 87. He is 10-4 at the top of the lineup with a pair of ranked wins including a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 victory over then No. 1 August Holmgren of San Diego in the dual-match opener on Jan. 21. He was named the Big West Athlete of the Week following his marquee victory. Coste also defeated No. 120 Phillip Jordan to clinch UC Irvine's championship win against 55th-ranked UC Santa Barbara.
 
Riccardo Roberto is 11-4 in dual-match singles while playing primarily at No. 2. He has come out on top in each of his last 10 decisions as he has not lost since Feb. 13. Roberto went 3-0 during the Big West regular season and added two more victories in the conference tournament, winning in straight sets against UC Davis and Cal Poly.
 
Coste and Zamora also teamed up for five wins at No. 1 doubles. They defeated opponents from No. 60 Cal Poly, UC Davis, Boston University, LMU and Santa Clara. 
 
UC Irvine will be making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday, May 6, when it takes on 17th-ranked San Diego at USC's Marks Stadium. First serve is set for 10 a.m.