UC Davis (11-5, 4-0 Big West) at
UC Irvine (10-6, 3-0 Big West)
Date: Friday, April 14
Time: 1 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

UC Santa Barbara (17-3, 2-1 Big West) at
UC Irvine (10-6, 3-0 Big West)
Date: Sunday, April 16
Time: 1 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine returns to Anteater Tennis Stadium for a pair of pivotal Big West matches this weekend. UCI (3-0) and UC Davis (4-0) are the only teams that remain unbeaten in conference play and will square off in Irvine this Friday, April 14. The 'Eaters are then set to host UC Santa Barbara, which is third in the league standings, on Sunday, April 16. Both matches are slated for a 1 p.m. start.
 
STORYLINES
• After a tough 1-6 start to the dual match season, UC Irvine has found its stride, winning its last nine matches.
• The Anteaters have been dominant in singles where they are 47-4 (.922) during their current win streak.
• Not including the canceled 2020 season, UCI has reached 10+ wins every year since 2017-18.
• Four of their six early losses were to teams now ranked in the ITA Top 75 - USC, UCLA, Pepperdine and Boise State.
• Enrique Luque Rico earned his first ranked win of the season at Cal Poly, defeating No. 83 Noah Berry in straight sets.
• Thomas Smart, who has seen action at Nos. 4-6, is tops on the squad with 11 singles victories.
• Rithvik Krishna and Noah Zamora are tied for the team's longest active win streak at eight matches.
• Krishna earned his 10th dual-match win of the year last Saturday, while Zamora improved to 8-1 at Nos. 2-3.
• Ali Amiri (7) and Brandon Park (6) are also riding season-long singles win streaks.
• 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 (2022, 2010-11, 2005).
• 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 won its ninth-straight match with a dominant 7-0 victory over Cal Poly last Saturday at Mustang Tennis Complex. The Anteaters had impressive performances across the board, dropping only one singles set on the day to remain undefeated in conference play. Enrique Luque Rico highlighted the action, taking down No. 83 Noah Berry in straight sets at the top of the lineup. Luque Rico, who was pitted against his second consecutive ranked opponent, stepped up to the challenge as he delivered the match-clinching point with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Berry. Rithvik Krishna was first off the court in singles, rolling past Colter Smith 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4. Thomas Smart then gave UCI a 3-0 lead with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6. The 'Eaters completed the sweep of the Mustangs with wins from Brandon Park, Ali Amiri and Noah Zamora. Park got the best of Joe Leather 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2, while Amiri beat Bastiaan Weststrate 6-2, 7-6 (3) at No. 5. Zamora also outlasted Fernando Fonseca 6-2, 6-7 (2), 11-9 in a super tiebreaker at the third position.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis (11-5, 4-0 Big West) has won four in a row and seven of its last eight after a pair of 4-3 conference wins over Hawai'i on April 12 and No. 32 UC Santa Barbara on April 8. Constantinos Djakouris saw his seven-match win streak snapped with a straight-set loss to UH's Andre Ilagan on Wednesday, but still owns a team-leading 10-3 singles record. Lucas Bollinger is also 10-5, while Brett Brinkman is 9-5. Last year, the Anteaters beat the Aggies twice with identical 4-2 victories in Davis and in the Big West quarterfinals at Barnes Tennis Center. UCI has not lost to UCD since 2018.
 
SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
No. 38 UC Santa Barbara (17-3, 2-1 Big West) suffered its first conference loss last weekend, falling on the road to UC Davis, 4-3. The Gauchos will host Hawai'i on Friday before making their way to Irvine. Pablo Masjuan owns a team-best 14-2 singles record playing primarily at No. 2, while Phillip Jordan is 12-4 overall with 11 of his victories coming at the top of the lineup. In doubles, Jordan and Kai Brady are ranked 68th in the nation with a 9-4 mark at No. 1. The 'Eaters split their two meetings with UCSB last year, falling 4-0 on the road and winning 4-2 in the Big West Championship match at Barnes Tennis Center.

SINGLES STREAKS
UC Irvine has four players with a win streak of six or more, led by sophomores Noah Zamora and Rithvik Krishna at eight each. Zamora is unbeaten in his last 10 outings where he is 8-0 with two matches that went unfinished. During that stretch, he has played at Nos. 2 and 3. Krishna has only dropped two sets in his run at No. 4 that started on March 5. Ali Amiri has also won seven in a row, while Brandon Park has extended his streak to six.
 
FROM THE TOP
Graduate transfer Enrique Luque Rico (9-4) is 7-1 since moving to the top of the singles lineup on March 2. He earned his first ranked win of the season at Cal Poly where he took down No. 83 Noah Berry 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the team victory. It was his third ranked opponent of the dual-match season as he fell in three sets to No. 68 Andre Ilagan of Hawai'i on April 1 to snap a seven-match win streak, while he was up a set on No. 124 Tim Zeitvogel of Pepperdine when their match was abandoned. Earlier in the season, Luque Rico also had a Pac-12 win, upending UCLA's Giacomo Revelli 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 2 on Feb. 11.
 
WIN NO. 20
Sophomore Noah Zamora earned his 20th career dual-match singles win at Hawai'i on April 1. In one-plus seasons at UCI, Zamora, who was tabbed the 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year, has compiled a 21-8 record. The San Diego native has settled in at the second and third positions this season where he is 8-1. In the fall, Zamora 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.
 
THE COMEBACK
Junior Thomas Smart (11-4), who missed most of last year with an injury, was the first 'Eater to reach double digits in the dual-match singles win column in 2023 with his 10th victory coming at Hawai'i. He has played at Nos. 4-6 and is 8-2 in his last 10 outings. Three of his four losses were against teams that 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 (9-4) were handed their first loss of the season against Utah State on March 11.
 
ADDING DEPTH
Sophomore Rithvik Krishna was a key contributor to the Anteaters' 2022 Big West championship run. He was in the singles lineup at No. 6 for each of the team's last five matches and went 5-1 on the season with two of his victories coming in the conference tournament. Krishna has continued to build on a strong start to his collegiate career with a 10-4 mark while playing primarily at No. 4 this year.

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 42-22 dual-match record. Sah is the Anteaters' active leader in doubles wins at 29.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will have a week to prepare for its regular-season finale against UC San Diego on April 23.