'Eaters Set to Begin NCAA Tournament on Friday

Friday, May 3

Fort Worth, Texas

3:00 PM PT

UC Irvine

#4 TCU

enrique-luque-rico-mten-2024-ncaa-preview

'Eaters Set to Begin NCAA Tournament on Friday

May 02, 2024 | Men's Tennis

NCAA TOURNAMENT
First Round
No. 67 UC Irvine (17-6) at
No. 4 TCU (22-4)
Date: Friday, May 3
Time: 5 p.m. (CT) / 3 p.m. (PT)
Location: Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center - Fort Worth, Texas
Live Scoring | Live Stream

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's tennis makes its way to Fort Worth, Texas, for an NCAA First Round match against host and fourth-seeded TCU on Friday, May 3. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. (CT)/3 p.m. (PT) at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The winner will advance to Saturday's second round to face either Arkansas or Cornell.

NCAA NOTABLES
The 'Eaters will be making their 13th NCAA Division I Championship appearance, and second in the last three years. In 2022, UCI fell to San Diego in the opening round at USC's Marks Stadium. Five current Anteaters were part of that 2022 squad and all five played in both the Big West Championship and NCAA First Round match. UC Irvine won six NCAA Division II titles before making the move to Division I back in 1978.

QUICK HITS
• The 'Eaters (17-6) entered the ITA Top-75 at No. 67 in the latest rankings released on May 2.
• They have their seventh-straight winning season and matched their most dual match wins in the last seven years.
• The Anteaters went 5-1 in Big West play with their only loss coming in a 4-3 decision at then No. 49 UC Santa Barbara.
• UCI avenged that loss in the postseason, topping the 45th-ranked Gauchos, 4-1, in the Big West Championship match.
• In his UC Irvine career, junior Noah Zamora owns an 18-1 singles record against conference opponents.
• This season he went 6-0 in matches against Big West foes and has a team-best 23 overall singles wins (15 dual).
• Five other 'Eaters have reached double digits in the win column, including freshman Andy Nguyen at 12-3.
• Nguyen and Zamora both earned a Big West Player of the Week nod this season.
• As a team, the Anteaters have been impressive in singles where they are 86-31 (.735).
• In doubles Zamora and Rahul Dhokia had a signature win, defeating UCSB's 38th-ranked duo of Brunkow/Masjuan, 7-6.
• UC Irvine won the Big West Championship in 2022 and claimed a share of the Big West regular-season title in 2023.
• Overall, UCI has placed first in the Big West standings 17 times and won five Big West Tournament titles.

CHAMPIONSHIP REWIND
Second-seeded UC Irvine defeated No. 3 Cal Poly, 4-1, in the semifinals before taking down No. 1 UC Santa Barbara, 4-1, in the final to bring home its second Big West Championship in the last three years. It was the third-straight meeting between the Anteaters and Gauchos for the title with UCI winning in 2022 and 2024, and UCSB taking the crown in 2023. In the championship match, UC Santa Barbara came out on top at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, but the 'Eaters won the first four singles matches in straight sets to clinch the victory. Hiroki Sakagawa delivered the final point with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) triumph over Gianluca Brunkow on court two.

SCOUTING THE HORNED FROGS
Fourth-seeded and fourth-ranked TCU (22-4) is making its 34th NCAA appearance. The Horned Frogs earned an at-large berth after falling to No. 5 Texas in the Big 12 Championship. TCU has five ranked singles players, led by three-time All-American Jake Fearnley, who is seventh in the nation. Fearnley owns an 11-2 record, including a 10-1 mark at the top of the lineup. Jack Pinnington is also 13th in the country as he is 15-4 with a 9-2 record at No. 1 singles. The doubles pairing of Sebastian Gorzny/Pedro Vives are also ranked ninth.

A GLANCE AT THE REST OF THE FIELD
No. 28 Arkansas (21-11) is making its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance. The Razorbacks saw a nine-win improvement from last year, while their 21 victories are their most in a season since 1986. They are led by 93rd-ranked Gerard Planelles Ripoll, who recently earned All-SEC honors. No. 35 Cornell (18-6) is making back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time in program history. The Big Red are led by 2024 Ivy League Player of the Year and 14th-ranked Radu Papoe (15-3).

OUR HIRO
Graduate transfer Hiroki Sakagawa delivered UCI's match-clinching singles wins in the semifinals and final of the Big West Championship. In the title match against the Gauchos, Sakagawa came back from 0-3 and 5-6 deficits in the second set to top Gianluca Brunkow, 6-2, 7-6 (5) to secure the victory. On the season, he is 11-6 while playing primarily at No. 2.

BIG WEST DOMINANCE
Noah Zamora owns an 18-1 career record against Big West opponents. He is unbeaten in his last 23 outings against conference foes (including postseason) where he is 17-0 with six matches that went unfinished. The only Big West loss of his three-year career came against Cal Poly on April 3, 2022. Zamora is a two-time all-conference selection in both singles and doubles, and was named the 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year. In his time at UCI, the San Diego native is 39-12 (.765) in dual-match singles.

FROM THE TOP
Graduate student Enrique Luque Rico transferred to UCI from Pepperdine prior to the 2022-23 campaign and has been a steady force at the top of the singles lineup for the Anteaters since his arrival. This season, he is 11-5 at No. 1 with three of his losses coming against ranked opponents. He had a clutch three-set win over Noah Berry to clinch UC Irvine's 4-3 victory over Cal Poly on April 6. Last year, Luque Rico went 10-6 to earn first-team All-Big West honors. Over his collegiate career, he owns a 49-23 dual-match singles record.

TWENTY AND COUNTING
In just his 26th decision in his collegiate dual-match career, junior Rithvik Krishna recorded his 20th win. This year, he has gone 10-5 while playing at Nos. 2-5. Krishna, who is in his third season at UCI, owns a .703 win percentage (26-11). Last year, he earned an All-Big West honorable mention nod.

YEAR FIVE
UCI has a veteran squad led by fifth-year seniors Ali Amiri and Matthew Sah. After seeing their freshman dual-match season canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amiri and Sah helped the Anteaters to a Big West tournament title in 2022 and 2024, as well as a share of the regular-season championship in 2023. During their UCI careers, the 'Eaters are 62-30 in dual matches. Sah is tied for 26th in program history 43 doubles wins.

BLUE CHIP
Freshman Andy Nguyen is a blue-chip recruit from Millikan High School in Long Beach. He was the CIF-Southern Section individual champion in 2022, while he also led the Rams to the CIF Division 4 team title in 2021. Nguyen was ranked eighth in California and 18th in the nation according to Tennis Recruiting. At UCI, Nguyen is 18-5 overall and 12-3 in dual matches.

DOUBLE DUTY
Senior Brandon Park earned first-team All-Big West honors in doubles and was a second-team selection in singles last year. This season, he has played primarily doubles where he has 14 overall wins including 10 in dual matches. Park transferred to UCI from Pacific prior to the 2023 campaign.

SEASONED NEWCOMER
Graduate transfer Rahul Dhokia previously played at Texas A&M and Baylor, where he was a member of the Bears' 2021 NCAA Finalist team. He made his Anteater debut in doubles on Feb. 25 and in singles on March 5. Over the last two months, Dhokia is 8-2 while playing at Nos. 4-6 in the singles lineup.

ON THE RISE
Junior Lawee Sherif is 10-3 (.769) while playing at Nos. 4-6. He has more dual-match singles wins in 2024 than he had in his first two campaigns combined.