Utah State (5-8) at
UC Irvine (3-6)
Date: Saturday, March 11
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's tennis continues a five-match homestand this weekend when it welcomes Utah State to Anteater Tennis Stadium for a 2 p.m. showdown on Saturday, March 11.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine closed out a stretch of four games in five days with back-to-back wins over Army and Boston University.
• The 'Eaters picked up their first sweep of the season on Monday, dropping only one singles set against the Terriers.
• UCI has faced three teams currently ranked in the ITA's Top 75 (USC, UCLA, Pepperdine).
• Three of the Anteaters' six losses have also come against 2022 NCAA Tournament teams.
• Enrique Luque Rico is riding a three-match singles win streak including each of the last two at the top of the lineup.
• Luque Rico also defeated Giacomo Revelli of UCLA and led #124 Tim Zeitvogel of Pepperdine when the match was clinched.
• Thomas Smart owns a team-best 5-3 singles record in dual-match play.
• Brandon Park and Noah Zamora made their doubles debut on Feb. 18 and have gone undefeated at No. 1 (6-0).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 defeated Boston University, 7-0, for its second-straight win Monday, March 6, at Anteater Tennis Stadium. The doubles pairing of Brandon Park and Noah Zamora continued to roll at the top of the lineup where they improved to 6-0 on the season with a 6-1 victory over Adrian Pawloski/Johann Sajonz. Matthew Sah and Lawee Sherif then secured the early 1-0 lead for UCI with a 6-4 triumph at No. 2. Rithvik Krishna and Thomas Smart played out their match against Dion Loutas/Jose Maria Robalino on court three. The 'Eaters fell behind 5-4 before holding serve to pull even. They proceeded to take the next two games for the 7-5 victory. The Anteaters kept the momentum in singles where they dropped only one set. Park got things started by dispatching Corey Craig, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2, while Enrique Luque Rico followed suit by taking down Loutas, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 1. Ali Amiri then clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ben Letzer at the fifth position. Smart (No. 4), Sherif (No. 6) and Zamora (No. 3) finished off the sweep with wins on their respective courts.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Utah State (5-8) split its last two matches against Big West opponents, defeating UC Riverside, 6-1, on Wednesday before falling to UC Santa Barbara, 4-2, on Thursday. David Cierny, a 2022 All-Mountain West selection, leads the Aggies with four singles wins at the top of the lineup. In the fall, he reached the finals of the ITA Mountain Regional Championships to qualify for ITA Fall Nationals.
 
DOUBLES SUCCESS
Junior Brandon Park and sophomore Noah Zamora have found instant chemistry on the court. The duo made their debut as a tandem on Feb. 18 and are now 6-0 at the top of the lineup. They clinched the doubles point against Nevada and Army, while also earning an impressive 6-4 victory at Pepperdine.

THE COMEBACK
Junior Thomas Smart, who missed most of last season with an injury, owns a team-best 5-3 record in dual-match singles. He has won each of his last two at Nos. 4 and 5, while his only losses this year came at eighth-ranked USC, at UCLA and vs. Boise State.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW ROLE
After playing most of last season at Nos. 3-5, sophomore Noah Zamora moved up to the top two spots for his first seven matches of the 2023 campaign. Zamora earned his first victory of the dual-match season in straight sets at No. 2 against Army's Thomas Lake, while he made it two in a row after taking down Jonah Dickson of Boston U at No. 3. Zamora was named the 2022 Big West co-Freshman of the Year after going 13-2. In the fall, he led the 'Eaters with seven victories, advanced to the pre-qualifying Round of 64 at the ITA All-American Championships and made it to the Round of 32 at the ITA Southwest Regional.
 
SEASONED NEWCOMERS
UC Irvine added two NCAA Division I transfers 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. Luque Rico has come out on top in his last three singles decisions and is 2-0 at No. 1. He also ranks second on the squad with four dual-match singles victories. Brandon Park is a junior transfer out of Pacific (2020-22). Park, who went 6-2 during the fall season with a couple impressive wins over Pac-12 opponents, is tied for first on the squad with nine overall singles wins.
 
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 own a 35-22 dual-match record. Sah is the Anteaters' active leader in doubles wins at 26.
 
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.
 
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 concludes its season-long five-match homestand next Wednesday, March 15, against The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.