California Irvine Athletics

UC Irvine (0-2) at
#11 San Diego (4-2)
Date: Friday, Feb. 6
Time: 12 p.m. (PST)
Location: Hogan Tennis Center - San Diego, Calif.

UC Irvine (0-2) at
#21 USC (4-3)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 8
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: David X. Marks Tennis Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Stream

Match Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's tennis is on the road to face a pair of ranked opponents this weekend. The Anteaters will start at No. 11 San Diego for a 12 p.m. match on Friday, Feb. 6. They then make their way to No. 21 USC for a 2 p.m. showdown on Sunday, Feb. 8.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• The 'Eaters have won two-straight Big West Championships, and three in the last four seasons (2022, 2024, 2025).
• Mike Saunders took home his third Big West Coach of the Year award in 2025.
• The Anteaters have five returners from last year's squad that went 18-6, while they added five newcomers.
• Junior Max Fardanesh and graduate student Hiroki Sakagawa have both earned All-Big West honors in their UCI careers.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine fell to Grand Canyon, 6-1, last Saturday at the Racquet Club of Irvine. The Lopes won at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles for an early 1-0 lead. Tal Goodman and Max Fardanesh were in a tiebreaker against Daniel Jankoski/Brice Patoux at the top of the lineup when their match was abandoned. In singles, Hiroki Sakagawa delivered a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Andreas Loizas on court one to bring the Anteaters even. GCU pulled back ahead with a straight-set win at No. 2 before taking the next two matches in three sets to clinch the team victory. At the sixth spot, Greg Gamal was unable to complete a comeback against Charlie Pade, who pulled out a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 triumph. After dropping a first-set tiebreaker, Fardanesh rebounded to force a third but fell short, 7-6 (8), 1-6, 6-3, against Jankoski at No. 3. 

SCOUTING THE TOREROS
No. 11 San Diego (4-2) is out to a strong start to the 2026 season with three wins over top-20 teams including in its last outing on Sunday when it defeated No. 17 Arizona, 4-1. All-American Oliver Tarvet, who is 38th in the latest ITA Singles Rankings, owns a 5-1 record at the top of the lineup. No. 103 Manvydas Balciunas (5-0) is also unbeaten while playing at the third and fourth positions. USD has won the doubles point in five of its six matches. Adrien Berrut and Lambert Ruland are 3-1 at the top spot and came in at No. 69 in the ITA Doubles Rankings.

A GLANCE AT THE TROJANS
No. 21 USC (4-3) split its two matches in Northern California last weekend, edging No. 23 Cal, 4-3, before falling to third-ranked Stanford, 4-1. The Trojans will square off against UNLV prior to taking on the Anteaters on Sunday. USC has four returning sophomores from last year's squad that advanced to the NCAA Super Regional. Nathan Trouve leads the quartet after earning Big 10 All-Freshman Team honors in 2025. The Trojans have added six newcomers including four freshmen to their roster this season.

BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS
UC Irvine is coming off its second-straight Big West Championship, and third in the last four years (2022, 2024, 2025). Since 2022, the Anteaters have compiled a 65-30 dual match record. During that stretch, they also produced six All-Big West doubles teams, and 16 all-conference selections in singles, with eight being first-team honorees. This season, UCI is hoping to continue its recent success with a slightly different look. Although they have five returners who played a big role in the 2025 title run, the 'Eaters graduated several members of the core group from the last four years, including Big West Player of the Year Noah Zamora.

HIROKI'S RETURN
Graduate student Hiroki Sakagawa earned UC Irvine's first singles victory of the 2026 season last weekend as he defeated GCU's Andreas Loizas, 6-2, 6-4, at the top of the lineup. Two years ago, Sakagawa led UCI to the 2024 Big West Championship, delivering the match-clinching singles victory in both the semifinal and final. He earned first-team All-Big West honors in singles and second-team recognition in doubles. In 2025, Sakagawa led from the sideline while missing the dual-match campaign with an injury. He is the only member of this year's squad that was on the team for each of the Anteaters' last two conference titles. The experience and maturity he brings will be vital for the 'Eaters who have five underclassmen, including three true freshmen.

YEAR TWO
Graduate student Sohrob Amiryavari, junior Max Fardanesh, and sophomore Ruining Huang return for their second year with the Anteaters after playing a significant role in the team's 2025 Big West Championship. Fardanesh led the trio, earning All-Big West honorable mention recognition in singles. He went 12-3 in dual matches and 5-0 in conference. Fardanesh closed out the year on an eight-match win streak, including three straight-set victories at the conference tournament. Amiryavari finished his first campaign in the Blue & Gold with nine wins, capped by a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Blake Kasady of seventh-ranked San Diego in the NCAA tournament. Huang also had eight victories playing primarily at the fourth position as a true freshman.

BIG TIME ADDITIONS
Graduate transfers have been key to UC Irvine's recent success, and this year will be no different as the Anteaters add depth and experience with Rohan Sachdev and Tal Goodman. Sachdev comes to UCI from Georgia Tech, which was ranked for a majority of his three seasons with the program. Sachdev was also a member of the Yellow Jackets' 2024 NCAA tournament team. Goodman spent the last four years at Penn where he was ranked as high as 74th in doubles. Last year, the Quakers went 21-9 and finished the season ranked 50th in the nation.

ENTERING THE MIX
The 'Eaters have four local underclassmen in sophomore Mason Bui, and true freshmen Nathaniel Suh, Alex Guajardo, and Greg Gamal. Suh and Guajardo are both five-star recruits, while Gamal was an all-Orange County selection at Villa Park High School, where he led the Spartans to the program's first appearance in the CIF-Southern Section final. Bui, who played in two dual matches last year, was a league champion and two-time CIF Ojai semifinalist at Yorba Linda High School.

FALL HIGHLIGHTS
Max Fardanesh led UC Irvine with six singles wins during the fall season. He advanced to the semifinals of the Big West Fall Invitational, finishing the tournament at 4-1, including a ranked victory over No. 68 Diogo Morais of UC Santa Barbara. He also teamed up with Ruining Huang for a semifinal appearance in the doubles draw. At the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, Mason Bui and Nathaniel Suh made it to the Round of 16 in doubles with impressive wins over their opponents from UC San Diego and Pepperdine.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will return to action in two weeks when it hosts Saint Mary's (Feb. 21) and San Diego State (Feb. 22) at Anteater Tennis Stadium.