California Irvine Athletics

IRVINE, Calif.— The Anteaters wrap up the regular season with two home matches, taking on Black and Blue rival No. 72 Long Beach State on Friday (Apr. 18) and then Hawai'i on Saturday (Apr. 19).
 
After the conclusion of the match with the Rainbow Wahine, the program will honor senior Kayla Meraz for her contributions to the program.

Notes

• UC Irvine dropped their two contests over the weekend, both to nationally ranked opponents
• The Anteaters hold a 10-10 overall record, 1-6 in the Big West
• At No. 42 UC Santa Barbara…
  • The Anteaters dropped the doubles point as Haily Huynh and Lindsay Kim were defeated 6-0 on court three while the Gauchos claimed the 6-0 win against Amanda Perez and Maily Huynh on court two
  • At No. 1, Carolyna Fowler and Yen Nhi Huynh were battling with UCSB's top contenders and tied 3-all when the point was determined
  • UCSB kept firing, taking away three straight singles wins at No. 1 (6-2, 6-2), No. 6 (6-4, 6-1), and No. 2 (6-1, 6-1)
  • H. Huynh earned UCI's lone point at the No. 4 spot with her 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Lily Pradkin
• At No. 52 Cal Poly…
  • The Mustangs quickly built their momentum in doubles action with a 6-1 win on court one and were able to force a 6-4 victory at court three
  • Amanda Perez and Maily Huynh were doing all that they could to keep UC Irvine alive in the doubles action, but ended tied 5-5 
  • Cal Poly pulled away with three straight individual wins, the first at No. 1 (6-1, 6-1), next at No. 5 (6-1, 6-0), and followed with a 6-1, 6-2 result at No. 3 to clinch the match
  • Haily Huynh, who was UCI's driving force, pulled out the 7-5, 4-6, 10-3 win at No. 4 for UCI's only point of the match
• Haily Huynh is one of three Anteaters with double digit wins on the year, leading the way with a 14-3 overall record and 5-2 against conference opponents. She holds a perfect record at the No. 3 (3-0), No. 4 (7-0), and No. 6 (1-0) spots
• Yen Nhi Huynh is next with a 13-5 overall record followed by Maily Huynh at 10-6, both sitting at 3-4 against the Big West
• Senior Kayla Meraz is on track to hit double digit victories as she is currently sitting at 9-5 overall
• The duo of Fowler and Y. Huynh are 12-3 overall and hold a 4-2 edge over conference foes
• UC Irvine is 7-28 against Long Beach State all-time and have lost ten straight contests to the Beach
• The Anteaters are also down in the series record to Hawai'i, 10-13, dropping 12 consecutive meetings including a close 4-3 defeat in Honolulu in 2024

 
Scouting No. 72 Long Beach State
The 72nd ranked Long Beach State enters the match with a 13-5 overall record and are 5-3 against Big West opponents. The Beach are coming off a 7-0 sweep of UC Riverside this past week and are on a two-match winning streak.
 
Much like the Anteaters, LBSU has three players with double figure individual wins, led by Cecilla Costa's 13-5 dual match record, 6-2 in the Big West. Costa dominates at the No. 2 spot where she is 12-3 against opponents. Following that is both Thea Jagare and Daria Malaescu with 12-5 dual match and 5-3 league records. Jagare (10-4) plays most of her matches at No. 3 while Malaescu (11-3) completes her work at No. 4. Johanna Heismair has been paired with a few different people in doubles action but holds the Beach's top-mark at 11-6.
 
Scouting Hawai'i
Hawai'i, who has not played a match since March 29, holds a 7-7 overall record and are 5-3 in the Big West standings. The Rainbow Wahine dropped their last two outings in a three-match stretch of nationally ranked opponents.
 
Three UH players all hold a team-high eight wins in dual match contests. Ana Vilcek (8-3) holds a 6-2 record at No. 1, Nikola Homolkova (8-5) has four wins at each No. 2 and No. 3, and Joelle Lanz (8-5) is 6-2 at No. 6. Former Long Beach State standouts in Sheena Masuda and Peppi Ramstedt are partnered together in doubles where they are 8-4 as a duo, 7-3 at No. 1 and 1-1 at No. 2.