IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team closed out the regular season with a 4-1 win over Hawai'i Saturday afternoon at Anteater Tennis Stadium.
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UCI recognized its five seniors -
Ali Amiri,
Rahul Dhokia,
Enrique Luque Rico,
Brandon Park and
Matthew Sah - after their final home match.
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The 'Eaters improved to 15-6 overall and 5-1 in Big West play. They also went an impressive 12-1 at home.
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The Rainbow Warriors (5-14, 0-5 Big West) won the doubles point for the early lead.
Rahul Dhokia and
Noah Zamora upended Karl Collins/Andy Hernandez, 6-2, at the top of the lineup, but the 'Bows quickly answered with victories at Nos. 2 and 3 for the 1-0 advantage.
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The Anteaters came out strong in singles, taking the first set on all six courts.
Hiroki Sakagawa made quick work of Collins, 6-0, 6-0, at the second position to bring the home team even. Zamora followed with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Guillaume Tattevin at No. 3. Zamora has now won his last six decisions and finished the conference season unbeaten at 5-0.
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Rithvik Krishna dispatched Andrew Somerville, 6-4, 6-1, at the fifth spot to put UC Irvine on top, 3-1. It was Krishna's 10th dual-match victory.
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The remaining three courts went to a decisive third set, but
Enrique Luque Rico came up big for the 'Eaters as he rallied for a 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 win over Quinn Snyder at No. 1 to clinch the match.
With today's results, UC Irvine will finish second in the conference standings behind 49th-ranked UC Santa Barbara, which went undefeated at 6-0.
The Anteaters secured the No. 2 seed in next week's Big West Championships and will open the tournament in the semifinals on Saturday, April 27 (10 a.m.). The championship match is then slated for a 10 a.m. start on Sunday, April 28. All matches will be played at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
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