IRVINE, Calif. - The 2022 UC Irvine men's tennis team put together one of its best seasons in recent history. UCI (17-7) won the Big West Tournament, made its first NCAA appearance in 11 years and finished the campaign ranked 67th in the nation.
 
The Anteaters' 17 victories were their most since 2016, while they also had their best win percentage since 1999. The squad's four returners and five newcomers really started to mesh in February with a 4-3 comeback victory at No. 72 San Francisco sparking a 10-match win streak. After that streak was snapped in conference play against ranked foes Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine came right back to defeat both teams in the Big West Tournament.

End of Season Notes (PDF)

2022 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
• UC Irvine made its 12th NCAA Division I Tournament appearance.
• The Anteaters earned The Big West's automatic bid after winning the conference tournament for the first time since 2011.
• As the No. 3 seed, they upset No. 2 Cal Poly in the semifinals and No. 1 UC Santa Barbara in the championship.
• The 'Eaters, who had their fifth consecutive winning campaign, went 17-7 overall with four ranked victories.
• Their 17 wins were the program's most in a season since 2016, while it was their best win percentage since 1999.
• All seven of UCI's losses came to teams that were ranked or later made their way into the ITA's Top-75.
• UC Irvine was 67th in the final ITA Team Rankings, while Emmanuel Coste was 91st in the final ITA Singles Top-125.
• Coste was featured in each of the last 10 singles rankings with a high of No. 60.
• The graduate transfer went 10-4 at No. 1 with a 1-1 record against top-10 opponents.
• He upset then No. 1 and eventual NCAA runner-up August Holmgren (USD), 6-3, 0-6, 7-5, in the dual-match opener.
• Noah Zamora was the first 'Eater to 10 wins and closed out the year with a team-best 13-2 dual-match singles record.
• Mike Mkrtchian ranked second on the squad with 12 dual-match singles victories.
• Riccardo Roberto (11-4) had UCI's longest win streak of the season, coming out on top in each of his last 10 decisions.
• The Anteaters went unbeaten from Feb. 19-March 30 for their first 10-match win streak since 2015.
 
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 2022 postseason accolades. 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.
 
BIG WEST 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.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT REWIND
On May 6, UC Irvine made its return to the NCAA Division I Tournament, taking on 17th-ranked San Diego in a first-round match at USC's Marks Stadium. The Anteaters, who already had a tough task going up against a top-20 opponent, also faced some adversity with their No. 1 singles and doubles player Emmanuel Coste being out due to a family emergency. Although the 'Eaters embraced the last-minute lineup changes and left everything on the court, they came up short in their bid for an upset. In doubles action, Mike Mkrtchian and Noah Zamora fell to Will Davies/Sacchitt Sharma, 6-2 on court two. The UCI duo was playing together for only the second time, and first since the fall tournament season. At No. 3, Ali Amiri and Lawee Sherif went back-and-forth with David Norfeldt/Marvin Schaber before the Toreros rallied to win four of the last five games for the 6-3 victory. Riccardo Roberto and Matthew Sah were up 4-3 against No. 22 August Holmgren/Gui Osorio on center court when their match was abandoned. In singles, USD picked up three hard-fought straight-set wins for the 4-0 victory.

IN THE RANKINGS
UC Irvine was featured in the ITA National Team Rankings four times this season. In the final poll released on May 25, the Anteaters received a season-high ranking of No. 67. They were also 68th on May 4, 74th on April 6 and 70th on March 2. Individually, Emmanuel Coste has been a staple in the ITA Singles Top-125 as he was featured in every poll during the 2022 season. Coste was ranked as high as 60th, and came in at No. 91 in the final poll. The graduate transfer initially 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 closed out the dual-match campaign with a 10-4 record at No. 1 singles.
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
UCI 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 put together UCI's longest singles win streak of the season at 10 matches. His last loss of the year came at UCLA on Feb. 13. Noah Zamora, Mike Mkrtchian and Emmanuel Coste also had respective win streaks of at least five matches during the dual-match campaign.
 
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 went 17-7, with all seven of its losses coming to teams that were ranked among the ITA's Top-75 at some point this season.
 
MATCH CLINCHERS
Seven different 'Eaters secured the match-clinching point in the team's 17 victories. Emmanuel Coste led the way with six decisive wins, including at No. 72 San Francisco and against No. 55 UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Championship.
 
YEAR FOUR
Through four seasons at UC Irvine, which included two shortened campaigns due to the pandemic, senior Mike Mkrtchian has posted a 40-26 overall singles record. He is 25-14 in dual-match play, and a remarkable 14-2 against Big West opponents.
 
FRESHMAN SENSATION
Noah Zamora made an immediate impact in his collegiate debut season. The Big West co-Freshman of the Year had a team-leading 17 overall singles victories and a 13-2 record in dual matches. He showed his versatility, playing at Nos. 1-5, while also earning first-team all-conference honors in doubles. True freshman Rithvik Krishna had some big wins in his first year at UCI as well, including in the Big West Championship match vs. No. 55 UCSB.
 
LAST HURRAH
Emmanuel Coste and Riccardo Roberto are both graduate transfers who closed out their collegiate careers at UC Irvine. Coste, who 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.