IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine women's tennis (1-3, 0-1) dropped its Big West opener on the road at UC Davis (3-6, 1-2) on Sunday.
The Anteaters opened Sunday by dropping the day's doubles point, falling on both the No. 1 and No. 2 lines to go down 1-0 to UC Davis early. Despite losing the two matches during the doubles portion of the day, the Anteaters got a win from a Quin Brady/Maily Huynh pairing to send UCI into singles play with momentum.
In another day of hotly-contested singles play, UCI tied UCD one point each with a win from Haily Huynh before both sides went back and forth trading ties and the lead. After the Anteaters dropped the No. 1 line matchup, wins on the No. 2 and No. 6 lines by Amanda Perez and M. Huynh put UCI back in the lead by a 3-2 score. Despite the momentum gained in the victories, UCI fell in matches on the No. 5 and No. 3 lines consecutively to drop the matchup against UC Davis.
The Anteaters will continue their four-match road stretch on Thursday (Feb. 12) when UCI travels back to Orange County to take on Chapman (1-0).
SINGLES RESULTS
1. Mika Ikemori (UCD) def. Yen Nhi Huynh (UCI) 7-6, 6-0
2. Amanda Perez (UCI) def. Polina Marakhtanova (UCD) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Maya Youssef (UCD) def. Carolyna Fowler (UCI) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
4. Vivian Gallaway (UCD) def. Haily Huynh (UCI) 6-2, 6-3
5. Bella Pitchford (UCI) def. Penelope Wong (UCD) 7-5, 6-4
6. Maily Huynh (UCI) def. Aileena Hu (UCD) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Mika Ikemori/Polina Marakhtanova (UCD) def. Amanda Perez/Carolyna Fowler (UCI) 6-4
2. Isabella Bringas/Maya Youssef (UCD) def. Yen Nhi Huynh/Haily Huynh (UCI) 7-6 (0-6)
3. Maily Huynh/Quin Brady (UCI) def. Aileena Hu/Kaia Wolfe (UCD) 7-6 (0-7)
FROM HEAD COACH ELIZABETH FERRIS SMITH
"Doubles was a tough one today. I thought ones played well enough to keep it close and make it a match but we can still clean up our decision making in those 30-30 and deuce point moments. Courts 2 and 3 had some exciting back-and-forth play. Court three had the lead in the breaker but then found themselves down match point at 5-6 and took three tough points in a row to win it. Court two was down 1-6 in their breaker and brought it back to 6-6. A lot of that had to do with Yen's movement. She seemed to be everywhere! Haily provided that steadiness and that's what gave them a chance to win the match."
"It wasn't easy to go into singles down 0-1 against a tough conference opponent. It's very difficult to win four out of six matches. Like yesterday, the score lines were very up and down. I'm proud of how Amanda and Maily stayed confident even though they lost their first sets. Once they found the winning strategy and had the guts to execute we knew they'd come away winners. Bella played solid from the start. Her opponent can wear you down mentally and physically but Bella kept belief in herself and the winning strategy. She did a great job of shaking off her frustrations. We tied the score up at 3-3 with Lyna on. She was paying the right way but credit to Youssef. She was tough as nails. I like how the team is coming together. We are starting to showcase our belief, toughness, and problem solving skills. We will clean up some minor details and be ready for our upcoming matches."
FROM MAILY HUYNH
"This match was a tough one. Everyone played so hard and showed so much grit through every single point. I was really happy with how Quin [Brady] and I played, even though we lost some important games we didn't let that phase us, and got the win in the end. In my singles match, though I lost the first set, I had a lot of confidence in myself to swing through my shots, and win the second and third set handily. We will have this confidence going into our next conference match at Fullerton. Go 'Eaters!"
FROM AMANDA PEREZ
"Today's match against Davis was hard fought, and although it didn't go our way, I'm proud of the strides we've made as a team. We've been working deliberately during practices and it's been translating in our matches. I'm happy with the way I stayed true to myself and my game, which eventually helped me pull out my win in three sets. Excited to bounce back with the team for our next upcoming matches next week! Go 'Eaters!"
