UC Irvine Begins NCAA Tournament Friday Against San Diego

NCAA TOURNAMENT
First Round
No. 68 UC Irvine (17-6) vs.
No. 17 San Diego (22-3)
Date: Friday, May 6
Time: 10 a.m. (PDT)
Location: David X. Marks Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Stream

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - No. 68 UC Irvine men's tennis will stay close to home for the program's 12th NCAA Tournament appearance as they head to Los Angeles for a first-round match against 17th-ranked San Diego on Friday, May 6. First serve is set for 10 a.m. at USC's Marks Stadium. The winner will advance to Saturday's second round to face either Nevada or the host Trojans.

STORYLINES
• UC Irvine earned an automatic NCAA bid after winning its fourth Big West Tournament title and first since 2011.
• The third-seeded Anteaters upset No. 2 Cal Poly in the semifinals and No. 1 UC Santa Barbara in the championship.
• The 'Eaters, who have their fifth consecutive winning campaign, are 17-6 with four ranked victories.
• Their 17 wins are the most in a season since the 2016 squad went 17-9.
• All six of UCI's losses have come to teams that were ranked or later made their way into the ITA Top-75.
• The Anteaters went unbeaten from Feb. 19-March 30 for their first 10-match win streak since 2015.
• Emmanuel Coste has been featured in each of the last nine ITA Singles Top-125 Rankings.
• He had a high ranking of No. 60, and most recently came in at No. 87 (May 4).
• Coste, who has faced two top-10 opponents this year, is 10-4 at No. 1 singles.
• The graduate transfer kicked off the 2022 season by upsetting then No. 1 August Holmgren (USD), 6-3, 0-6, 7-5.
• Noah Zamora was the first 'Eater to reach 10 wins and now owns a team-best 13-2 dual-match singles record.
• Mike Mkrtchian, who has won five in a row, is second on the squad with 12 singles victories.
• Riccardo Roberto (11-4) has UCI's longest active win streak as he has come out on top in his last 10 decisions.
• This will mark the Anteaters' 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and first in 11 years.
• They are 5-11 in NCAA Tournament matches with their last win coming in 1995.
• The 'Eaters have placed first in the Big West standings 17 times and won four 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.

ALL-BIG WEST
Mike Saunders earned his first career Big West Coach of the Year award, and Noah Zamora was tabbed the co-Freshman of the Year to highlight UC Irvine's postseason accolades that were announced on May 4. Graduate students Emmanuel Coste and Riccardo Roberto were also first-team All-Big West selections, while Zamora earned second-team honors. In addition, Coste and Zamora received first-team all-conference distinction in doubles.

CHAMPIONSHIP RUN
Third-seeded UC Irvine started its Big West Championship run with a 4-2 victory over No. 6 UC Davis. After dropping the doubles point and going down 2-0 to start singles play, the Anteaters rallied to win the next four matches. Rithvik Krishna got the 'Eaters on the board with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 triumph at No. 6, while Riccardo Roberto tied it up with a straight-set victory at No. 2. Noah Zamora also won in three at the third position, setting up the clinching victory from Mike Mkrtchian on court four. Mkrtchian delivered in thrilling fashion, winning a deuce point to save match point at 5-2 and 5-3 in the second set before coming all the way back for the 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2 triumph. UCI carried that momentum into the semifinals where it blanked second-seeded and 60th-ranked Cal Poly, 4-0. That set up a meeting with six-time defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara in the title match. The top-seeded and 55th-ranked Gauchos took an early 2-0 advantage, but UC Irvine dug deep once again, with Krishna, Mkrtchian and Zamora giving the Anteaters their first lead of the day. The match was then decided at the top of the lineup where Emmanuel Coste upended No. 120 Phillip Jordan, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, for the title.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
No. 17 San Diego (22-3) is coming off its seventh-straight West Coast Conference Tournament title. The Toreros are led by WCC Player of the Year and sixth-ranked August Holmgren, who is 18-3 at No. 1 singles. Holmgren and Gui Osorio are also ranked 22nd in doubles with a 15-4 record. UCI and USD squared off in San Diego for both teams' dual-match opener on Jan. 21. Emmanuel Coste defeated Holmgren at the top of the lineup, but the Toreros came away with the 6-1 victory.

No. 13 USC (21-5), which won the Pac-12 Tournament title, is making its 15th-straight NCAA appearance. The Trojans have four individuals ranked among the nation's Top-125 singles players, led by No. 7 Stefan Dostanic, who is 15-0 at the top of the lineup. Dostanic and Bradley Frye are also seventh in the latest ITA Doubles Rankings.

No. 72 Nevada (19-7) earned an automatic NCAA bid after sweeping the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles.

IN THE RANKINGS
UC Irvine made its way back into the ITA National Team Rankings this week, coming in at No. 68. The 'Eaters were previously 70th on March 2 and 74th on April 6. Individually, Emmanuel Coste has been a staple in the ITA Singles Top-125 as he has been featured in every poll during the 2022 season. Coste has been ranked as high as 60th, and was 87th in the latest rankings released on May 4. The graduate transfer made his way into the top-125 after opening the dual-match campaign with a signature 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 win over then No. 1 August Holmgren of San Diego. He is now 10-4 on the season with one of those losses coming to USC's Dostanic.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
UC Irvine brought home two Big West Player of the Week awards in 2022. Emmanuel Coste was recognized on Jan. 26, following his win over top-ranked August Holmgren of San Diego. Noah Zamora also earned the weekly honor for his performance in the Anteaters' 4-2 victory over UC Davis on April 16. He joined forces with Coste for a 6-4 triumph against Andrei Volgin/Mitchell Davis at the top of the doubles lineup, before delivering the match-clinching point by coming from behind to defeat Ryan Morgan 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.

SINGLES STREAK
Riccardo Roberto owns UCI's longest active singles win streak at 10 matches. He has not lost since the Anteaters' Feb. 13 contest at UCLA. Noah Zamora and Mike Mkrtchian also bring a five-match singles win streak into the NCAA Tournament.

MARCHING ON
The 'Eaters 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 17-6, with all six of its losses coming to teams that have been ranked among the ITA's Top-75 at some point this season.

MATCH CLINCHERS
Seven different 'Eaters have secured the match-clinching point in the team's 17 victories. Emmanuel Coste leads the way with six decisive wins, including at No. 72 San Francisco and against No. 55 UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Championship.

SENIOR YEAR
Through four seasons at UC Irvine, which included two shortened campaigns due to the pandemic, senior Mike Mkrtchian has posted a 40-25 overall singles record. He is 25-13 in dual-match play, and a remarkable 14-2 against Big West opponents.

LAST HURRAH
Emmanuel Coste and Riccardo Roberto are both graduate transfers closing out their collegiate careers at UC Irvine. Coste, who has earned a singles ranking every year, spent three seasons at Pac-12 member Oregon, while Roberto was a four-year letterwinner at Alabama. Coste is in UCI's Master of Finance program, and Roberto is working toward a Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship degree.

STAYING LOCAL
UC Irvine's nine-man roster is comprised of six student-athletes from the Southern California area. Three are Orange County natives, including Rithvik Krishna and Ali Amiri, who hail from Irvine.

Schedule

UC Irvine Begins NCAA Tournament Friday Against San Diego

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ali Amiri

Emmanuel Coste

Rithvik Krishna

Mike Mkrtchian

Riccardo Roberto

Noah Zamora

Footer

Upcoming Events