UC Irvine (1-4) at
No. 45 Pepperdine (3-5)
Date: Thursday, March 2
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center - Malibu, Calif.
Live Stream & Results

Boise State (5-2) at
UC Irvine (1-4)
Date: Friday, March 3
Time: 12 p.m. (PST)
Location: Palisades Tennis Club - Newport Beach, Calif.

Army (8-7) at
UC Irvine (1-4)
Date: Sunday, March 5
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

Boston University (6-6) at
UC Irvine (1-4)
Date: Monday, March 6
Time: 10 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's tennis has a busy week ahead with four matches in five days, starting Thursday, March 2, at No. 45 Pepperdine (11 a.m.). UCI then returns home to host Boise State (March 3), Army (March 5) and Boston University (March 6). Friday's match against the Broncos will be played at Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach, while the team will be at Anteater Tennis Stadium on Sunday and Monday.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine earned its first win of the season with a 4-2 victory at Pacific in its last outing on Feb. 19.
• The Anteaters faced a couple tough early tests with two of their first three matches coming at Pac-12 schools.
• They went up against No. 8 USC in their season opener (Jan. 22) and also traveled to UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 11.
• Enrique Luque Rico earned his first dual-match singles victory of the year against the Bruins.
• He took down Giacomo Revelli in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, at No. 2 to get the 'Eaters on the board.
• Thomas Smart won his last two singles matches to give him a team-best three wins in dual-match play.
• Mike Saunders was named the 2022 Big West Men's Tennis Coach of the Year.
• Last season, Saunders led UC Irvine to its first Big West men's tennis title in 11 years.
• His squad had a fifth-straight winning campaign (17-7) with four ranked victories.
• Noah Zamora was named the 2022 Big West co-Freshman of the Year after logging a team-best 13-2 dual-match record.
• Zamora was also a first-team all-conference selection in doubles and garnered second-team recognition in singles.
• Zamora and Ali Amiri traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Championships in the fall.
• In their Division I history, the Anteaters have made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• They 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 six years.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine closed out a weekend road trip with a 4-2 win over Pacific at Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center on Sunday, Feb. 19. The Anteaters came out strong, winning the doubles point for the second match in a row. Brandon Park and Noah Zamora made quick work of Peter Alam/Manroop Saini, 6-2, at No. 1. Matthew Sah and Lawee Sherif followed suit with a 6-3 win over Andre Rodeia/Tiago Silva at the third position to secure the early lead. In singles play, the Tigers quickly evened the score with a straight-set victory at the top of the lineup. Thomas Smart answered by dispatching Riley Hillenbrand, 6-4, 6-3, on court six. Enrique Luque Rico then gave UCI a 3-1 advantage as he bounced back from a first-set loss to take down Ran Amar, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2. Pacific stayed alive with a hard-fought victory at No. 3 before Rithvik Krishna clinched the Anteaters' first win of the young season by upending Rodeia, 6-3, 7-6 (5) at the fourth spot.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Pepperdine (3-5), which has played four ranked teams, was 45th in the latest ITA Top-75. The Waves have won two in a row, defeating UC Santa Barbara, 4-3, and Tulsa, 4-1. No. 61 Daniel De Jonge and No. 124 Tim Zeitvogel, who were both first-team All-West Coast Conference selections in 2022, have combined for four wins at the top two spots in the singles lineup. As a tandem, De Jonge/Zeitvogel are 36th in the doubles rankings.
 
Boise State (5-2) is coming off a 6-1 win over BYU on Saturday, Feb. 25. Sam Sippel is 4-1 at No. 1 singles, while Simon Arca Costas is 5-0 at No. 2. Arca Costas was a 2022 All-Mountain West selection in singles and doubles. Army (8-7) lost two matches last weekend, falling at DePaul and in a neutral-site contest against Cleveland State. Boston University (6-6) is also coming off back-to-back losses, and will host Bentley on March 2 before making its way to Southern California.

THE COMEBACK
Junior Thomas Smart, who missed most of last season with an injury, owns a team-best 3-2 record in dual-match singles. He has won each of his last two at No. 6, while his only losses this year came at No. 8 USC and at UCLA. 
 
DOUBLES SUCCESS
Junior Brandon Park and sophomore Noah Zamora have found instant chemistry on the court. The duo, which made their debut as a tandem on Feb. 18, are 2-0 at the top of the lineup. Against Nevada, they clinched the doubles point with a 7-6 (3) victory, while they also upended Peter Alam/Manroop Saini of Pacific, 6-2.
 
SENIOR LEADERS
Seniors and veteran leaders Matthew Sah and Ali Amiri have both been with the UC Irvine men's tennis program since fall 2019. The two have come a long way from seeing their freshman dual-match season canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to becoming Big West champions last year. During their collegiate careers, the 'Eaters have boasted a 33-20 dual-match record. Sah is the Anteaters' active leader in doubles wins at 24.
 
FIRST-YEAR HONORS
Sophomore Noah Zamora was named the 2022 Big West co-Freshman of the Year after going 13-2 in dual-match singles. Zamora, who played everywhere from No. 1 to No. 5, combined for a 10-1 record at the top three spots in the lineup. In the fall, Zamora led the Anteaters with seven singles victories. He advanced to the pre-qualifying Round of 64 at the ITA All-American Championships and the Round of 32 at the ITA Southwest Regional.
 
RETURNING DEPTH
UCI received significant contributions from a pair of true freshmen in its 2022 championship season. Lawee Sherif, who joined the team last January, was a staple in the lineup, playing at Nos. 3-5. Rithvik Krishna also finished with a 5-1 dual-match record. He won his last three decisions, including a 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory in the Big West Championship match.
 
SEASONED NEWCOMERS
UC Irvine added two newcomers ahead of the 2022-23 season. Enrique Luque Rico (Cordoba, Spain) is a graduate transfer who spent the last four years at Pepperdine where he was a two-time All-West Coast Conference selection in singles. He finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 20-5 overall record. Brandon Park is also a junior transfer out of Pacific (2020-22). Park went 6-2 during the fall season with a couple impressive wins over Pac-12 opponents.
 
STAYING LOCAL
UC Irvine's eight-man roster is comprised of six student-athletes from the Southern California area, including Ali Amiri and Rithvik Krishna, who are both from Irvine.
 
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
Two international student-athletes - Enrique Luque Rico (Spain) and Thomas Smart (England) - round out UCI's roster. The 'Eaters have had at least two international student-athletes every year since 2014-15.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine continues a five-match homestand next Saturday, March 11, against Utah State.