California Irvine Athletics

Villanova (3-6) at
UC Irvine (2-4)
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 12 p.m. (PST)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

UC Irvine (2-4) at
LMU (7-1)
Date: Saturday, March 7
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: LMU Tennis Center - Los Angeles, Calif. 

Match Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team will play two matches this week, starting at home against Villanova on Tuesday, March 3. First serve is set for 12 p.m. The Anteaters then make their way to LMU for an 11 a.m. showdown on Saturday, March 7.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• UCI is on a two-match win streak, taking down both Saint Mary's (Feb. 21) and San Diego State (Feb. 22), 4-3.
• Three of UC Irvine's first four opponents were ranked among the top-25 in the nation.
• In 2025, the 'Eaters won their second-straight Big West Championship, and third in the last four seasons.
• 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 bringing in 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 defeated San Diego State, 4-3, in its last outing at Anteater Tennis Stadium on Feb. 22. UCI dropped the doubles point, but fought back in singles, starting at No. 4 where Sohrob Amiryavari made quick work of Finn Willman, 6-0, 6-3. The Aztecs reclaimed a 2-1 lead before Greg Gamal brought the 'Eaters back even by outlasting William Kleege, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, at the sixth position. Just minutes later, Ruining Huang gave the Anteaters their first lead of the match, closing out a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Brock Anderson at No. 5. Fittingly, it was Hiroki Sakagawa who delivered the match-clinching point at the top of the lineup. Sakagawa got out to a strong start, upending Aleksi Lofman, 6-3, but Lofman rebounded to take the second. Sakagawa regrouped as he pulled ahead 5-3 in the decisive third set. Lofman held serve to stay alive before Sakagawa raced out to a 40-15 advantage, then ended the match with an ace for his fourth-straight singles win (6-3, 2-6, 6-4).

HIROKI'S RETURN
Graduate student Hiroki Sakagawa, who missed last season with an injury, has made his presence felt in his return to the court. Through the Anteaters' first six matches, Sakagawa owns a 4-1 singles record at the top of the lineup. He earned his first dual victory of the 2026 campaign on Jan. 31 when he took down Grand Canyon's Andreas Loizas, 6-2, 6-4. The Chiba, Japan, native followed that performance with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 win over No. 103 Manvydas Balciunas of 11th-ranked San Diego. Sakagawa was rewarded for that effort with his first career Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor on Feb. 11. He claimed the award again two weeks later after defeating Finn Dyer of Saint Mary's, 7-5, 6-4, and Aleksi Lofman of San Diego State, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. His victory over Lofman clinched UCI's 4-3 win against the Aztecs, while he also teamed up with Ruining Huang to secure the doubles point with a 6-3 triumph against the Gaels.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Villanova (3-6) dropped two matches in La Jolla last week, falling to UC San Diego, 7-0, and Ball State, 6-1. Junior Ethan Carr leads the Wildcats with five singles wins at No. 4. Nova returns nine letterwinners from last year's squad that went 5-19 overall and 0-6 in Big East play. UC Irvine improved to 7-0 against Villanova (since 2007) after sweeping the Wildcats in Irvine in their last meeting on March 4, 2025.

A GLANCE AT THE LIONS
LMU (7-1) won its third-straight match with a 4-3 victory over Utah State on Sunday, Feb. 15. The Lions have already played four teams from the Big West, defeating UC San Diego, UC Riverside, and UC Davis, while suffering its only loss of the season at Cal Poly. Max Wuelfing leads LMU with a 7-0 singles record at the top two spots in the lineup. Alex Padro Parra is also 6-2 at No. 5. In addition, Wuelfing and Padro Parra have paired up for a team-best 6-1 doubles record. This will be the sixth-straight year the Anteaters and Lions will square off with UCI taking a 3-2 edge since 2021 after a 4-2 win at home on March 9, 2025.

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 67-32 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 with three who saw significant playing time 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.

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
Two years ago, Hiroki 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 are vital for the 'Eaters who have five underclassmen, including three true freshmen.

Graduate student Sohrob Amiryavari, junior Max Fardanesh, and sophomore Ruining Huang also played a significant role in the team's 2025 Big West Championship in their first year as Anteaters. Fardanesh led the trio, garnering All-Big West honorable mention distinction 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. Gamal has seen the most playing time in singles so far this season as he is 2-2 at No. 6. His victory against Saint Mary's clinched the 4-3 team win. Guajardo has also played three doubles matches.

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 has a busy week coming up as it is set to host VCU (March 11), Navy (March 13), Army (March 13), and Air Force (March 14) at Anteater Tennis Stadium.