FORT WORTH, Texas - No. 67 UC Irvine men's tennis fell to fourth-ranked TCU, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
 
The Anteaters made their 13th NCAA Division I appearance after winning the Big West Championship for the second time in the last three seasons. They close out an incredible campaign with a 17-7 record.
 
The Horned Frogs (23-4), who as the No. 4 seed are hosting the Fort Worth Regional, took the early advantage in doubles. On court one, Jake Fearnley/Pedro Vives defeated Rahul Dhokia and Noah Zamora, 6-1, before Duncan Chan/Lui Maxted clinched the point with a 6-2 victory over Andy Nguyen and Hiroki Sakagawa at No. 2.
 
Like they did all season, the 'Eaters put up strong showings in singles but could not break through a tough TCU lineup that featured four ranked players. Andy Nguyen, who was recently named The Big West Freshman of the Year, was up an early break, 2-1, in the second set before falling to No. 78 Lui Maxted, 6-3, 6-3.
 
At the top of the lineup, Enrique Luque Rico, a first-team All-Big West selection, was pitted against 14th-ranked Jack Pinnington. Pinnington controlled the first set, but Luque Rico stepped up in the second, taking a 4-2 lead. He continued to go toe-to-toe with his opponent before Pinnington came all the way back for the hard-fought 6-1, 7-5 win.
 
The Horned Frogs clinched the match at the second position where Hiroki Sakagawa dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to No. 7 Jake Fearnley.
 
In the second set of the two unfinished matches, Noah Zamora was up 4-1 against No. 73 Pedro Vives, while Rithvik Krishna was tied 3-3 with Tomas Jirousek.

Rahul Dhokia's match at No. 6 did not start.
 
TCU remained unbeaten at home (11-0) and advances to tomorrow's second round to face 35th-ranked Cornell.