California Irvine Athletics

UC Irvine (8-6, 0-0 Big West) at
UC Davis (9-8, 2-0 Big West)
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 2 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Marya Welch Tennis Center - Davis, Calif.

Match Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team begins Big West play on the road this week as it travels to UC Davis for a 2 p.m. showdown on Tuesday, March 31. 

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• Since 2021, the Anteaters are 24-6 in Big West regular-season matches and won four of their five conference openers.
• In 2025, the 'Eaters won their second-straight Big West Championship, and third in the last four seasons.
• Mike Saunders is the back-to-back Big West Coach of the Year, winning his second and third career honors in 2024 and 2025.
• Five of UCI's six losses this season have come to teams ranked among the top-65 in the nation.
• Hiroki Sakagawa and Max Fardanesh have combined for three Big West Player of the Week awards this year.
• UC Irvine is a perfect 8-0 at Anteater Tennis Stadium with its lone home loss coming at the Racquet Club of Irvine on Jan. 31.
• The 'Eaters are searching for their first road win of the 2026 campaign.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Dartmouth in a 4-3 thriller last Thursday at Anteater Tennis Stadium. UCI got out to a strong start in doubles as the pairing of Tal Goodman and Hiroki Sakagawa dispatched Malhar Patel/Calvin Wang, 6-1, on court two. Sohrob Amiryavari and Alex Guajardo then took down Denny Bao/Kornel Halmos, 6-4, at No. 3 to secure the doubles point. The Big Green responded in singles where they won the first set on all six courts. Dartmouth went on to close out straight-set victories at Nos. 6, 5, and 3 to go up, 3-1. The 'Eaters then mounted their comeback starting with Max Fardanesh at the second position. After a tough first set, Fardanesh regrouped and was dominant the rest of the way in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Halmos. Sakagawa followed suit as he rebounded for an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Henry Ren at the top of the lineup. All eyes then turned to court four where Amiryavari was locked in a three-set battle with Adrian Treacy. Treacy claimed a hard-fought 7-5 victory in the opener, but Amiryavari punched back with a 6-4 win in the second. Amiryavari kept the momentum in the final frame, delivering a decisive 6-1 triumph to clinch the match for the Anteaters.

A GLANCE AT THE AGGIES
UC Davis (9-8, 2-0 Big West) started its Big West slate with home wins over UC Riverside (6-1) and UC San Diego (7-0) last week. Three-time All-Big West selection Lucas Bollinger leads the Aggies with 12 wins at the top of the singles lineup. Bollinger was named the Big West Athlete of the Week on March 11. UCI has won nine in a row against UCD with its last loss in the all-time series coming on April 20, 2018. Last year, the 'Eaters defeated UC Davis, 4-2, at home, before topping the Aggies, 4-3, in the Big West semifinals at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

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. Sakagawa leads the Anteaters with an 8-3 singles record, all at the top of the lineup. One of those wins came against a ranked opponent as the Chiba, Japan, native defeated No. 103 Manvydas Balciunas of 11th-ranked San Diego, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 on Feb. 6. Sakagawa was rewarded for that effort with his first career Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor (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.

MAX EFFORT
Max Fardanesh was named the Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week on March 18. Fardanesh was recognized after leading UC Irvine to four wins in four days as he went 3-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles from March 11-14. He was one of only two Anteaters to be in both the singles and doubles lineup for every match. In the back end of a 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 his fourth match and was well into 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. On the season, he is tied for the team lead with five doubles victories, while he also has five singles wins, all of which have come at Nos. 1 and 2. Fardanesh earned All-Big West honorable mention recognition last year.

ENTERING THE MIX
Freshman Greg Gamal has been a steady force in the Anteaters' singles lineup. Gamal is second on the team with a 7-3 record playing at Nos. 5 and 6. The Villa Park native saw a season-long seven-match win streak snapped last Thursday. Freshman Alex Guajardo has played in 13 doubles matches where he has won three of his last four decisions alongside Sohrob Amiryavari. On March 26, the duo clinched the important doubles point in a 4-3 win over Dartmouth.

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 73-34 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. 

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. 

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 UCI's recent success, and this year is no different as the Anteaters added depth and experience with Rohan Sachdev and Tal Goodman. Sachdev came to Irvine 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.

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 continues Big West action at home when it welcomes UC Riverside to Anteater Tennis Stadium on Monday, March 6.