California Irvine Athletics

IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's tennis has a whole lot to be proud of coming off a first-round finish in the 2025 Big West Championship and a 10-13 overall record.
 
NICE TO MEET YOU!
During the 2025 campaign, UC Irvine met three opponents for the first time in program history and came away with a victory each time, including two sweeps. The first was a mid-week meeting on Feb. 26 with a 7-0 result against Oakland. In the month of March, the Anteaters defeated Lehigh (Mar. 12), 6-1, and blanked Stanton (Mar. 27), 7-0. All three victories occurred in Irvine.
   
ALL GOOD THINGS COME IN THREE'S
Three times during the season the Anteaters recorded three-match winning streaks. The first stretch started on Feb. 20 with a 5-2 win at UC Riverside, followed by a road trip to Occidental (W, 6-1) and at home for Oakland (W, 7-0). The second streak started shortly after on Mar. 2 at UTEP where UCI was an unblemished 4-0 against the Miners, squeaked out the 4-3 win at home versus Utah State (Mar. 9), and concluded the streak against Lehigh (W, 6-1). The last of the three-straight wins were all sweeps of Stanton (7-0 on Mar. 27), Westmont (7-0 on Mar. 28), and Hope International (6-0 on Apr. 5).
 
MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOK
Three new entries were made into the program's record book this season with another just moving up the ranks. It starts with junior Haily Huynh who entered the all-time No. 5 singles wins ranks a season ago. H. Huynh now has 13 victories in the fifth spot, moving up to ninth all-time at the position. This year, H. Huynh eclipsed 30 career singles wins, becoming the 44th Anteater to do so. She has 32 wins in three years which ties Kelly Goldsborough (1989-92) for 41st and she is also the first player to join the list since Sarah Gong graduated with 38 (32nd all-time) in 2016.
 
Carolyna Fowler and Amanda Perez make entries on the doubles side of the book. Fowler recorded her 30th career doubles victory this season marking just the 30th time an Anteater has accomplished this feat. She ties her sister Emily Fowler and Jenna Schlatter, both entering in 2024, at 28th all-time. Additionally, Fowler posted her 18th doubles win at No. 2 which ties Hui Leow (2002-05) for eighth for most wins at the second spot. Rounding it out, Perez tallied her 19th career doubles victory at No. 3 which elevates her up to sixth all time at the third position in a tie with Mary Morr (1994-97).
 

Junior Haily Huynh	Junior Carolyna Fowler	Junior Amanda Perez

 
SENIOR SALUTE
Kayla Meraz finished her collegiate tennis career at the competition of the 2025 season. She spent two seasons on the courts for the Anteaters where she compiled an overall 12-10 singles record and was 15-19 in doubles. Meraz spent her junior year mostly at the No. 2 spot in both singles and doubles before moving to the top of the lineup in both competitions her senior year. Lastly, Meraz placed on the All-Big West Second Team for her career postseason award.
 
 
FRESHMEN OF TALENT
Two freshmen came in and made an immediate impact to the Anteater program. Yen Nhi Huynh was named to the All-Big West Second Team in doubles for her 13-5 record with a dominant 12-4 showing at No. 2 with partner Carolyna Fowler. Equally as impressive, the freshman led the Anteaters with 16 dual match wins with an almost perfect 7-1 record at No. 4. She also earned at least one win at three other spots in the lineup. Maily Huynh was the third of three Anteaters to finish with double figure singles wins with a 10-8 overall record. She also earned at least one win at three different positions but played ten contests at No. 5 (5-5) and seven at No. 6 (4-3).
 

Yen Nhi Huynh	Maily Huynh

 
BEST OF THE BIG WEST
Senior Kayla Meraz (singles), junior Carolyna Fowler (doubles), and freshman Yen Nhi Huynh (doubles) all found their way onto the All-Big West Second Team at the end of the 2025 season. Meraz garnered the program's first second team singles selection since 2016, finishing dual match play with a 9-7 record, 2-5 in conference action. Fowler and Y. Huynh tallied the program's second straight doubles honor and were the first pairing to make the second team since 2016. The duo competed primarily at No. 2 where they compiled a 13-4 dual match record, 5-3 in the Big West.
 
 
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Both Haily Huynh and Kayla Meraz were recognized for their work on the court and in the classroom as they were selected to the CSC Academic All-District team for the second straight year. To be eligible, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, carry a minimum 3.50 cumulative GPA, and have been in the lineup for 70 percent of the team's scored matches. H. Huynh is a double major in Psychological Science and Criminology, Law, and Society while Meraz will graduate this spring with her degree in Public Health Policy.