California Irvine Athletics

2025 All-Big West Teams & Awards

IRVINE, Calif. - Senior Noah Zamora was named the Big West Player of the Year and Mike Saunders was tabbed the Big West Coach of the Year to highlight the UC Irvine men's tennis team's postseason accolades that were announced Thursday afternoon.
 
Zamora and sophomore Andy Nguyen were also first-team all-conference selections in singles and doubles. Senior Rithvik Krishna and sophomore Max Fardanesh added All-Big West honorable mention nods in singles.
  
Noah Zamora is the 10th Anteater to earn Big West Player of the Year honors and first since 2015. He owns a team-leading 21-8 overall singles record, while he is 13-4 in dual matches, all at No. 1. Zamora went unbeaten against conference opponents with a 7-0 record, including three postseason victories to lead the 'Eaters to their second-straight Big West Championship. In the final, Zamora took down No. 63 Gianluca Brunkow of UC Santa Barbara, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 for the title-clinching win. It was his fifth ranked victory of the season.
 
During the fall, Zamora punched his ticket to the NCAA Singles Championship where he upset No. 13 Sebastian Dominko of Notre Dame in the Round of 64. Zamora is a four-time All-Big West selection in both singles and doubles. He has been featured among the top-125 in every ITA Singles Poll this year with a high ranking of No. 31.
 
Andy Nguyen, who was the 2024 Big West Freshman of the Year, garnered all-conference honors in singles and doubles for the second-straight season. He owns a team-best 16-2 dual-match singles record while playing primarily at No. 2. Nguyen is on a 15-match win streak with his last loss coming on Jan. 20. He went 6-0 against Big West opponents in 2025, including a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over UC Davis' Lucas Bollinger to clinch the Anteaters' 4-3 comeback win in the semifinals of the conference tournament. During the fall, Nguyen also defeated a pair of ranked opponents, upsetting No. 52 Iiro Vasa of San Diego and No. 125 Nicholas Godsick of Stanford.
 
In doubles, Nguyen and Zamora went 9-7 at the top of the lineup. They were ranked in six of the nine ITA doubles polls during the spring season.
 
Rithvik Krishna picked up his third career All-Big West selection in singles. Krishna is 16-11 overall and 10-8 in dual matches, playing primarily at the third position. He got the 'Eaters on the board in the Big West championship match with a momentum-shifting 6-4, 6-3 victory over UCSB's Dominique Rolland.
 
In his first season at UC Irvine, Max Fardanesh went 17-6 overall and 12-3 in dual-match singles. Fardanesh is on an eight-match win streak as he went unbeaten against Big West opponents. He was 5-0 during the conference regular season and 3-0 in the tournament.
 
Mike Saunders earned his third career Big West Coach of the Year award as he also received the distinction in 2022 and 2024. This past weekend, Saunders led UCI to its second-straight Big West Championship and third in the last four seasons. The Anteaters have been among the top-50 in the ITA Rankings since Feb. 20, and came in as high as No. 36 this year. Saunders has guided the 'Eaters (18-5) to their eighth-straight winning season. Their 18 wins are the most by a UC Irvine team since 2015.

UCI will be making its 14th NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship appearance on Saturday, May 3, when it heads to San Diego to take on the host and seventh-ranked Toreros in the first round. First serve is set for 1 p.m.