Westcliff (9-2) at
UC Irvine (6-6)
Date: Tuesday, March 28
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

Saint Mary's (3-7) at
UC Irvine (6-6)
Date: Wednesday, March 29
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

UC Irvine (6-6, 1-0 Big West) at
Hawai'i (6-5, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Saturday, April 1
Time: 4 p.m. (PST) / 1 p.m. (HT)
Location: UH Tennis Complex - Honolulu, O'ahu

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's tennis begins a three-match week with back-to-back non-conference home contests. The Anteaters are set to host Westcliff at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 28, before entertaining Saint Mary's at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 29. UCI will then make the trek to Hawai'i for a 4 p.m. (PT)/1 p.m. (HT) Big West showdown on Saturday, April 1.
 
STORYLINES
• The Anteaters (6-6) are on a season-long five-match win streak.
• Four of their six losses were to teams currently ranked in the ITA Top 75 - USC, UCLA, Pepperdine and Boise State.
• Enrique Luque Rico (7-3) has won his last six singles decisions and has not dropped a set since March 3.
• He has played at No. 1 in seven consecutive outings where he is 5-0.
• Luque Rico was in a third set when Pepperdine (March 2) and Boise State (March 3) clinched the team win.
• Noah Zamora, Ali Amiri and Rithvik Krishna all have four-match singles win streaks heading into this week's action.
• Brandon Park and Zamora, who made their doubles debut on Feb. 18, are 7-2 at the top of the lineup.
• Zamora and 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 continued its winning ways with a 6-1 victory over UC Riverside in its Big West opener last Saturday at the SRC Tennis Courts. The Anteaters got out to a strong start in doubles with Brandon Park and Noah Zamora dispatching Justin Lamy/Joshua Roth, 6-1, at the top of the lineup. Enrique Luque Rico and Thomas Smart followed suit, securing the early 1-0 lead with a 6-1 triumph over Antreas Djakouris/Ryan Huynh at No. 3. The 'Eaters kept the momentum in singles play where they took the first five matches before the Highlanders got on the board. Zamora was first off the court, making quick work of Roth at No. 3, 6-1, 6-1, for his fourth-straight victory. Luque Rico also extended his win streak to six as he cruised past Daniel Velek, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 1. Park then clinched the match with another straight-set win at the second position where he upended 2022 All-Big West selection Djakouris, 6-1, 6-0. Rithvik Krishna (No. 4) and Ali Amiri (No. 6) each won their fourth-straight singles match. Krishna defeated Lamy, 6-4, 6-0, while Amiri topped Matthew Yanuck, 6-3, 6-2.
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
NAIA member Westcliff University has won its last six matches to improve to 9-2 overall and 7-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Warriors have two returning first-team All-GSAC selections in Felix Veyhle and Daisuke Yanase. Tuesday will mark the first meeting between UCI and Westcliff, which is located in Irvine.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS
Saint Mary's (3-7, 2-1 West Coast Conference) took down San Francisco, 4-1, and Santa Clara, 4-3, in a pair of home conference matches last weekend. James Watt, a 2022 All-WCC honorable mention selection, is the Gaels' No. 1 singles player, while Carlos Ramos Membrives has a team-best six victories at Nos. 3-5. In doubles, Caelan Potts and Diego Jarry lead SMC with four wins at No. 2.
 
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
Hawai'i (6-5, 0-0 Big West) opens conference play this week, hosting UC Riverside on Tuesday and UC San Diego on Friday, before welcoming UC Irvine to the islands on Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors are led by 68th-ranked Andre Ilagan, who is 7-3 at the top of the singles lineup. Ilagan is the reigning Big West Player of the Year and qualified for the 2022 NCAA Singles Championships. In the fall, Ilagan advanced to the Round of 16 at the ITA All-American Championships.

SINGLES STREAK
Graduate transfer Enrique Luque Rico (7-3) is riding a six-match singles win streak. He has not dropped a set since March 3. Luque Rico played the last seven at the top of the lineup and is 5-0 with two of his matches going unfinished. He made his debut at No. 1 on March 2 at his former school, Pepperdine, and was leading No. 124 Tim Zeitvogel, 6-4, 3-3, when the Waves clinched. Luque Rico also had a Pac-12 win on Feb. 11, upending UCLA's Giacomo Revelli, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, at No. 2.
 
THE COMEBACK
Junior Thomas Smart (7-4), who missed most of last season with an injury, is tied for the team lead with seven singles victories. He recently saw a four-match win streak snapped at UC Riverside. His three other losses this year came at USC, at UCLA and vs. Boise State, all of which are currently ranked in the ITA Top-75.
 
INSTANT CHEMISTRY
Junior Brandon Park and sophomore Noah Zamora found instant chemistry on the court. The duo made their debut as a tandem on Feb. 18 and proceeded to win six-straight 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. Park/Zamora (7-2) were handed their first loss of the season against Utah State on March 11.
 
STEPPING UP
After playing most of last season at Nos. 3-5, Noah Zamora was bumped up to the top two spots for nine of his 12 appearances in 2023. Zamora earned his first victory of the dual-match season in straight sets at No. 2 against Army's Thomas Lake, and has since made it four in a row with victories at Nos. 2 and 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 wins, 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.
 
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 38-22 dual-match record. Sah is the Anteaters' active leader in doubles wins at 27.
 
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, has been a staple in the lineup, playing 21 career matches at Nos. 3-6. Rithvik Krishna has also seen action at Nos. 3-6 where he owns an 11-5 career record. Last season, he went 5-1 in dual matches and won his last three decisions, including a 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory in the Big West Championship match.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine continues Big West play next Saturday, April 8, at Cal Poly.