IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team is back in action this week at the ITA Sectional Championship in Malibu (Nov. 7-10), and the LMU Invitational in Los Angeles (Nov. 8-10).
 
Three Anteaters make their way to Pepperdine for the ITA Sectional. The tournament runs from Thursday through Sunday with play starting at 10 a.m. There will be one round of doubles and one round of singles each day until Sunday, when both the semifinals and final are contested.
 
Six singles players (semifinalists, two quarterfinal playoff winners) and three doubles teams (champion, finalist, third place) will qualify for the individual NCAA Championship, Nov. 19-24.
 
Sophomore Andy Nguyen is entered in singles, while Hiroki Sakagawa and Noah Zamora will compete in doubles. Nguyen is coming off an impressive showing at the ITA Southwest Regional where he won two matches, including a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the tournament's No. 1 seed and 52nd-ranked Iiro Vasa (San Diego).
 
Sakagawa and Zamora are the 90th-ranked doubles team in the nation. They have posted a 2-2 record this fall, competing at the ITA All-American Championships and ITA Southwest Regional.
 
Zamora has already qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship with a runner-up finish at the ITA Southwest Regional. He went 5-1 in the tournament with wins over opponents from Hawai'i, LMU, UC Santa Barbara, Arizona and UCLA.
 
UCI will also send a contingent to the LMU Invitational. The 'Eaters begin the hidden dual tournament with singles matches against Utah, followed by doubles vs. Denver on Friday. On Saturday, they will square off against LMU in doubles and Denver in singles. UC Irvine then closes out the weekend with doubles matches against Utah and singles vs. LMU on Sunday.