California Irvine Athletics

IRVINE, Calif. - Max Fardanesh has been named the Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week the conference office announced Wednesday.
 
Fardanesh was a workhorse last week, going 3-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles to lead UC Irvine to a 4-0 homestand. He was one of only two Anteaters to be in both the singles and doubles lineup for all four matches.
 
On Wednesday, Fardanesh won a first-set tiebreaker and went up 3-0 in the second before his opponent from VCU retired.
 
Two days later, he dispatched Navy's Charlie Spencer, 6-1, 6-1. In the backend of the doubleheader, Fardanesh teamed up with Rohan Sachdev for a 6-3 win at No. 1 to secure the crucial doubles point against Army. UCI pulled ahead 3-0 in singles before the Black Knights rallied to tie it up. It came down to the top of the lineup where Fardanesh, who was playing in his fourth match and was well over his fifth hour on the court for the day, was in a third set against Jackson Armistead. Fardanesh fought through the fatigue to gut out a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 win for the 'Eaters.
 
Fardanesh and Sachdev added doubles victories against VCU and Air Force. Their 6-2 triumph against the Falcons clinched the doubles point in the team's 4-2 win on Saturday.
 
This is the first career Big West weekly award for Fardanesh and the third for UC Irvine this season.
 
The Anteaters (7-5) will be back in action on Sunday, March 22, when they head to Boise State for a 12 p.m. (PDT) non-conference match.