California Irvine Athletics

IRVINE, Calif.— After ten days off, UCI returns to the courts and Big West action with a trip up to CSUN on Mar. 22.

Notes

• UC Irvine picked up two more wins last week over Utah State (W, 4-3) and Lehigh (W, 6-1) for their third straight win
• It is the second time this season when UCI has won three matches in a row
• The Anteaters hold a 7-5 overall record, 1-1 in the Big West
• UCI's seven wins in 12 matches is the most since the 2023 season when they had eight
• Yen Nhi Huynh is on a ten-match winning streak in singles holding a 10-1 record in individual play
• Haily Huynh has eight singles wins on the season for an 8-1 record and has won seven straight
• Kayla Meraz boasts a 7-2 individual record, the winner of six in a row, and it on a five-match win streak in doubles (5-3 overall)
• Y. Huynh and partner Carolyna Fowler lead the Anteaters with their 7-2 doubles record
• UCI holds the third most overall wins in a ten-team Big West
• Versus Utah State…
  • The Anteaters (6-5, 1-1) picked up the doubles point after debuting two new pairings
    • Over at No. 3's, Asha Gidwani made her first appearance of the season with partner Nour Khayat and won 6-2
    • The No. 1 pairing of Haily Huynh and Kayla Meraz got it done against Olivia Halvorsen and Niyati Kukreti, 6-4
  • Meraz was taken all the way to 7-5 in the first set before using her momentum to carry her to a 6-1 win in the second to even up the contest 2-all
  • Yen Nhi Huynh, who moved up to No. 3, was also taken down to the wire in the first game, but did not drop a point in the second game to win 7-5, 6-0
  • H. Huynh, who helped UCI win the double point, played the hero in singles for the second straight match, clinching the 'Eaters win behind her 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 outing
• Against Lehigh…
  • UCI won the first four singles matches in order to claim the overall match
  • Maily Huynh at No. 5 was the first one to finish on the afternoon with her 6-3, 6-3 defeat then Bella Pitchford finished with a 6-4, 6-2 result at No. 6
  • At the top of the lineup card, Kayla Meraz pulled out the 6-3, 6-3 victory over Hamsa Javagal
  • For the third consecutive match, Haily Huynh clinched the win for the 'Eaters as she fought through a tough 7-5 first game and then ended 6-2 in the second
  • In doubles action, UCI handled business as the pairing of H. Huynh and Meraz downed the Mountain Hawkes, 6-1, on court one while down on the third court, Asha Gidwani and Nour Khayat defeated their opponents 6-4 for the doubles point
• Despite holding the 18-6 overall series record over CSUN, the Anteaters have dropped six in a row to the Matadors
• The last UCI win over CSUN was on April 13, 2017 in Northridge, 4-3

 
Scouting CSUN
CSUN enters the weekend with a 6-7 overall record and are 0-3 in the Big West ledger. In the last five days, the Matadors collected a 4-2 win over North Texas (Mar. 11) before falling to Cal Poly (Mar. 20) 7-0 on the road. Both teams are familiar with each other as the Anteaters and Matadors faced off twice in the fall at the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament and Triton Fall Invitational.
 
Angela Ho is 9-3 overall in dual matches, holding the most wins of any CSUN player. Ho is 2-2 at No. 2, 6-1 at No. 3, and 1-0 at No. 4. Elena Goodman holds a winning 5-2 individual record, picking up three of her wins at No. 5 where she is 3-1. At the top spot, Yuliia Zhytelna holds a 7-6 record. Over in doubles, Zhytelna is 10-2 going 5-1 at both the No. 1 and No. 3 spots followed by Ho's 8-3 record at No.1.