IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team fell to Loyola Marymount, 4-3, in its home opener Saturday at Anteater Tennis Stadium.
 
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.
 
LMU (2-1) took the early 1-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.