Saturday, February 4
Irvine, Calif.
12:00 PM
UC Irvine
3
vs
4
Loyola Marymount
Photo by: Matt Brown
Anteaters Drop 4-3 Decision to Loyola Marymount
February 04, 2023 | Men's Tennis
IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team fell to Loyola Marymount, 4-3, in its home opener Saturday at Anteater Tennis Stadium.
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It was a tightly-contested match with the two teams going back-and-forth before the Lions pulled out a third-set tiebreaker to clinch the team win.
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LMU (2-1) took the early 1-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches.
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Junior Thomas Smart quickly tied it up in singles as he dispatched Austin Di Giulio, 6-2, 6-2, on court five. Loyola Marymount answered with a victory at the top of the lineup before senior Ali Amiri came right back with an impressive 6-1, 7-6 (4) triumph over Toky Ranaivo at No. 4.
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The seesaw battle continued with the Lions going up 3-2, but sophomore Rithvik Krishna kept the 'Eaters alive as he bounced back from an opening-set loss to take down John Bryan Otico, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in his first career match at the third position.
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It then came down to court six where sophomore Lawee Sherif and Alvaro Gonzalez went down to the wire. Sherif took the first, but Gonzalez responded for the 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) victory.
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UC Irvine (0-2) will be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 11, when it visits Pac-12 member UCLA for a 12 p.m. showdown.
Β
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It was a tightly-contested match with the two teams going back-and-forth before the Lions pulled out a third-set tiebreaker to clinch the team win.
Β
LMU (2-1) took the early 1-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches.
Β
Junior Thomas Smart quickly tied it up in singles as he dispatched Austin Di Giulio, 6-2, 6-2, on court five. Loyola Marymount answered with a victory at the top of the lineup before senior Ali Amiri came right back with an impressive 6-1, 7-6 (4) triumph over Toky Ranaivo at No. 4.
Β
The seesaw battle continued with the Lions going up 3-2, but sophomore Rithvik Krishna kept the 'Eaters alive as he bounced back from an opening-set loss to take down John Bryan Otico, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in his first career match at the third position.
Β
It then came down to court six where sophomore Lawee Sherif and Alvaro Gonzalez went down to the wire. Sherif took the first, but Gonzalez responded for the 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) victory.
Β
UC Irvine (0-2) will be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 11, when it visits Pac-12 member UCLA for a 12 p.m. showdown.
Β
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,3
#1 Singles Match
12
Yassine Smiej / 0 [LMU]
66
34
#2 Singles Match
123
Emin Torlic / 0 [LMU]
616
461
#3 Singles Match
123
John Bryan Otico / 0 [LMU]
652
476
#4 Singles Match
12
Toky Ranaivo / 0 [LMU]
16
67
#5 Singles Match
12
Austin Di Giulio / 0 [LMU]
22
66
#6 Singles Match
123
Alvaro Gonzalez / 0 [LMU]
277
666
Order of Finish:
5,1,4,2,3,6
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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