IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's tennis dual match slate kicks off this weekend and head coach Elizabeth Ferris Smith returns for her ninth season at the helm.

Here are four things to know before the start of competition.

SHOWCASING LEADERSHIP
UC Irvine has a strong returning class for the upcoming dual match season that features six returners and four newcomers.
 
Second year senior captain Kayla Meraz is joined by junior Haily Huynh to lead the experienced Anteater squad. Carolyna Fowler, an All-Big West Honorable Mention in doubles action, returns to help champion the line up. Juniors Asha Gidwani, Nour Khayat, and Amanda Perez also return to the court for their third season.
 
Sophomore transfer Bella Pitchford alongside freshmen Maily Huynh, Yen Nhi Huynh, and Lindsay Kim all look to make an impact in their first year as Anteaters.
 
The balanced squad grew a lot over the fall portion of the schedule and look to use that experience this spring.
 
STAFFING UPDATES
Both assistant coach Jurence Mendoza and team stringer Zach Anderson return for their second season with the Anteater squad. Heading into the 2025 calendar year, UCI welcomes two new faces to the sidelines. An excellent addition as an assistant coach is Hermont Legaspi who was a five-year standout player at Sacramento State (2017-21). Additionally, Akhil Nandhakumar joins as a student manager.
 
HOME COOKING
In a 23-dual match schedule, UC Irvine is excited to host 13 of them inside the Anteater Tennis Stadium. Additionally, it is the first time some of these squads have ever made the trip to Irvine. The Anteaters will play two home matches in January, three in February which includes the Big West opener against UC Davis on Feb. 16, five in March, and three in April ending the regular season against Hawai'i on Saturday April 18th for senior day.
 
The road travels this year is lighter than previous years with most of the road contests played locally. The farthest the Anteaters will go this season is over to El Paso to face UTEP (Mar. 2) after their match at New Mexico State (Mar. 1) the day before.
 
BEING TESTED
For the second straight year, UCI opens their campaign at No. 17 USC which features one nationally ranked doubles pairing and three singles players. The Anteaters like to test their lineups over various levels of competition to help prepare for a challenging Big West slate and the eventual Big West Championship.
 
UC Irvine opens duals play on Jan. 18 on the road at USC with a 1:00 p.m. start.